My Favorite Songs Of the 1960s - Part 14 Quiz

Answer: Friends

John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote "With a Little Help from My Friends" for the 1967 Beatles album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Ringo Starr, the group's drummer, was the lead singer on the song. Starr performed it as Billy Shears, the lead singer from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club.

The following year, Joe Cocker covered the song, topping charts in the UK. Then in 1978, the Beatles song was reissued as a single, which reached 63 on the UK charts and 71 on the US charts.

The song has been covered by over fifty other artists. Some of these include Wet, Wet, Wet, and Sam & Mark, as well as Ringo, as a solo artist.

Answer: Lucy

John Lennon, with some help from Paul McCartney, wrote "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." The song was used on their concept album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Many believe the song is about and was inspired by LSD; this is incorrect. John's son, Julian, gave his father a drawing he did in school that he said was called "Lucy - in the sky with diamonds." Lucy was a girl in Julian's preschool whom he liked. According to John Lennon, the imagery came from reading "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll.

In another Beatles song, "I Am the Walrus," which was inspired by LSD, Lennon mentions "Lucy in the Sky." In 1974, a fossil skeleton of an Australopithecus afarensis was discovered by Donald Johanson, Yves Coppens, Maurice Taieb, and Tom Gray. They named it Lucy as they were listening to the Beatles' song at the time.

The song has been covered by other artists, most notably Elton John in 1974. His version featured a guest appearance by John Lennon, under the name Dr. Winston O'Boogie. (Winston is Lennon's middle name). The song reached number one on the charts.

Answer: Mrs. Robinson

Paul Simon started to write "Mrs. Robinson" before the 1967 movie "The Graduate" started production, and only parts of the song were used in the movie. However, Simon & Garfunkel had not yet released it. In April of 1968, the full version was released as a single and reached number one on the charts. It was also released as part of the soundtrack for "The Graduate" in 1968. In 1969, the song won the Grammy for Record of the Year - the first rock song to do so.

The song has been covered by many artists, including The Lemonheads, Frank Sinatra, and Bon Jovi.

Simon met Joe DiMaggio in the 1970s. DiMaggio asked him about the line "Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?" saying he hasn't gone anywhere. Simon explained to him that the line was not literal, but DiMaggio was a hero, and heroes were far and few between. In 1999, Paul Simon performed the song at Joe DiMaggio Day at Yankee Stadium.

Answer: Aretha Franklin

Carole King composed the music, and Gerry Goffin wrote the lyrics for "(You Make Me Feel) Like A Natural Woman." The song was written for Aretha Franklin, and it reached number eight on the charts.

In 1971, Carole King covered the song herself on her "Tapestry" album. It has been covered by many other artists as well, such as Mary J. Blige and Celine Dion. In 2015, Carole King was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors. Aretha Franklin performed the song as a tribute to King.

Answer: Billie Joe

Bobbie Gentry wrote and performed "Ode to Billie Joe" in 1967. The song is about a teenage boy who kills himself by jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge. The song topped the charts. It continues to remain a mystery as to why he jumped. However, the point of the song is not why he jumped, but his girlfriend's family's reaction to what happened. They were apathetic. Gentry called the song, "a study in unconscious cruelty."

In 1976, the title of the song was used as the title of a movie starring Robbie Benson as the Billie Joe. The song has been covered by artists such as Margie Singleton, Ray Bryant, King Curtis, and Sinead O'Connor.

Answer: Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote "Ruby Tuesday". Their band released the song in January 1967, and it reached number one on the charts in the US and number three in the UK. According to Richards, the song was about a girlfriend he had in the mid-1960s named Linda Keith.

The song has been covered by artists such as The Coors & Ron Wood, Melanie, Marianne Faithfull, and Nazareth.

Answer: The Producers

Mel Brooks wrote the song "Springtime for Hitler," which is also the play within the movie. In the movie, the 2001 stage version, and the 2005 film remake, the song introduces the play. It was meant to be a tribute to Hitler by the character Franz Liebkind, a former Nazi soldier. The two main characters produce the play hoping it will fail, so they can keep the money that was invested since they sold more shares than needed. However, the show becomes a hit thanks to the character Lorenzo St. Dubois (aka L.S.D.) playing Hitler as a cross-dressing gay.

In 2004, the song was ranked 80th in the American Film Institute's (AFI) list of "100 greatest songs in American cinema."

Answer: Wonderful

Bob Thiele (under the name George Douglas) and George David Weiss wrote: "What A Wonderful World." In August 1967, Louis Armstrong and the song reached number one on the charts in the UK. However, it did not do well in the United States because Larry Newton, the then-president of the record company, did not like the song and refused to promote it. Consequently, it did not gain popularity until 1988 when it was used in the movie "Good Morning, Vietnam."

The song has been covered by many artists, including Rod Stewart, Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole, and Jon Batiste.

Answer: Sixty-Four

Paul McCartney wrote "When I'm Sixty-Four" in 1957 when he was fourteen years old. The Beatles recorded the song in 1967 on the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album. "When I'm Sixty-Four" was also used in the 1968 Beatles film, "Yellow Submarine." The song was featured in the 2009 Pixar movie "Up."

The song has been covered by artists such as Cheap Trick, The Analogues, MonaLisa Twins, and Frank Sinatra.

Answer: Charlie Brown

Clark Gesner wrote "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" for the musical of the same name. The show is based on the "Peanuts" characters that Charles M. Schulz created. At first, it started out as a concept album with Orson Bean as Charlie Brown, but quickly developed into the off-Broadway musical. On March 7, 1967, it opened off-Broadway with Gary Burghoff as the title character.

The song has not been covered outside the show. However, there are multiple cast recordings from the different revivals that have been done.