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Quiz about Song CoversEasy To Be Hard
Quiz about Song CoversEasy To Be Hard

Song Covers-Easy To Be Hard Trivia Quiz


Some re-makes (covers) of songs are more famous than the original song. Here are some questions about songs which were more popular the second or more time around.

A multiple-choice quiz by dobbywestham. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
dobbywestham
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
240,175
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
9 / 15
Plays
835
- -
Question 1 of 15
1. From where did the song "Easy to be Hard" by Three Dog Night come? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. Got a "Black Magic Woman"? What a recording by Santana! If you look at the credits the song was written by Peter Green. What group was Peter Green the leader of and they are the group which did "Black Magic Woman" first. Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" was a big hit for Three Dog Night. Didn't they ever write their own songs? Which songwriter, also famous for his film scores, ("Monsters, Inc.") wrote and recorded this song? His uncle Alfred is regarded by some to be the best composer of film scores in Hollywood history with 34 Oscar nominations. Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. In 1968 The Mamas and the Papas hit it big with "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" which is a lot older than I realized. After some research I found that it was written by Wilbur Schwandt and Fabian Andre with lyrics by Gus Kahn back in the early 1930's. It was recorded by a big band(orchestra) on February 16th, 1931 which had its famous leader sing the song. I didn't realize he even led an orchestra! I only remember him from TV Land reruns. Who is this 1950's television icon who recorded the song in 1931? Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. "Can't help it bout the shape I'm in, I can't dance, I ain't pretty and my legs are thin." Peter Green wrote these lyrics for the song "Oh Well." What group made it a hit after Fleetwood Mac recorded it? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. "Roll Over Beethoven" has been redone many times since this person or group originally did it? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. There's a really rockin' version of the song "America" on a couple or more Yes albums. Who, where, or from what play did that song come from or what group recorded it first? Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. Aretha Franklin, what a great cover artist! With her voice almost any song would be great. Who wrote and recorded one of her many covers, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"? Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. What folk music legend wrote the song "If I had a Hammer"?
He also wrote "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?"
Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. Sometime there's more than one side to a story. At least that's what the famous saying says. Judy Collins hit it big with a song on the subject, "Both Sides Now." Who wrote and sang the original version of the song "Both Sides Now"? She may have had to take a "Big Yellow Taxi" to the studio during the "Chelsea Morning". In the taxi an item on the dashboard may have said "You Turn Me On I'm a Radio". A huge concert in New York in 1969("Woodstock") was the title of another song she wrote which was covered by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young along with "Circle Game" and "Jericho". Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. Two of Eric Clapton's hits were called "After Midnight" and "Cocaine". These songs were written and performed first by somebody else. Who was the person who also wrote the Lynard Skynard cover of "Call Me The Breeze"? Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. Manfred Mann's Earth Band did a few covers, at least. "The Mighty Quinn", mentioned later in the quiz was one. Two other covers, "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit in the Night", were from another singer/songwriter. Who is he? Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. "One Bourboun, One Scotch, One Beer" was a big hit for George Thorogood, but what legendary blues artist wrote the song? Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. Another song from the stage was the Beatles song "Til' There Was You". From what Broadway play by did this song come? Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. What quiz about song covers would be complete without a question where this artist is the answer. He wrote songs with titles "All Along the Watchtower", "The Mighty Quinn", "It ain't Me Babe", "Mr. Tambourine Man", and Olivia Newton-John's hit "If Not For You". Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. From where did the song "Easy to be Hard" by Three Dog Night come?

Answer: The Musical "Hair"

There were other hits from "Hair" as well. "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In" was a hit for The Fifth Dimension. "Hair" was a hit for the Cowsills. The 1968 hit show was very popular. One of the actors was a young Diane Keaton.
2. Got a "Black Magic Woman"? What a recording by Santana! If you look at the credits the song was written by Peter Green. What group was Peter Green the leader of and they are the group which did "Black Magic Woman" first.

Answer: Fleetwood Mac

Before becoming a pop song factory, Fleetwood Mac was a British blues band. Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood started the band in 1967 after leaving John Mayall and the Blues Breakers. The band was named Fleetwood Mac after Peter's preferred drummer and bass player. McVie didn't join the group immediately, staying with the Blues Breakers for a few weeks before finally agreeing to join the band which was named for him. Black Magic Woman is included on the 1969 album "English Rose" which features a funny photo on the cover of a "woman" who definitely isn't what I think of when I hear rose to describe someone. Santana's 1970 album "Abraxus" included the fantastic and much more popular version of the song.
3. "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" was a big hit for Three Dog Night. Didn't they ever write their own songs? Which songwriter, also famous for his film scores, ("Monsters, Inc.") wrote and recorded this song? His uncle Alfred is regarded by some to be the best composer of film scores in Hollywood history with 34 Oscar nominations.

Answer: Randy Newman

Randy's two biggest hits were probably "Short People" and "I Love L.A.". His film scores include his first, "Cold Turkey", in 1971, "A Bug's Life", "Babe:Pig In The City", "Pleasantville", "Toy Story I", and "Toy Story II". I love the duet in "Monsters, Inc." with John Goodman and Billy Crystal. "It Ain't Easy" was the 1970 album by Three dog Night which featured the song.
4. In 1968 The Mamas and the Papas hit it big with "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" which is a lot older than I realized. After some research I found that it was written by Wilbur Schwandt and Fabian Andre with lyrics by Gus Kahn back in the early 1930's. It was recorded by a big band(orchestra) on February 16th, 1931 which had its famous leader sing the song. I didn't realize he even led an orchestra! I only remember him from TV Land reruns. Who is this 1950's television icon who recorded the song in 1931?

Answer: Ozzie Nelson

I should have figured on Ozzie. Not only is he musically inclined, his son Ricky hit it big as well as his grand-kids who hit number one with their song "Love and Affection" as the group Nelson. The song also has a very good version by Louis Armstrong with Ella Fitzgerald. With those two on the recording how could it be anything other than great! The Mamas and the Papas version of the song is its best known version these days and kind of marked the beginning of Cass Elliot's solo career.
5. "Can't help it bout the shape I'm in, I can't dance, I ain't pretty and my legs are thin." Peter Green wrote these lyrics for the song "Oh Well." What group made it a hit after Fleetwood Mac recorded it?

Answer: The Rockets

I still prefer the Fleetwood Mac version of the song. It has an extended ending that the single version of The Rockets lacked. As with "Black Magic Woman" the lyrics are few and the music is great. The original song appeared on the Fleetwood Mac album "Then Play On" and the Rockets version was on "Rockets(Turn Up the Radio)"
6. "Roll Over Beethoven" has been redone many times since this person or group originally did it?

Answer: Chuck Berry

As with many songs in the 1950's and 1960's "Roll Over Beethoven" by white artists became bigger hits than the original by a black artist, in this case Chuck Berry. The Beatles and Rolling Stones had versions which were popular, but they liked telling everyone how much they relied on the original artists they covered, so in this case Chuck Berry is the one who is remembered for doing the original. My favorite version is a really rockin' recording by The Electric Light Orchestra.
7. There's a really rockin' version of the song "America" on a couple or more Yes albums. Who, where, or from what play did that song come from or what group recorded it first?

Answer: Simon and Garfunkle

"America" was on the 1968 album "Bookends" by Simon and Garfunkel. They released it as a single in 1972 and it rose to 97 on the charts. Neil Diamond's song "America" was from "The Jazz Singer." "America" was also a song in "West Side Story." Though Francis Scott Key didn't write "America"(My Country Tis Of Thee, a.k.a.God Save The King(Queen)), he did wrote the words to "The Star Spangled Banner."
8. Aretha Franklin, what a great cover artist! With her voice almost any song would be great. Who wrote and recorded one of her many covers, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"?

Answer: Carole King

"Tapestry" was one of the biggest selling albums of all time at one point in the 1970s. Helped by great songs like "You've Got A Friend", "So Far Away", "I Feel the Earth Move", "It's Too Late", and "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?", it spent many months on the album charts. Aretha's version was so popular that she named one of her hit collections "A Natural Woman".
9. What folk music legend wrote the song "If I had a Hammer"? He also wrote "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?"

Answer: Pete Seeger

What a great folk singer was Pete Seeger! We heard of him in the 60's but he's been around for a whole lot longer. "If I Had A Hammer" was written by Pete and Lee Hays in 1949 to support the Progressive Movement. Three lines from a Ukranian folk song provided Pete with the inspiration for "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" He read the lines in a novel by Mikhail Sholokhov, wrote them down, and a few years later looked at them and was inspired to write the song.

The lines in the novel were "Where are the flowers, the girls have plucked them. Where are the girls, they've all taken husbands. Where are the men, they're all in the army." Seeger and Joe Hickerson wrote the words and music of the song in the late 1950s.
10. Sometime there's more than one side to a story. At least that's what the famous saying says. Judy Collins hit it big with a song on the subject, "Both Sides Now." Who wrote and sang the original version of the song "Both Sides Now"? She may have had to take a "Big Yellow Taxi" to the studio during the "Chelsea Morning". In the taxi an item on the dashboard may have said "You Turn Me On I'm a Radio". A huge concert in New York in 1969("Woodstock") was the title of another song she wrote which was covered by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young along with "Circle Game" and "Jericho".

Answer: Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell is the obvious choice, if you recognized any of the clues. If you want to hear her at her best perhaps the "Miles Of Aisles" album would be a good listen. That is a great two-record set with Tom Scott and the L.A. Express backing Joni. Joni was a painter-turned-folk singer who used some of her self portraits as cover art for her albums.
11. Two of Eric Clapton's hits were called "After Midnight" and "Cocaine". These songs were written and performed first by somebody else. Who was the person who also wrote the Lynard Skynard cover of "Call Me The Breeze"?

Answer: J. J. Cale

Yes, I once had a pack of Trivial Pursuit cards thrown at me because I knew who wrote "Cocaine". Born in 1938 he was part of what became known as The Tulsa Sound. Some of the artists who recognize him as an influence in their music are Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, and Brian ferry.
12. Manfred Mann's Earth Band did a few covers, at least. "The Mighty Quinn", mentioned later in the quiz was one. Two other covers, "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit in the Night", were from another singer/songwriter. Who is he?

Answer: Bruce Springsteen

His "Greetings From Asbury Park, New Jersey" was one of the great debut albums of all time, even if few recognized it at the time. It figures that Bruce's first song on the album would be one of his most recognizable songs that were covered this side of "Pink Cadillac" and "Fire". During Springsteen's sessions for "Darkness on the Edge of Town" he was recording the original version of "Because the Night". Patti Smith was recording in the next studio and the two bands exchanged some tapes. The song didn't find room on Springsteen's album, but Patti changed the lyrics to a female perspective, recorded it for her album "Easter", and had a hit which rose to #13 on the American charts. Springsteen's only commercial release of the song with the original lyrics is on his"Live 1975-85" album.
13. "One Bourboun, One Scotch, One Beer" was a big hit for George Thorogood, but what legendary blues artist wrote the song?

Answer: John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker appeared in "The Blues Brothers" movie and some Pepsi commercials late in his life. His albums included "Boom Boom" and many others. There are some great compilations of this blues master to be found on the web. Many great musicians have recorded with him in the seven decades of his active career including Ry Cooder, Robert Cray, and Van Morrison.
14. Another song from the stage was the Beatles song "Til' There Was You". From what Broadway play by did this song come?

Answer: The Music Man

Meredith Wilson wrote an amazing score to this memorable play with songs like "Seventy-Six Trombones" and "Gary, Indiana". Do you remember Little Ronnie Howard singing "Gary, Indiana"? He went on to a few bigger and better things. Come on, whistle "The Andy Griffith Show" theme where they're going fishing.

In the early Beatles years they weren't above singing other artists' songs. "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Twist and Shout" were just two covers by them.
15. What quiz about song covers would be complete without a question where this artist is the answer. He wrote songs with titles "All Along the Watchtower", "The Mighty Quinn", "It ain't Me Babe", "Mr. Tambourine Man", and Olivia Newton-John's hit "If Not For You".

Answer: Bob Dylan

I can't count the number of Dylan songs that were redone. One of the great songwriters since the 1960s, Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman) started as a folk musician, did a bit of rock and roll, and kept cranking out song after song. Of course he wasn't above recording other artists songs either with a version of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" and some others.
Source: Author dobbywestham

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ralzzz before going online.
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