My Favourite Concerts Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sting

The Paul Simon and Sting concert took place at the Air Canada Centre on March 1, 2014. The show opened with the pair singing three tunes together, two of Sting's and one of Simon's. They both had their own bands touring with them, and for these openers, both bands accompanied them.

Then, the show moved to a back-and-forth format where they rarely shared the stage. However, every now and then, one would sing a tune that had been made famous by the other. My favourite song of the night was when Sting picked up an acoustic guitar, propped his foot on a stool, and sang Paul Simon's "America". Amazing is the only word that I have to describe it!

Answer: Alice's Restaurant

In 1965, Guthrie and his friend dumped a bunch of garbage outside the landfill when they found that it was closed for the Thanksgiving weekend. They were caught, charged with littering, and found guilty of the charge. He subsequently wrote a song about the incident, called "Alice's Restaurant Masacree", or "Alice's Restaurant" as it is more commonly known.

The song is 18 minutes and 34 seconds long (on the first recorded version), and tells the story of the littering event and of how when the singer was called up for the Vietnam draft, he was declared unfit for service because of the littering conviction on his record.

This was a really enjoyable night of folk music.

Answer: Judy Collins

Judy Collins has the voice of an angel and beautiful, clear blue eyes. When she was dating Stephen Stills, he wrote "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" for her. The song was sung by Crosby, Stills and Nash, and debuted on their self-titled album in 1969. Judy Collins was one of my favourite female performers. I think that my favourite song of hers was an a cappella version of "Amazing Grace".

It was stunning.

Answer: 18

Burton Cummings joined the band that was to become The Guess Who as an 18-year-old singer from Winnipeg, Canada in 1966. He left that band and released his first solo album in 1976. He was so much fun to see in concert! He was clearly having a blast as he performed all of his solo hits and some of the songs from The Guess Who when he was with that band. We saw him in an open air concert in Hamilton, Ontario.

His version of "American Woman" that day was great!

Answer: Charlie Daniels

All of the options in this question are famous American fiddlers, but we were lucky enough to see Charlie Daniels at the Grand Ole Opry that night in 2013. Charlie Daniels' most famous song was "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" that won him a Grammy in 1979.

He still played the fiddle and sang like a master over thirty years later when he was 76 years old. Sadly, he passed away in July 2020 at the age of 83. Another musician that we saw that night was Hal Ketchum. Ketchum sang "Small Town Saturday Night" that evening. Sadly, he retired from the music industry in 2019 after being diagnosed with dementia.

He also passed away in 2020 at the age of 67.

Answer: Land of the Silver Birch

"Land of the Silver Birch" is a traditional Canadian folk music tune that has been sung since the 1920s. Gordon Lightfoot wasn't born until 1938, so he definitely did not write that one. Lightfoot is a very prolific Canadian songwriter, though. We were in for a treat at this concert.

He sang for about three hours with a twenty minute break in the middle. A special moment came when I realized that just about everyone in the auditorium was singing along with "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", Lightfoot's song from 1976 about the sinking of a lake freighter in Lake Superior in 1975.

It sent shivers up my spine.

Answer: Blood, Sweat & Tears

David Clayton Thomas is a Canadian performer who was the lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears beginning in the late 1960s. His first album with the band had won a number of Grammy Awards, including Best Performance by a Male Vocalist for Clayton-Thomas.

When we saw him, he had all kinds of horns with him and he sang many of Blood, Sweat & Tears' songs, including "Spinning Wheel", and "You've Made Me So Very Happy". The best part of the night, though, was when he sang his version of Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Child".

His deep, rich voice brought tears to my eyes as he sang that one.

Answer: Buffy Ste. Marie

All options in this question are Indigenous performers, but Buffy Ste. Marie was the first Indigenous person to win an Oscar. She co-wrote "Up Where We Belong" for the movie "An Officer and a Gentleman" and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1983.

Although she didn't sing that song at either of her concerts that we went to, she did sing many more of her songs, including "Universal Soldier", "Until It's Time for You to Go", and "Now That the Buffalo's Gone". She has a wonderfully unique voice that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys folk music.

Answer: James Taylor

Carole King wrote "You've Got a Friend" in 1971 when she placed it on her album "Tapestry". James Taylor released it as a single in 1971 where it went to Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. He was almost 70 years old, but during the intermission, he laid down at the edge of the stage and signed autographs the entire time while his band took a break back stage.

When my hubby took my hand during this song, it brought tears to my eyes.

Answer: June Carter

June Carter, Johnny Cash's wife, co-wrote this song with Merle Kilgore in 1963. Her husband, Johnny Cash, popularized the song in 1963 on his album, "Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash". Both Johnny and June performed at the concert in Toronto, a lovely night out for my mom who really liked Johnny Cash.

This song was ranked at number 27 on "Rolling Stone's" list of greatest all-time country songs in 2014.