Water and Bodies of Water in Songs Trivia

1. Which English river did Gerry and the Pacemakers take a ferry across in 1964?

From Quiz Sing Me a River

Answer: The Mersey

Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers wrote "Ferry Cross the Mersey", which the group, an exponent of the Merseybeat sound, recorded in May of 1964, though the single was not released until December. It was a Top Ten Hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1965, placing higher (number six) in the U.S. than in Britain (number eight). In 1989 a supergroup, including Gerry Marsden and Paul McCartney, made a special recording of the song for the Hillsborough Disaster Fund. That record zoomed to number one on the British charts, staying there for three weeks. The River Mersey flows for sixty-nine miles (one hundred eleven km) from the confluence of the River Tame and River Goyt in Stockport through the area of northwestern England that was historically the County of Lancashire, and is now Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside. Starting out westward, it turns north as it exits the Mersey Estuary and eventually empties into Liverpool Bay on the Irish Sea. The major cities on its banks are Liverpool and Manchester. The river's name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon (Old English) words maeres, 'of a boundary' and ēa, 'a river'. This derivation is attributed to the supposition that the Mersey formed the border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. The river's Welsh name is Afon Merswy. The Benedictine Monks of Birkenhead Priory established the first ferry service across the Mersey from Birkenhead to Liverpool in 1150 AD. It only ran on market days.

From Quiz Songs About Water

Answer: Taking a bath

Interestingly this song was recorded by Bobby Darin, who as we shall see in parts of this quiz, was very partial to "watery" songs!

From Quiz Songs With Sea in the Title

Answer: The Marvelettes

The Marvelettes topped the US charts in 1961 with "Please Mr. Postman" and had a Top Ten the following year with "Playboy". "Beechwood 4-5789" went to Number 17 the same year. They were experiencing a slump in the charts until they released "Too Many Fish in the Sea" in 1964. The song went to Number 25. The Marvelettes was a group of glee club schoolmates that formed in 1960 and signed with the new Motown label. They went on to become the first Motown act to score a Number One hit with "Please Mr. Postman". The Supremes topped the charts for the first time in 1964 with "Where Did Our Love Go". In 1964 the Number Two hit "Dancing in the Street" was the closest that Martha and the Vandellas would come to topping the charts. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" was a Number Two hit for Gladys Knight and the Pips in 1967.

From Quiz Elements # 1: Water

Answer: Beck-Ola

"Beck-Ola" is the album with which Beck tried to out-blues-rock Jimmy Page's Led Zeppelin, it's the last with the Rod Stewart/Ronnie Wood line-up.

From Quiz Songs About Water

Answer: Trevi Fountain

While the Bernouli and Albononi Fountains do not exist, the Bernini fountain sits at the foot of the Spanish Steps in Rome and is another great tourist attraction. The Bernini Fountain is more about cooling the feet than tossing coins!

From Quiz Songs With Sea in the Title

Answer: Blind Faith

Eric Clapton had worked with The Yardbirds and Cream before 1969. Ginger Baker played drums with Clapton in Cream and had also been with Graham Bond Organisation. Steve Winwood had recently left The Spencer Davis Group and Traffic and bassist Ric Grech had been with Family before they all formed Blind Faith in 1968. "Blind Faith" (1969) was the only album the group released with that lineup. Steve Winwood's composition, "Can't Find My Way Home", and Clapton's "Presence of the Lord" became the best known cuts from the album. The much anticipated group first performed live in March of 1969 at a free concert and played their final gig in Hawaii in August of the same year. The lack of an extensive playlist and label obligation issues with some of the members caused the early demise of the group in October, 1969. The various members went on to projects with other bands and artists.

From Quiz Songs About Water Part II

Answer: 1963

The Cascades were very much influenced by the Beach Boys, in particular, in the style of their vocal harmonies, which really do seem like a cascade of sound. The Cascades continued to record other material, but nothing ever quite matched up to the success of this memorable hit, which topped the charts in the high numbers in over 80 countries in the world. The tune sold more than a million copies in the United Kingdom, winning it a golden disc.

From Quiz Songs About Water

Answer: Phil Phillips

Both Marty Wild and Tom Waits did perform this song, a song which became the theme tune for a movie of the same name.

From Quiz Songs With Sea in the Title

Answer: Sorrow

"Sea of Sorrow" was the fourth single release from Alice in Chains. "We Die Young" and "Man in the Box" were singles released from their 1990 "Facelift" album. The album was the first Grunge album to achieve Platinum status. Layne Staley was one of the founders of Alice in Chains in the Seattle area in 1987. Staley began his music career as a drummer and auditioned as a vocalist for a band called Sleze. After various personnel changes the band originally opted for the name Alice N' Chains but changed it in deference to concerns about references to bondage criticism. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell and Staley became roommates while the two were doing studio session work and Cantrell eventually became a member of Alice in Chains. The band's career got temporarily sidetracked when the studio where they planned on doing their demo tapes was raided. They signed with Capitol Records when "The Treehouse Tapes" demo came to the attention of the label.

From Quiz Elements # 1: Water

Answer: Cadence And Cascade

"Cadence And Cascade" was sung by Gordon Haskell.

From Quiz Songs About Water Part II

Answer: Frank Sinatra

"River Stay Away From My Door" was co-written by Harry Woods, who, in 1926, also wrote the legendary song "When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin' Along". But back to the Sinatra recording. This unusual album, one of several which Sinatra made with Capital Records, arranged by Nelson Riddle, contains some of his lesser known, but nonetheless, fine renditions. One of the tracks, "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" shows Sinatra in one of his more playful moods.

From Quiz Songs With Sea in the Title

Answer: Don Gibson

"Sea of Heartbreak" was a crossover hit for Country artist Donald Eugene "Don" Gibson. "Sea of Heartbreak" made it to Number Two on the US Country charts. The song was not Don's first crossover single. In 1958 he topped the Country charts with "Oh Lonesome Me". The tune also made the Top Ten on the Pop Billboard charts. "Sea of Heartbreak" would be Gibson's final US Pop crossover single but he continued to chart hits on the Country charts into the eighties. Don Gibson made his first recording in 1948 with a group called Sons of the Soil. Eight years later he signed with RCA Victor and recorded "Oh Lonesome Me" and "I Can't Stop Loving You". In addition to scoring several hits he also recorded duets with Dottie West and Sue Thompson. "Baby Sittin' Boogie" was a Top Ten for Buzz Clifford in 1961. Johnny Burnette had a Top Twenty single with "God, Country and My Baby" and Country singer Faron Young had a crossover hit in 1961 with "Hello Walls".

From Quiz Elements # 1: Water

Answer: Green River

There's a lot of water subjects in Creedence's songs, must have something to do with their band name. "Born On The Bayou" was the first song on their second album "Bayou Country".

From Quiz Songs About Water Part II

Answer: robin's

This song, co-written by Hoagy Charmichael and Sidney Arodin in 1930, has to be one of the most covered titles of popular songs. Apparently it has been recorded by about 80 different artists, some vocal, some instrumental. However, Bobby Darin is the singer who would be the "correct" answer in almost all quizzes about this hit, since he really made the song his own.

From Quiz Songs With Sea in the Title

Answer: Robert Plant

Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant organized The Honeydrippers in the early eighties. Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck played guitar on their EP "The Honeydrippers Volume One". Their version of "Sea of Love" reached Number Three in the US in 1985. A full length Honeydrippers LP never got further than the planning stages. John Phillip Baptiste took the name Phil Phillips when he recorded "Sea of Love" for a local label. Phillips had been working as a bellboy when he wrote the song with George Khoury. It would be Phillips' only US Top Forty single. Paul Rodgers has fronted Free, Bad Company and Queen. Ian Gillan was a singer for Deep Purple. David Coverdale gained fame singing with Whitesnake.

From Quiz Elements # 1: Water

Answer: Houses Of The Holy

The other "water" related songs on these albums: "Misty Mountain Hop" on "Led Zeppelin IV", "The Rain Song" also on "Houses Of The Holy", "Down By The Seaside" on "Physical Graffiti" and "Tea For One" on "Presence" ;^))...

From Quiz Sing Me a River

Answer: Moon River

Composer Henry Mancini and lyricist Johnny Mercer wrote "Moon River" for the 1961 Paramount Pictures film "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Not only is it the film's Academy Award-winning theme, during the course of the movie Audrey Hepburn sings it, accompanying herself on a guitar, while sitting on a fire escape. Andy Williams loved the song (Though I can't find a film clip to back up my memory, I recall seeing Andy say on national television that he would sing "Moon River" standing naked on the moon!). It became his signature tune, despite not being released as a single. He first recorded it on "Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes".

From Quiz Songs About Water

Answer: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

If you guessed "Bonnie and Clyde", you probably thought it was about the bullets that keep falling on their heads during that tragically graphic closing scene of the movie!

From Quiz Elements # 1: Water

Answer: Sea Of Joy

Even though Blind Faith never lived up to expectations they recorded some really good songs, "Sea Of Joy" is definitely one of those... "Sea Of Love" was a hit for The Honeydrippers, the hobby band of Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.

From Quiz Sing Me a River

Answer: The Seine

"Paris Summer" appears on the 1972 album, "Nancy & Lee Again", by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood. Lee wrote the song. At four hundred eighty-three miles (seven hundred seventy-seven km), the Seine is France's second-longest river after the Loire. Flowing through the northern part of the country, it rises at the aptly named Source-Seine (Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, Côte-d'Or department), nineteen miles (thirty km) northwest of Dijon, at an elevation of one thousand,five hundred forty-two ft. (four hundred seventy m) above sea level. The area containing the headwaters has been owned by the city of Paris since 1864. Besides Paris with its thirty-seven bridges across the river, other notable locales along the banks of the Seine include the village of Giverny, located on the right bank, at its confluence with one of the two branches of the River Epte. Giverny is renowned as the home of the Impressionist painter Claude Monet. The Normandy river port city of Rouen, whose Notre-Dame Cathedral Monet frequently painted, stands further along the course of the Seine, which empties into the English Channel between Le Havre and Honfleur. The etymology of the name 'Seine' is uncertain. It may derive from Gaullish Sēquana, from the Celtic goddess of the river. Alternatively, the name may come from Proto-Indo-European *seikw-, signifying 'to flow' or 'to pour forth'. The two derivations are not, after all, mutually exclusive.

From Quiz Songs About Water Part II

Answer: Crab

In the movie Princess Ariel has a yearning to become human so that she can live on dry land with Prince Eric, with whom she has fallen in love. Sebastian, the crab, tries to convince her not to yearn for something she cannot have, by telling her "darling it's better, down where it's wetter." Perhaps that should really be the title of this quiz?

From Quiz Songs About Water

Answer: George Fredric Handel

If you guessed Handel, he wrote the "Water Music Suite" for King George to enjoy while he floated about the River Thames with his court. Lucky man. Handel also wrote the "Firework Music", the occasion of which is a subject for another question, ha, ha!

From Quiz Songs With Sea in the Title

Answer: Johnnie and Joe

Montgomery, Alabama, native Johnnie Louise Richardson and Charleston, South Carolina, native Joe Rivers were friends who met in the Bronx and began their recording career with J and S Records through a leasing arrangement with Chess Records. "Over the Mountain, Across the Sea" was written by Rex Garvin and went to Number Eight on the US charts. The duo followed with "I'll Be Spinning" and "My Baby's Gone" then failed to chart any more singles. In the seventies the duo began performing on the Oldies circuit and released an album in 1982 entitled "Kingdom of Love". Ray Hildebrand and Jill Jackson were known as Paul and Paula and had a US Number One hit with "Hey Paula". "I'm Leaving It All Up To You" was a hit by Dale and Grace. Dick St. John and Mary Sperling were known as Dick and Dee Dee. Their biggest hit was "The Mountains High".

From Quiz Elements # 1: Water

Answer: Rockin' Pneumonia and The Boogie Woogie Flu

Rivers scored a lot of hits in the 60's, "The Tracks Of My Tears" and "Secret Agent Man" were among those. He adapted well to the album culture and still charted 45s in the 70's with both "Rockin' Pneumonia & The Boogie Woogie Flu" and "Blue Suede Shoes", but the latter was written by Carl Perkins.

From Quiz Songs With Sea in the Title

Answer: George Harrison

George Harrison composed "Sour Milk Sea". An acoustic demo of "Sour Milk Sea" was recorded by the Beatles at George Harrison's home and was considered for inclusion on "The White Album". Jackie Lomax was playing with a group called Dee and the Dynamites when he left to join a Liverpool band called The Undertakers in 1962. He eventually became acquainted with George Harrison and signed with Apple Records. He recorded an album titled "Is This What You Want?" and released "Sour Milk Sea" as a single with "The Eagle Laughs at You" as the "B" side. Apple Records as well as The Beatles broke up within two years of the recording. Jackie signed with Capitol Records in 1975 but did not release any charted singles. He later toured with several bands including The Diamonds, The Drifters and The Coasters and did session work for many artists.

From Quiz Elements # 1: Water

Answer: Surf's Up

"Surfer Girl" & "Surfin' Safari" are 60's albums. "Don't Go Near The Water" is a track on the "Surf's Up" album.

From Quiz Sing Me a River

Answer: The Ganges

"Moonlight on the Ganges", written by Henry Tilsley and Montague Ewing, was first recorded by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra with vocal by Austin Young, in New York City on August 13, 1926 and released on September 24 that year. The song became an instant Jazz and Pop standard, frequently recorded both by vocalists and by instrumentalists into the Twenty-first Century. Sinatra included it on his 1961 album with Billy May's orchestra, "Swing Along with Me". The Ganges flows one thousand, five hundred sixty-nine miles (two thousand, five hundred twenty-five km) through both India and Bangladesh. In India it is known as Ganga, while in Bangladesh, its name is Padma. Rising in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, the main stem of the Ganges begins at the town of Devprayag, at the confluence of the Alaknanda and the Bhagirathi. The Alaknanda is considered the source stream from the hydrological standpoint, owing to its greater length. However, the Bhagirathiis considered the source stream in Hindu tradition. The Ganges flows south and east through North India and into Bangladesh, its name changing to the Padma. It is then joined by the Jamuna, the lower stream of the Brahmaputra, and eventually the Meghna, forming the major estuary of the Ganges Delta, and emptying into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna system is the second largest river on earth by discharge after the Nile. Delhi and Kolkata (Calcutta) are just two of the many important cities that have been located on the banks of the Ganges or the banks of tributaries and connected waterways in the Ganges system throughout history. But the river's greatest significance is religious. The Ganges is the most sacred river to Hindus, who worship it as the goddess Ganga.

From Quiz Songs About Water

Answer: Miracles

The only thing I can think of to say here, is why would any parents named Cross call their kid "Chris"? Chris Cross? Really? But then crissing and crossing is what you do when you tack in sailing, so perhaps it was the right name after all.

From Quiz Songs With Sea in the Title

Answer: Ford

Frankie was born in Gretna, Louisiana. When he was adopted he was named Francis Guzzo. He took the stage name Frankie Ford when he released "Sea Cruise" in 1959 for Ace Records. Huey "Piano" Smith wrote and originally recorded "Sea Cruise" and Ford used Smith's backing tracks to record his version. Ford's version sold over a million records. Ford followed "Sea Cruise" with "Alimony" but never had a Top Forty single after "Sea Cruise". Frankie Ford earned the nickname "New Orleans Dynamo" and performed regularly on the Oldies circuit. In 2010 he became a member of The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Herman's Hermits recorded a cover version in 1965 on their "Introducing Herman's Hermits" album. Since then cover versions of "Sea Cruise" have been recorded by more than twenty artists.

From Quiz Elements # 1: Water

Answer: Up On Cripple Creek

"Right As Rain" is on the Band's "Islands" album. "Didn't It Rain" is an outtake of "Moondog Matine" and was released as a bonus track on the CD of that album. "Cripple Creek Ferry" is a Neil Young song from his "After The Goldrush".

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Last Updated Apr 22 2024 11:05 AM

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