Songs That Made America Famous Quiz

Answer: Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin wrote the song for an army camp show in 1918, but it was rejected.
Berlin largely forgot about the song until the late 1930s when he was asked to contribute a number for a radio show by Kate Smith to mark the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice. Within a few weeks, Berlin submitted the song, which Smith sang nationally on November 11th 1938.

Answer: Don McLean

Don McLean has said that the song was inspired by the death of Buddy Holly. "I loved his music. When that whole crash happened, it was a real ache in my heart. So, I ended up bringing back all those memories of 1959 and the things that happened later."

Released on the album of the same name in 1971, the single reached number one on the US charts and number two in the United Kingdom.
While McLean has commented on the inspiration for writing the song, he has been more reticent on discussing some of the other lyrics.

Answer: Kim Wilde

The song was was written by Wilde's brother Ricky and her father Marty, who had earlier had a successful singing career of his own.

Kim Wilde later said of the song: "My dad's head went into a fantasy, this idea of everything being better in America. Of course for his generation, that was very true. Everyone was going to drive-in movies and drinking milkshakes and having hamburgers in America. We weren't doing things like that in the UK. I think a lot of that got caught up in the lyrics - all the kids in America are having a better, more interesting, more dangerous time than we were here."

The song reached number two in the UK charts, but only number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA.

Answer: Carrie Underwood

"All-American Girl" was a 2007 song from Carrie Underwood. It reached number 27 on the Billboard charts.

In a television interview, Underwood said that the song about a daughter wrapping his father round her finger was partly autobiographical.

Underwood won the fourth season of "American Idol". She later became a judge on the show. The song was co-written with Kelly Lovelace.

Answer: Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond began his career as a songwriter and penned numbers for artists such as Jay and the Americans, Cliff Richard, and The Monkees.

While Diamond has written many songs, asked in one interview if he enjoyed the process he said: "No, I hate it. I hate it." Of all the songs he has written and sung himself, Diamond noted "I Am, I Said" as his favourite.

"America" was a US number eight for Diamond in 1981. It had been written for "The Jazz Singer", 1980 movie in which he also starred.

Answer: Supertramp

Supertramp got together in London in 1972 and made their big UK breakthrough with their third album "Crime Of Te Century".

The band moved to the USA in the mid 1970s and explored the feelings of an outsider coming to the Land of the Free in their album "Breakfast In America". The album topped the Billboard 200 and was a number three on the UK album charts. It was also a number one in Australia and Canada.

Answer: Green Day

The song was written by Billy Joe Armstrong who said it came out of a song he heard on a car radio. He said the song was asking people to be proud of things that he could not see pride in.

"American Idiot" came from the album of the same name, which won Best Rock Album at the 2005 Grammys. The single reached number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: Harry Chapin

Chapin claimed to have taken inspiration from a real-life suspicious fire in a low income area of Long Island.
In the song he imagined a bunch of volunteer firemen not being too hasty to respond to the call because of the location. All except one:

"Oh it was the fire that made America famous, the sirens wailed
And the firemen stumbled sleepy from their homes and the
Plumber yelled, Come on let's go, but they saw what was burning
And said, Take it slow, let 'em sweat a little, they'll never know?
And besides, we just cleaned the chrome, Said the plumber
Then I'm going alone..."

At one time Harry Chapin earned the record signing-on fee for any artist with a record company. Sadly, he never achieved the hoped-for commercial success - scoring just one chart topper, "Cat's In The Cradle" in 1974.

But Chapin attracted a devoted following for his concerts and his 'story songs'. He was a co-founder of World Hunger Year, an organisation that aimed to tackle hunger in societies throughout the world.
He died in a road crash in 1981. Chapin was posthumously awarded a Congregational Gold Medal for his philanthropic work.

Answer: Charlie Rich

The lyrics quoted are from the 1911 version, which differed from others and from the 1893 original poem by Katharine Lee Bates.
The song has been sung at times of celebration and of sorrow in the USA. It became a Superbowl favourite, and has been sung at the inauguration of at least one president.

Charlie Rich was born in Arkansas in 1932. In a long career, he had nine songs top the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" was a crossover hit, also topping the Hot 100 pop charts in 1973.
In 2024, 'Billboard' magazine placed Charlie Rich at number 58 in their "100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time" list.

Answer: Dolly Parton

Always a source of a pithy quote, Dolly Parton famously said: " I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb... and I also know that I'm not blonde."

Dolly wrote "Color Me America" in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attack. It appeared on her 2003 album "For God And Country".

While steadfastly refusing to get embroiled on either side of America's two-party political system, she showed her commitment to her native land and became regarded as a true patriot.

Born in 1946, the more than 3,000 songs she wrote have largely been pigeonholed as country, but she has written and sung songs of her Christian faith. The 2003 album "For God And Country" paid tribute to American troops.

Dolly has sold more than 100 million albums; recorded 24 chart-topping singles; won seven Grammys and eight country music awards. In 2020 'BBC Culture' wrote that Dolly Parton had become "the world's best-loved celebrity".