10 I Write the Songs Questions | Music Mixture Trivia Quiz

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1. You may remember that Elvis Presley had hits with 'Hound Dog' and 'Jailhouse Rock', among others. My partner Mike Stoller wrote the music, and I wrote the lyrics for both of those songs. Who am I?

Answer: Jerry Leiber

Leiber and Stoller were prolific writers in the 1950s. 'Hound Dog' was originally written for Big Mama Thornton, who had a hit with it in 1953, but is more famously associated with Elvis, who had a much bigger hit in 1956. As well as a number of songs for Elvis Presley, they were responsible for 'Yakety Yak', 'Charlie Brown', and over twenty other hits for the Coasters. Later hits include Peggy Lee's 'Is That All There Is?' (1969) which won a Grammy Award.

2. In the 1960s, the Byrds had a number of hits that helped to establish the field of folk-rock, including 'Mr Tambourine Man', released in 1965. I wrote that song, and released it on my album 'Bringing it All Back Home', before the Byrds' cover version. What is my name?

Answer: Bob Dylan

What is there to say about Bob that hasn't already been said? His influence on popular music has extended over more than fifty years, starting from his protest music in the 1960s, and continuing as he crossed from 'pure folk' into electric instrumentation and exploration of incorporating politics and philosophy into music with a popular feel.

He has received many awards in recognition of his achievements, including a 2008 Pulitzer Prize special citation and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded in 2012.

3. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young had a hit single with 'Woodstock', a song I wrote in a New York hotel room because my agent thought it would be a better career move to make a television appearance. The angst of missing what was clearly a defining moment in music history helped me create a song that has come to be considered as representing the entire Woodstock experience. Although I was born Roberta Joan Anderson, you might remember me better by which of the following names?

Answer: Joni Mitchell

Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's first break in the American music industry came from established performers covering her compositions - Judy Collins released 'Both Sides Now' in 1967 and 'Chelsea Morning' in 1968, before Joni Mitchell released them on her 1969 album 'Clouds'. Judy Collins was not interested in 'Urge for Going', which was performed by Tom Rush, and then by George Hamilton IV who had a country hit with it. Buffy Sainte-Marie recorded 'The Circle Game'. Joni Mitchell recorded all of those, but is probably best known as a performer for 'Big Yellow Taxi', released in 1970 (but a bigger hit when released as a live recording in 1975).

4. You probably think of me as a singer, but I have written over 3000 songs, including 'I Will Always Love You', which was a hit for Whitney Houston when she recorded it for the soundtrack of the 1992 film 'The Bodyguard'. Often nicknamed 'The Queen of Country Music', what is my name?

Answer: Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton had a number one hit on Billboard Hot Country Songs with 'I Will Always Love You' in 1974, and again in 1982 when it was re-recorded as part of the soundtrack to the movie 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'. Whitney Huston had an international hit with the song in 1992, and Dolly Parton was one of the two who presented her with her Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female.

Dolly Parton is not only a prolific songwriter and a singer who has succeeded on both country and pop music, she has also had some notable success as an actress, including hosting two different television variety shows: 'Dolly!' (1976-1977) and 'Dolly' (1987-1988). Her movies include '9 to 5' (1980), 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas' (1982) and 'Steel Magnolias' (1989).

5. I wrote one of the first so-called rockabilly/rock and roll songs, 'Blue Suede Shoes', and my version of the song was released on 1 January 1956 by Sun Records. The song was a hit (on the Cashbox Best Selling Singles list for 16 weeks, including two weeks in second place), but a cover version by Elvis Presley, recorded after I had been hospitalized due to serious car crash, was an even bigger hit. Who am I?

Answer: Carl Perkins

Carl Lee Perkins, often called 'The King of Rockabilly', wrote and recorded many songs for the Sun label, and a significant number were covered by other groups such as Elvis and the Beatles, who released a cover of 'Honey Don't', the B side of 'Blue Suede Shoes', on their album 'Beatles for Sale' (UK, 1964) and 'Beatles 65' (US, 1965). Perkins also created 'Everybody's Trying to be My Baby' and 'Matchbox' while under contract to Sun Records.

He later joined forces with Johnny Cash, who recorded his songs 'The Ballad of Boot Hill' and 'Daddy Sang Bass'.

6. Janis Joplin couldn't have had a hit with her performance of 'Me and Bobby McGee' unless I had written it, along with Fred Foster. What Rhodes Scholar member of The Highwaymen am I?

Answer: Kris Kristofferson

Kristofferson, the only Rhodes Scholar of the group, is well known as a singer-songwriter, but has also written a number of songs that were made even more famous from being performed by other artists. 'Me and Bobby McGee' was first recorded in 1969 by Roger Miller, achieving success in the country charts. In 1970 Gordon Lightfoot had success in Canada and South Africa with his version. Several artists released a version in 1971, including Janis Joplin, who recorded it for her album 'Pearl' only days before her death. It became only the second rock and roll song (after Otis Redding's 'Dock of the Bay') to be a posthumous number one hit.

Kris Kristofferson was also responsible for Ray Stevens's 1969 hit 'Sunday Morning Coming Down' and Ray Price's 1970 award-winning 'For the Good Times'. The 1970 release of his first album, 'Kristofferson', allowed him to present his version of some of the songs with which others had already achieved success. His second album, 'The Silver Tongued Devil and I', released in 1971, firmly established him as a recording artist as well as a songwriter.

7. I wrote the music, and Hal David wrote the lyrics, to dozens of popular songs in the 1960s and 1970s, including many of Dionne Warwick's hits, as well as a song used in the soundtrack of the 1969 film 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', for which we won an Academy Award. What is my name?

Answer: Burt Bacharach

The Academy Award-winning song was 'Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head', recorded by B. J. Thomas and played during the bicycle scene. Bacharach and David wrote many songs that have been covered many times, so their songs are associated with a range of artists, but they are probably best known for their collaboration with Dionne Warwick, for whom they wrote such songs as 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again', 'Do You Know the Way to San Jose?', 'Walk on By', 'I Say a Little Prayer', 'Always Something There to Remind Me' and 'Anyone Who Had a Heart'.

When the Beatles performed at Boston Garden in September, 1964, one of the supporting acts was Jackie de Shannon, who managed to get the restless audience to stop screaming for the Beatles and clap along to her rendition of the Bacharach and David song 'What the World Needs Now is Love', which she released as a single in 1965.

8. The release of my album 'Tapestry' in 1971 brought me renown as a performer, but I had previously been better known as a songwriter, both solo and in collaboration with my husband Gerry Goffin, as part of the Brill Building team. I was born Carol Joan Klein, but am better known by which of these names?

Answer: Carole King

Goffin and King's first number one hit as a songwriting team was the Shirelle's 1960 release 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow', written when Carole was only 18. It is considered to have been a response song to 'Oh, Carol', a song by her ex-boyfriend Neil Sedaka. Goffin and King wrote dozens of hit songs, many of which have been recorded by dozens of artists over the years.

These include 'The Loco-Motion' (1962), written for their then-babysitter, Little Eva; this song was subsequently a hit for Grand Funk Railroad in 1974, and was the first hit for Kylie Minogue in 1988.

9. You probably know me best for my performances, including a legendary concert performed on a 'Hot August Night' in 1972. But I started my career writing songs in the Brill Building, where I came up with 'I'm a Believer', recorded by the Monkees in 1966 before I was able to release it myself. What is my name?

Answer: Neil Diamond

The Monkees also recorded the Neil Diamond songs 'A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You', 'Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)' and 'Love to Love'. While Diamond has had highly successful recordings of the songs he writes, there have also been many notable cover versions by such artists as Elvis Presley ('Sweet Caroline'), Cliff Richard ('Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon'), Johnny Cash ('Solitary Man') and Deep Purple ('Kentucky Woman').

In the concert recorded for 'Hot August Night', Neil Diamond presented his live performance of these and other of his songs, in a performance that pretty much defined what he would sound like for the remainder of his career.

10. I decided to use the pseudonym Bernard Webb as the writer of the song 'Woman' for Peter and Gordon. Which member of a rather well-known English singing group am I, who also wrote the hit 'A World Without Love'?

Answer: Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney used the Lennon-McCartney name for the first three singles he wrote for Peter Asher (brother of his then-girlfriend Jane Asher) and Gordon Waller to record. Then they decided it would be a good idea to give the pair a chance of avoiding the media statements that they were only successful because of the songwriting credit on the songs. It also gave McCartney a chance to see if he could achieve popular success on his own. According to Richie Unterberger, in his 2006 book 'The Unreleased Beatles', one of the first reviews of 'Woman' included the comment, "This Bernard Webb has an amazing talent. Could even be Paul McCartney!" For some reason, Capitol records released some batches of the song with the writing credit given to A. Smith.

John Lennon also wrote a song called 'Woman', but it was quite a different song, and was neither written with a pseudonym nor performed by Peter and Gordon.

Source: Author looney_tunes

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10 I Write the Songs Questions | Music Mixture Trivia Quiz

Everyone notices the performer, but have you paid attention to the people who wrote the songs that others turned into hits? Some of them are well-known as performers in their own right, some prefer to remain out of the limelight.

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