For Oldies Only Trivia Quiz

Answer: Patti Page

"Tennessee Waltz" is a country music song written in 1946 and first released in 1948. It has been covered by artists like Patsy Cline, Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones and Leonard Cohen. But it was Patti Page (1927-2013) who first made it one of the biggest selling hits of the twentieth century. Number one on Billboard's Best Sellers-List of 1950, "Tennessee Waltz" became Page's signature song.

The single spent 13 weeks at the top spot. In 1997, Page was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and, in 2013, she was posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy.

Answer: Tony Bennett

You don't need to be a senior citizen to know the name Tony Bennett. His career has endured and thrived for well over six decades. He was born in Queens, New York in 1926 as Anthony Dominick Benedetto. Not only is he a singer of pop and show tunes, but a painter as well.

In 1951, Tony had his first number one single with "Because of You", followed by "Rags to Riches" and, in 1962, his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco". In 2014, Bennett collaborated with Lady Gaga on the old song "Cheek to Cheek" which was originally written by Irving Berlin in 1935 for the film "Top Hat".

Answer: Kay Starr

American pop singer Kay Starr (1922-2016) was born in Dougherty, Oklahoma. She described herself as a hill-billy singer who was able to fuse elements of jazz, blues, country and pop with rock and roll. Her father was a full-blooded Iroquois. When Kay was only nine years old, her mother entered her in a weekly Dallas radio contest. Kay won and, from there on, her career path was clear.

She sang in big bands in the 1930s. In 1949 Kay had her first top ten hit, "So Tired". In 1952 she released her version of "Wheel of Fortune" for which she earned her first gold record.

The single became the number two top selling song of the year.

Answer: Les Paul & Mary Ford

Guitarist Les Paul (1915-2009) was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, with the name Lester William Polsfuss. Not only was he a great jazz, country and blues musician, but he was one of the originators of the "solid-body electric guitar", the sound of rock and roll! Les Paul was the first musician to be inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

In 1949 he married Mary Ford, and the two became one of the most popular duos of the 1950s. In 1953 they hit number one on the pop chart with "Vaya con Dios", a song which remained at the top spot for eleven weeks.

Answer: The Chordettes

Before the Supremes, before the Ronettes, there was a girl group from Sheboygen, Wisconsin, called the Chordettes. Founded in 1946, the Chordettes were a quartet known originally as folk singers but later became famous for their rich harmonic sounds. In 1954, their song "Mr. Sandman" hit number one on the pop chart.

The following year, they went to number two with the single "Lollipop", which was later featured in the 1986 movie "Stand By Me". In 2001, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

Answer: Tennessee Ernie Ford

If you can remember the phrase "Bless your pea pickin' heart!", then you surely recall the "Ol' Pea-Picker" himself, i.e., Tennessee Ernie (nee Ernest Jennings) Ford (1919-1991). Not only was Ford a pop, country and gospel singer, but he hosted his own TV show back in the early days of TV.

In 1955, he scored a number one hit with the song "Sixteen Tons", a major departure from the sugary hits of early rock and roll. It was a "coal-miner's lament" with sad and realistic lines like "You load sixteen tons, what do you get?/Another day older and deeper in debt".

It became Tennessee Ernie's signature song.

Answer: Gogi Grant

Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg, better known as Gogi Grant (1924-2016), was a pop singer whose hit, "The Wayward Wind", knocked Elvis Presley's song "Heartbreak Hotel" out of the top spot on the Billboard singles chart in 1956. The single remained at the top of the chart for six weeks. "The Wayward Wind" was a beautiful, melodic song, first heard in the movie "High Noon".

In 1957, Grant provided the vocals for Ann Blyth in "The Helen Morgan Story". She continued her career throughout the 1950s and 1960s until she retired in 1967.

Answer: Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke (1931-1964) was a singer and a composer, sometimes referred to as "The King of Soul". In his short life, he influenced such stars as Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and James Brown. In addition, he founded a record label and a publishing company. Between 1957 and 1964, Cooke had an incredible thirty 'top 40' hits. In September 1957, "You Send Me" was released and hit number one. The song became one of the first milestones of the soul genre. Sadly, at the age of 33, Cooke was shot and killed by the manager of the Hacienda Hotel in Los Angeles, California.

Answer: Sheb Wooley

"Purple People Eater" was a novelty song which reached number one on the Billboard pop charts in June, 1958. At a time when the people of the United States were frightened of the "red scare", Sheb Wooley (1921-2003) diverted our attention to the possibility of extra-terrestrials with "a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater". Wooley was also a country-western singer and a character actor who appeared in Westerns like "High Noon" and "The Outlaw Josey Wales".

The Billboard Hot 100 was not published until August, 1958. In case you were wondering, the first number one on that chart was Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool".

Answer: The Weavers

According to Billboard magazine and the Billboard Best Seller Chart (prior to the Billboard Hot 100), the number one single of 1950 was "Goodnight Irene" by Gordon Jenkins and The Weavers. Actually, it was originally a folk song written and recorded in 1933 by the blues artist Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter (1889-1949).

The Weavers, formed in 1948, included Pete Seeger (1919-2014), Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays and Fred Hellerman. "Goodnight Irene" was their first big hit and ushered in the folk rock revolution of the 1950s and 1960s, e.g., the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary and, of course, Bob Dylan.