I Come For To Sing: The Bob Gibson story Quiz

Answer: New York City

Gibson was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on November 16th 1931. He was influential in folk music in the late 1950s and 1960s, then lost his way through a dependency on alcohol and drugs before reappearing - clean and dry - in the 1980s.
In the late 1980s he began to show the first signs of an illness that was to be diagnosed as Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and died on September 28th 1996 in Portland, Oregon.
His daughter, Meridian Green, followed him into the music business.

Answer: Bob Camp

Gibson was based in Chicago and Camp was discovered by the promoter Albert Grossman singing in Greenwich Village, New York. Camp turned up in Chicago and began to sing with Gibson at the Gate of Horn club. Their live 1961 album 'Gibson & Camp at the Gate of Horn' became folk music's first gold record. Bob Camp changed his name to Hamilton Camp and went on to have a successful career as an actor. Years later, Roger McGuinn, co-founder of The Byrds, was interviewed by MOJO magazine and was asked which album he would take as a luxury on a desert island.

He chose 'Gibson & Camp at the Gate of Horn'. McGuinn said: "Bob Gibson was great all by himself...When Bob Camp hooked up it was something new. His were almost Beatles harmonies, way ahead of their time..." [MOJO magazine, June 2000].

Answer: Pete Seeger

Gibson had traveled throughout much of the USA after leaving school and was set for a career in a company that promoted speed-reading classes. Then, in 1953, he met Seeger and used money set aside for rent to buy a banjo.

Answer: Gate of Horn

The Gate of Horn was founded by Albert Grossman and opened in 1956. Gibson had an early 11-month residency. During his time there, he introduced many aspiring singers as his opening acts, among them Joan Baez.

Answer: Joan Baez

Baez was one of the singers that Gibson picked to open for him in performances at the Gate of Horn club in Chicago. Odetta and Judy Collins also appeared at the club with Gibson.
(Please do not think I am being rude or demeaning to Joan Baez by calling her a Songbird, that was the title of one of her own very lovely songs.)

Answer: Skiing

His love of skiing came while living in Aspen, Colorado, and he produced the LP "Ski Songs" in 1959. Tracks included "Celebrated Skier", "Bend in His Knees", "Skiin' in the Mornin'" and "Super Skier's Last Race". Gibson later claimed it was the biggest selling album he ever made.

Answer: Tom Paxton and Anne Hills

After years in and out of jail and rehab for his alcohol and drugs dependency, Gibson finally got straight and although he never regained his leading place in the folk music world, he successfully toured with Tom Paxton and the young Anne Hills as "The Best of Friends". An album of the same name was released in 2004. Earlier, Gibson produced several of Paxton's best LPs.
Ironically, Gibson and his friend Bob Camp had many years before rebuffed efforts of the promoter Albert Grossman for them to work with a female singer as a trio. Grossman went on to find and promote Peter, Paul & Mary.

Answer: Flying Whales and Peacock's Tales

The show aired on NBC and was nominated for an award in 1991. "Funky In The Country" and "Uptown Saturday Night" were the names of two of Gibson's later albums, in 1975 and 1984 respectively.

Answer: Let The Band Play Dixie

Written by Gibson and Dave North for the play 'The Courtship of Carl Sandburg', the song was based on words spoken by Abraham Lincoln at the end of the American Civil War. The lyrics go:
"We are gathered not in anger, but in celebration.
Let's be grateful we are once again a single nation.
Let's stand together reassured,
Now that peace has been secured
Our nation's illness can be cured
And I suggest the overture for this occasion.

He said, "Let the band play 'Dixie,'
Play that tune that holds its head up high and proud,
And let our nation, once divided, bloody but unbowed,
Take the swords of war and beat them back into a plow."
On the day that we surrendered, Mr. Lincoln told the crowd,
"Let the band play 'Dixie.'"
Among those to cover the song was Johnny Cash.

Answer: Arthur Godfrey and His Friends

"Arthur Godfrey and His Friends" was broadcast between 1949 and 1957 on CBS television. Others to appear on the live show included Pat Boone, Frank Parker, Carmel Quinn, Marion Marlowe, Janette Davis, The McGuire Sisters, and The Chordettes.

Answer: Marching To Pretoria

"I'm with you and you're with me and
So we are all together,
So we are all together,
So we are all together.
Sing with me, I'll sing with you and
So we will sing together
As we march along.
Chorus
We are marching to Pretoria,
Pretoria, Pretoria,
We are marching to Pretoria,
Pretoria, Hurrah.
It's interesting to note the similarities between the opening words of this song and that of John Lennon's "I Am The Walrus".
"I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together."
It is said that Lennon was one of those influenced by Bob Gibson.
("Wimoweh" was popularised by Pete Seeger; "The Death of Steven Biko" was written and performed by Tom Paxton and "Bwatue" was written and performed by Phil Ochs.)

Answer: George Hamilton IV

"Abilene, Abilene, prettiest town I've ever seen
Women there don't treat you mean, in Abilene, my Abilene."
Written with John D. Loudermilk, the song also reached number 15 in the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Gibson always declined to say whether the song was about Abilene, Texas or Abilene, Kansas.

Answer: Simon & Garfunkel

"Well you can tell the world about this
You can tell the nation about that
Tell'em what the master has done
Tell'em that the gospel has come
Tell'em that the victory's been won
He brought joy, joy, joy, joy, joy, joy,
Into my heart."
Written by Gibson and Bob Camp in 1961, The Chad Mitchell Trio recorded the song in 1962, as did the Australian group The Seekers in 1965.
The song appeared on the first S&G album.

Answer: Chad Mitchell Trio

To the tune of "The Wreck of the Old '97" it goes:
"Well, they called him Super Skier
As he sat around the sundeck,
For he swore that he would never take a spill.
When they finally took him down
They had to use three toboggans
To carry all the pieces down the hill.

[CHORUS:]
He was comin' down that slope
Goin' ninety miles an hour
When he caught an edge of his ski.
Well, his clothes, they were fast,
But the slopes, they were faster.
That's the last of Super Skier we shall see."

Gibson wrote the song for a proposed play while living in Aspen, Colorado. The play did not materialise, but he made a album "Ski Songs" out of the work. It was released in 1959.
The song appeared on the Mitchell Trio's 1961 LP "Mighty Day on Campus".

Answer: Shel Silverstein

Silverstein received a Grammy for "A Boy Named Sue", the Johnny Cash hit, in 1970.
Sheldon Silverstein was born on September 25th, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois, and died on May 9th, 1999 in Key West, Florida. The multitalented Silverstein was an author, poet, cartoonist, songwriter, playwright and screenwriter. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for "I'm Checkin' Out" a song on the film "Postcards From the Edge" (1990).
(In fact all four choices were Grammy winners).
"Wastin' Your Time" "The Waves Roll Out", "What You Gonna Do?", "If I'm There", "Come on Back Baby (Lovesick Blues)" and "Baby, If You Don't Know Now" where all written by Gibson and Silverstein during their 35 years' collaboration.