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Quiz about Who Wrote These Standards
Quiz about Who Wrote These Standards

Who Wrote These Standards? Trivia Quiz


Can you tell your Cole Porter from your Duke Ellington? See if you can tell who wrote these well known songs.

A matching quiz by agony. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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  9. Standards - Great American Songbook

Author
agony
Time
4 mins
Type
Match Quiz
Quiz #
401,828
Updated
Aug 08 23
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Easy
Avg Score
9 / 10
Plays
396
Awards
Top 10% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 49 (8/10), Guest 73 (10/10), PDAZ (10/10).
(a) Drag-and-drop from the right to the left, or (b) click on a right side answer box and then on a left side box to move it.
QuestionsChoices
1. This lyricist worked with such composers as Harold Arlen and Henry Mancini. Some of his best known songs were "Too Marvelous for Words", "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)", and "Moon River". What's the name?  
  Johnny Mercer
2. This songwriter had a long, long career, and gave us such standards as "Alexander's Ragtime Band", "Always", and "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm". He is most famous for two songs: a Christmas song, and a patriotic one. Can you name him?  
  Jerome Kern
3. This artist collaborated with Duke Ellington for much of his career - composing and arranging. He gave us such songs as "Lush Life" and "Take the A Train". Who is it?  
  Cole Porter
4. So we come to the Gershwins - which one wrote the words, George or Ira?  
  Ira Gershwin
5. Which of the Gershwins was the composer - George or Ira?  
  Harold Arlen
6. This lyricist wrote such songs as "A Fine Romance", "I Must Have That Man", "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", and "Big Spender". One of the great show tune writers, with a quick wit and a natural turn of phrase. Who is this?  
  George Gershwin
7. Even those who are not really interested in Standards have heard of Cole Porter and the Gershwin brothers, but for some reason this next composer is less famous with the general public. They know his songs, though - "Black Magic", "It's Only A Paper Moon", "I've Got The World On A String", "Stormy Weather" and the most famous of all, "Over The Rainbow". Who is he?  
  Richard Rodgers
8. This artist wrote both music and lyrics for his songs, and much of his work was for musical theatre. You almost don't need any song titles for this one - he's probably the most famous name in this quiz - but I'll give you a few. Who gave us "Let's Do It", "Love for Sale", and "I Get a Kick out of You"?   
  Dorothy Fields
9. This composer worked with several of the lyricists already mentioned in this quiz, with such songs as "Ol' Man River" and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes". The musical you most likely know, of his, is "Show Boat". Who is he?  
  Billy Strayhorn
10. Our next composer is mostly remembered for his two main writing partnerships, with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. Who is he?  
  Irving Berlin





Select each answer

1. This lyricist worked with such composers as Harold Arlen and Henry Mancini. Some of his best known songs were "Too Marvelous for Words", "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)", and "Moon River". What's the name?
2. This songwriter had a long, long career, and gave us such standards as "Alexander's Ragtime Band", "Always", and "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm". He is most famous for two songs: a Christmas song, and a patriotic one. Can you name him?
3. This artist collaborated with Duke Ellington for much of his career - composing and arranging. He gave us such songs as "Lush Life" and "Take the A Train". Who is it?
4. So we come to the Gershwins - which one wrote the words, George or Ira?
5. Which of the Gershwins was the composer - George or Ira?
6. This lyricist wrote such songs as "A Fine Romance", "I Must Have That Man", "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", and "Big Spender". One of the great show tune writers, with a quick wit and a natural turn of phrase. Who is this?
7. Even those who are not really interested in Standards have heard of Cole Porter and the Gershwin brothers, but for some reason this next composer is less famous with the general public. They know his songs, though - "Black Magic", "It's Only A Paper Moon", "I've Got The World On A String", "Stormy Weather" and the most famous of all, "Over The Rainbow". Who is he?
8. This artist wrote both music and lyrics for his songs, and much of his work was for musical theatre. You almost don't need any song titles for this one - he's probably the most famous name in this quiz - but I'll give you a few. Who gave us "Let's Do It", "Love for Sale", and "I Get a Kick out of You"?
9. This composer worked with several of the lyricists already mentioned in this quiz, with such songs as "Ol' Man River" and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes". The musical you most likely know, of his, is "Show Boat". Who is he?
10. Our next composer is mostly remembered for his two main writing partnerships, with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. Who is he?

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Feb 25 2024 : Guest 49: 8/10
Feb 09 2024 : Guest 73: 10/10
Feb 03 2024 : PDAZ: 10/10
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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. This lyricist worked with such composers as Harold Arlen and Henry Mancini. Some of his best known songs were "Too Marvelous for Words", "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)", and "Moon River". What's the name?

Answer: Johnny Mercer

As he says in one of his songs:

"Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between"

Mercer's style of songwriting was not too well suited to the Broadway shows of the early 1930s, so he moved to Hollywood, to act and write songs for movies. There his career took off - over the years he worked with most of the composers of the day. Johnny Mercer died in 1976.
2. This songwriter had a long, long career, and gave us such standards as "Alexander's Ragtime Band", "Always", and "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm". He is most famous for two songs: a Christmas song, and a patriotic one. Can you name him?

Answer: Irving Berlin

The composer of "White Christmas" and "God Bless America" was born in Russia, and come to the US as a small child. He apparently could not read music, and wasn't any great shakes as a piano player either, but oh, could he write songs! He died at the age of 101, in 1989.

A partial list of his well known songs includes those mentioned in the question, plus:
"Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)"
"Blue Skies"
"Cheek to Cheek"
"Doin' What Comes Natur'lly"
"Easter Parade"
"The Girl That I Marry"

And on, and on....
3. This artist collaborated with Duke Ellington for much of his career - composing and arranging. He gave us such songs as "Lush Life" and "Take the A Train". Who is it?

Answer: Billy Strayhorn

By all accounts, this was a highly successful partnership; their musical styles fit together seamlessly. They worked together for more than thirty years, and after Strayhorn's death, Ellingtion released "And His Mother Called Him Bill", a collection of his songs.
4. So we come to the Gershwins - which one wrote the words, George or Ira?

Answer: Ira Gershwin

Everybody thinks of George as the genius, in this pair, but Ira was no slouch, either. After George's death he continued writing with other composers for many years. He wrote one of my all time favorite songs, along with Harold Arlen: "The Man That Got Away". If you have seen the Judy Garland/James Mason version of "A Star is Born", you'll know the song I mean. Ira Gershwin died in 1983.
5. Which of the Gershwins was the composer - George or Ira?

Answer: George Gershwin

The brothers, George and Ira, first collaborated on 1924's "Lady Be Good". They worked together almost exclusively from then on until George's death in 1937. George also composed groundbreaking modern classical music such as "An American in Paris" and "Rhapsody in Blue". He died young, at the age of 39.

The list of familiar Gershwin tunes is almost endless:

"Oh, Lady be Good"
"They Can't Take That Away From Me"
"Nice Work If You Can Get It"
"Love is Here to Stay"
"Someone to Watch Over Me"
"I Got Rhythm"
"Of Thee I Sing"
"Fascinating Rhythm"
"A Foggy Day in London"
"Summertime"
6. This lyricist wrote such songs as "A Fine Romance", "I Must Have That Man", "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", and "Big Spender". One of the great show tune writers, with a quick wit and a natural turn of phrase. Who is this?

Answer: Dorothy Fields

Fields wrote many of her most memorable songs in collaboration with Jimmy McHugh - "On the Sunny Side of the Street", "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", "I'm In The Mood For Love" and one of my all time favorites, "I Must Have That Man". She also worked with Jerome Kern, and produced songs like "I Won't Dance" and "A Fine Romance" for his shows.

Her effortless wit and style make the forced lyrics of some modern showtunes stink like three day old fish. Listen to "I Can't Give You Anything But Love":

"Dream a while
Scheme a while
We're sure to find
Happiness and I guess
All those things you've always pined for
Gee, I'd like to see you looking swell, baby
Diamond bracelets Woolworth doesn't sell, baby
Till that lucky day
You know darned well, baby
I can't give you anything but love"
7. Even those who are not really interested in Standards have heard of Cole Porter and the Gershwin brothers, but for some reason this next composer is less famous with the general public. They know his songs, though - "Black Magic", "It's Only A Paper Moon", "I've Got The World On A String", "Stormy Weather" and the most famous of all, "Over The Rainbow". Who is he?

Answer: Harold Arlen

Arlen, born Hyman Arluck, was the son of a cantor - I was a little amazed, while researching this quiz, to see how many Jazz Age artists were cantor's sons; I guess "The Jazz Singer" had it right after all. He worked with many lyricists during his long career, but had his longest and most fruitful partnerships with Yip Harburg ("The Wizard of Oz") and Johnny Mercer. He died in 1986.
8. This artist wrote both music and lyrics for his songs, and much of his work was for musical theatre. You almost don't need any song titles for this one - he's probably the most famous name in this quiz - but I'll give you a few. Who gave us "Let's Do It", "Love for Sale", and "I Get a Kick out of You"?

Answer: Cole Porter

Cole Porter was the epitome of the sophisticated, witty songwriter, and his lifestyle bore it out - glittering parties, questionable sexuality and all. Who else could have written lyrics like these for a cowboy song?

"I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses" ("Don't Fence Me In", 1944)

A short list of well known Porter tunes includes:

"Anything Goes"
"Begin the Beguine" (called by Irving Berlin "That long, long, song")
"It's De-Lovely"
"Easy to Love"
"I've Got You Under My Skin"
"Just One of Those Things"
"Miss Otis Regrets" ...well, you get the idea.
9. This composer worked with several of the lyricists already mentioned in this quiz, with such songs as "Ol' Man River" and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes". The musical you most likely know, of his, is "Show Boat". Who is he?

Answer: Jerome Kern

Kern studied music as a young man at the New York College of Music and in Germany. He found his way to musical theatre by way of Tin Pan Alley. He also worked in England, and wrote music for silent films. He was very busy writing for musicals all through the teens and twenties. Jerome Kern passed away in 1945.
10. Our next composer is mostly remembered for his two main writing partnerships, with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. Who is he?

Answer: Richard Rodgers

Rodgers' collaboration with Hart brought us songs such as "My Funny Valentine", "The Lady is a Tramp", "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", and "Blue Moon".

With Hammerstein, he wrote what are probably the most famous musicals of the twentieth century: "Oklahoma", "Carousel", "South Pacific", "The King and I", "The Sound of Music", and several less well known shows.

Rodgers was the first EGOT winner - Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. He died in 1979.
Source: Author agony

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor 1nn1 before going online.
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This quiz is part of series agony's Lyrics to Jazz Standards:

"It's just a simple melody, with nothing fancy, nothing much..." See if you know these standards.

  1. Lyrics to Jazz Standards Tough
  2. Lyrics to More Jazz Standards Average
  3. Lyrics to Even More Jazz Standards Average
  4. Yet More Lyrics to Jazz Standards Average
  5. Who Wrote These Standards? Easier

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