The Highwayman Trivia Quiz

Answer: Glen Campell

The Highwaymen included Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson. Although Glen Campbell might have fit in well with the other artists, he was not part of the Highwaymen.

Answer: Railroad builder

Waylon Jennings tells us:
"I was a dam builder across the river deep and wide
Where steel and water did collide
A place called Boulder on the wild Colorado
I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below.
They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound.
But I am still around. . ."

Answer: I will die in vain.

"And when I reach the other side
I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again
Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
But I will remain
And I'll be back again
and again, and again, and again, and again..."

Answer: The end of a hundred year waltz

"This the last cowboy song,
The end of a hundred year waltz.
The voices sound sad as they're singin' along,
Another piece of America's lost."

Ed Bruce wrote "The Last Cowboy Song"

Answer: John Wayne (film)

"Remington showed us how he looked on canvas,
And Louis L'Amour has told us his tale.
Me and Johnny and Waylon and Kris sing about him,
And wish to God we could have ridden his trail."

In the Ed Bruce version of the song, the third line reads:
"And Willie and Waylon and me sing about him"

Answer: Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie wrote this song about the crash of an airplane in Los Gatos Canyon in Fresno County California in 1948. Thirty-two people died in the crash, but the news accounts all focused on the four Americans - the flight crew and a security guard, while the twenty-eight migrant farm workers remained nameless and faceless "deportees".

Woody Guthrie wrote this as a poem. Later, Martin Hoffman, a schoolteacher, added music to the poem to make it a song.

Answer: Johnny Rodriguez

Johnny Rodriguez is generally recognized as the first Latin-American artist to become a country star. He provides both harmony and background for these lyrics:
"Good-bye to my Juan, good-bye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria
You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane
And all they will call you will be deportees."

Answer: Against the Wind

"Against the Wind" portrays the changes in a man's ambitions, faith in others, and perspective of the world as he grows older and gains life experience. In the context of this song collection, I think "Against the WInd" takes on a parallel meaning about a nation's coming of age and the loss of the wild spaces and freedoms known to past generations.

Answer: Guy Clark

"Desperados Waiting for a Train" chronicles the special relationship between a young boy and and an old man with stories to tell. A poignant moment near the end is related with these words:
"One day I looked up and he's pushin' eighty
He's got brown tobacco stains all down his chin
Well to me he was a hero of this country
So why's he all dressed up like them old men?"

Answer: 1985

"The Highwayman" was released in May 1985. 1990 saw the release of "The Highwayman 2". In 1995, the group came together one more time and released a third CD, which features Robert Earl Keen's "The Road Goes on Forever" as its title song.