Rock Bands from the 1960s and 1970s Quiz

Answer: Creedence Clearwater Revival

CCR as they are known may have only had a short career, but boy they certainly made their mark in the music scene. Between 1969 and 1971 the band had success with 14 songs that all were in the top ten charts. The band also had five on the top-ten albums in the United States.

"Willy and the Poor Boys" album was released on October 29, 1969 in the US. The album has the tracks "Down on the Corner", "Fortunate Son", and "The Midnight Special". The album reached a respectable number three on the US Billboard 200 and stalled at number ten in the UK Albums Chart. John Fogerty was the main writer and producer.

Answer: Jimi Hendrix

Band of Gypsys was formed by Jimi Hendrix, who formed the band because he wanted to go in a different musical direction. Jimi had disbanded his original group in the early part of 1969. His new band was formed in 1969 and had the same name as the debut album, "Band of Gypsys". The album was released on March 25, 1970. In 2016 "The Band of Gypsys Return" was released, and in 2018 "Return of the Band of Gypsys, San Francisco '84" became available.

The Band of Gypsys was only active for one year. The first live gig the band played at was in Fillmore East, New York City, on New Year's Eve 1969. The gig wasn't what the audience expected, but with a new musical direction, you can't please everyone. The last and final gig was played at the Winter Festival for Peace at Madison Square Garden on 28 January 1970. The live gig was a total mess from start to finish. Jimi left the stage after he messed up the song "Who Knows". Buddy Miles claimed that music manager Michael Jeffery secretly gave out acid tabs to disrupt the show. Following this claim, Michael Jeffery fired Miles. That was the end of the band.

Answer: Motörhead

The band in question was, of course, Motörhead. The band was formed by the ex-member of Hawkwind, Ian Fraser Kilmister, known as Lemmy. Lemmy put the band together in 1975 in London, England. The debut studio album by Motörhead was simply called "Motörhead", and was released in 1977.

The genres the band played were a mixture of heavy metal, hard rock and speed metal. In their career from 1975 until 2015, the band recorded 24 studio albums, 21 live recordings and 16 compilation albums. Sadly, Lemmy died on 28 December 2015 from prostate cancer, cardiac arrhythmia, and congestive heart failure.

Answer: Cream

Band members of Cream were Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton. Cream was formed in London in 1966. In my opinion I think it's fair to say Cream was the first proper rock band in the history of music. They became one of the first supergroups, and maybe the first! Each member of the band had their own distinctive forte. Eric Clapton, lead and rhythm guitar, is regarded as one of the world's greatest guitarists. Ginger Baker on the drums had a distinctive style, especially when doing a solo stint. Who can't forget his five-minute solo on the track which he wrote, "Toad", from their debut album, "Fresh Cream"? And then we have the voice of Bruce and his brilliant bass playing.

Cream only released four albums between 1966 and 1969. "Fresh Cream" (1966), "Disraeli Gears" (1967), "Wheels of Fire" (1968), and their final album, "Goodbye" (1969).

Answer: The Who

The classic lineup of The Who was Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon. A great band out of London, The Who was formed in 1964. The original drummer for the band was Douglas Sandom when they were known as The Detours. The band changed the name to The Who when they found out another band also was playing as The Detours. Their manager at the time, Helmut Gordon, was not impressed with Sandom, and Pete Townshend agreed. Sandom was asked to leave in 1964, and Moon joined as a replacement not long after.

The album "Tommy" was the fourth from the band and was written mostly by Pete Townshend. The album was one of the first "rock operas" produced and commercially was very successful. The idea for the album came from Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba. Chartwise the album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and number four on the US Billboard 200. "Tommy" has also been made into a film and a stage musical.

The background for the album, and rock opera, follows Tommy Walker, who sees a murder and finds himself deaf, dumb, and blind. As I'm sure you will all know, it features the song "Pinball Wizard".

Answer: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

The personnel on the album "Déjŕ Vu" were Crosby, Stills, Nash and newcomer Neil Young. All the band members played a part on the album with the writing of the songs and also the producing of the album. Three songs from the album were released as singles: "Woodstock", "Teach Your Children", and "Our House".

The album sold over eight million copies. In 2021 a 50th anniversary edition was released with songs that were never released and out takes and demos.

Answer: Moody Blues

The Moody Blues were formed in Birmingham in May 1964. Denny Laine and Clint Warwick both left the band in 1966 and were replaced by John Lodge and Justin Hayward.

One of my favourite albums by the band is "A Question of Balance", released on 7 August 1970. The track on the album "Question", written by Justin Hayward is one of my favourite songs from the band. This song could be played live, as it didn't need all the overdubs and all the tricks of the trade to make it sound good, unlike some of the previous tracks for other albums. In fact, this album was far away from previous albums; you could say it was going back to basics. It does work in my opinion, but then this was produced when I was in my late teens, a time when music was at its best in my opinion. Mind you, the 1980s were great too.

Answer: Aerosmith

"Toys in the Attic" is the third studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released April 8, 1975. The band formed in 1970 with Steven Tyler, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford. The debut album was called "Aerosmith", released in 1973, which reached number 21 on the US Billboard 200.

The band was very popular in the middle of the 1970s, especially in the United States, but never really made a big impact in the UK. The band's best spell came in the 1990s in the UK. Between 1973 and 2012 they released 15 studio albums. "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" is probably the band's best-known song; it was the theme song for the 1998 science fiction disaster film "Armageddon".

Answer: Jefferson Airplane

The American psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane was well-known for its potent harmonies, political lyrics, and psychedelic-themed songs like "White Rabbit" and the album "Surrealistic Pillow". Although the band eventually found popularity with more popular songs in the 1970s and 1980s, they played a key role in representing the 1960s.

Jefferson Airplane were formed in San Francisco in 1965. In the band's early career, they headlined the Monterey Pop Festival (1967), the first Isle of Wight Festival (1968) in England, Woodstock (1969), and Altamont Free Concert (1969). The album "Surrealistic Pillow", released February 1, 1967.

During the summer of 1967 a crowd of over 100,000 people gathered at Haight-Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco to hear Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, Janis Joplin. The Who, Grateful Dead and several other artists. It became known as the "Summer of Love".

Answer: Talking Heads

"More Songs About Buildings and Food" is the second studio album by the American rock band Talking Heads, released on July 14, 1978. Both albums would make to top 30 on the US Billboard 200 and UK Albums Chart.

Personnel on the album was David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth. Talking Heads were formed in New York City in 1975 and released their debut studio album, "Talking Heads: 77", in 1977. A track from the album "Psycho Killer" is a well known song from the band.

The band at the time were pioneers of new wave, a spin-off from the punk scene. The band had fun experimenting with various musical genres. They blended the inventive aspects of art rock with the creative energy of punk rock. They also used catchy funk dance rhythms and occasionally incorporated beats and noises influenced by different cultures around the world. Their music had a new and exciting feel thanks to this blend.