Musical Generations Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jakob

The Dylan name must have been a hard one to live up to, but Jakob formed his own band in Los Angeles in 1989. That band became The Wallflowers and Jakob became their main songwriter.

Six albums and a busy touring career followed, until the band broke up in 2005.

Over the next six years, Jakob pursued a solo career. His second solo album "Women + Country " was produced by the legendary T Bone Burnett and reached number 12 in the Billboard 200 album charts.

In 2011 The Wallflowers reformed and began to record and tour again.

Jakob rarely spoke about his relationship with his father, but he opened up to 'The New York Times' in 2005 saying: "...he was affectionate. When I was a kid, he was a god to me for all the right reasons. Other people have put that tag on him in some otherworldly sense. I say it as any kid who admired his dad and had a great relationship with him. He never missed a single Little League game I had. He's collected every home-run ball I ever hit. And he's still affectionate to me."

Answer: Albert Hammond

It is estimated that 350 million copies of songs written or co-written by Albert Hammond Sr have been sold worldwide. He was also a performer, singing his own songs in Spanish as well as in English.

He collaborated with, among others, Hal David, Diane Warren, Richard Carpenter, John Bettis, Carole Bayer Sager and the partner he started with, Mike Hazelwood.

His songs were covered by the likes of Tina Turner, Chicago, The Carpenters, Aretha Franklin, Starship, Whitney Houston and the seemingly unlikely duo of Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson.

Albert Hammond Jnr joined The Strokes in Los Angeles in the late 1990s and his first solo album was released in 2006. Three more followed by the time this quiz was written in June 2019.

Meanwhile, James McCartney, son of Paul, also became a musician, as did J.T. Van Zandt, son of Townes, and Justin Townes Earle, son of Steve.

Answer: Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr was not the original drummer in The Beatles, but was an essential member of the band.

His son, Zak Starkey, picked up the drumsticks at an early age when Keith Moon, drummer of The Who, gave him a kit. Zak was to go on to play drums with The Who from 1996.

Between 2004 and 2008 he toured and oft-times recorded with Oasis: the band that claimed to be bigger than The Beatles. Zak also played with his dad's All-Starr Band.

Answer: Guthrie Family

It all started with Woody Guthrie, arguably the most influential folk songwriter of his generation, and who was to be revered by followers.

Then came Arlo, who found fame when a littering ticket inspired the song "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" but which was, many thought, a commentary on the absurdity of the US Draft.

Arlo soon had his own family out on the road touring with him. He joked that the Guthrie Family were a bit like the Von Trapp Family - except without the ski lodges.

Son Abe and daughters Annie, Cathy and Sarah Lee carved their own names in this musical family tree. Their children were also on stage from the time they could walk. Sarah Lee toured and recorded with her husband Johnny Irion, while Cathy and Amy Nelson (daughter of Willie Nelson) formed the duo Folk Yuke. Annie Guthrie also toured and recorded with a band and as a solo artist. Abe toured with his dad for more than 30 years.

While at the time this question was written most of Arlo's grandchildren were still in their teen years or younger, Abe's son, Krishna, was a drummer with the band Modest Me and he toured with Arlo: becoming the first of the fourth generation Guthrie family performers.

(This quiz was written with albums by Sarah Lee and Annie playing in the background.)

Answer: Django Walker

Django Walker is the son of Jerry Jeff Walker, who became a trailblazer on the Texas-based country scene. Jerry Jeff's best known song was "Mr Bojangles", although he produced a vast catalogue of country/folk/blues based songs during a 50-year career.

Django started playing with his own band at the age of 16, and if anything his influences were even more widespread.

He has recorded two albums, "Down the Road" in 2002 and "Six Trips Around the World" in 2006. "Modern Day Bojangles" was on the 2002 album.

Answer: Hank Williams

Hank Williams I was an all-American boy who wrote and sang some of the most influential country songs of the 20th Century. In all, 35 were to reach the country top ten charts and 11 were to reach number one.
Despite his wholesome appearance, Williams was an alcoholic who died tragically young at the age of 29.

He was succeeded by Hank Williams II. The Guardian newspaper famously noted that "A manipulative mom turned young Hank Jr into a lucrative clone of his revered, deceased dad."

Initially, Williams II covered his father's songs but he became disillusioned and started to forge his own course, during which he disassociated himself from his mother.

He found his own voice in a blend of country, rock and blues, and by 1976 seemed to move out of his father's shadow. Ironically, he was to embrace the same alcohol dependency that had troubled his dad.
It was also ironic that after he stopped being a tribute act to his father, Hank Williams II began to enjoy his greatest success. In the 1980s he had a string of top 30 placings in the US Country charts, including eight number ones.

If Hank Williams I personified good clean apple pie country music, his grandson was to turn all that on its head.
Hank Williams III sang songs that embraced country, punk rock and heavy metal. While concert performances proved popular, Hank Williams III rarely troubled the chart-keepers at Billboard. It was said, though, that Williams III looked and sounded more like Williams I than did the middle generation.

To flesh out the family legacy a little bit more, Holly Williams, daughter of Hank II and step-sister of Hank III, is another singer-guitarist who has built a steady career.

Answer: The Wainwrights

If anyone thought the Williamses I, II and II constituted a dysfunctional family, they have never encountered the Wainwrights. At least none of the Williamses sniped at each other in song. The epitaph in the question came from a review by the British newspaper the Guardian.

Once upon a time there were two Canadian sisters who formed a folk-singing duo: Kate and Anna McGarrigle.
Then Kate married Loudon Wainwright III, who was sometimes dubbed "the new Dylan".

That type of sobriquet can be a poisoned chalice and there is no doubt that while Loudon was a songwriting genius, there was something strange in the bleak, black humour of many of his songs.

His marriage to Kate ended in divorce, but not before he had written songs about their children, Rufus and Martha.
(Wainwright has another singing daughter, Lucy Wainwright Roche, after a relationship with the singer Suzzy Roche).

Both Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright became successful singers and performers, often writing acerbic songs about their dad. Elton John famously described Rufus as "'the planet's greatest songwriter".

Rufus told the Guardian in 2016: "My dad and I had a very difficult relationship at the outset of my career. There was silence and discomfort. But he came to a lot of my shows. He was proud, but he also felt eclipsed."
He also said his mother "wasn't particularly happy that I was gay" and spoke of relying heavily on his sister for support.

Answer: Ravi Coltrane

Ravi was the middle son of John and Alice Coltrane. John picked up the saxophone, a gift from his mother, and started recording while serving in the US Navy just after WW2. He went on to become the most influential sax player of his time. He died at the tragically young age of 40 in 1967.

Alice Coltrane had been a successful pianist in her own right before she joined the John Coltrane Quartet. After John's death, she created a style that fused her loves of gospel, classical, and jazz music as a solo artist. She died in 2007.

Initially, Ravi Coltrane had intended to become a filmmaker and played clarinet in his high-school marching band. He studied music at California Institute of the Arts, but jamming sessions with friends of his dad in New York City convinced him to take up the saxophone.

At one time Ravi, Oranyan and their elder brother John played together in a quartet. Oranyan moved from the world of jazz into rock and soul and formed his own band.

If you know music, you will have recognised that the wrong answers were all banjo players. Which brings me neatly to an old joke: In music, what is perfect pitch? It's when you throw an accordion into a trash skip and it lands squarely on top of a banjo.

Answer: Bob Marley

It was said that Bob Marley had enough children to start a soccer team, let alone a band.

But four of them formed The Melody Makers. In 20 years they released 11 albums, three of which won Grammys.

Bob Marley was born in Jamaica in 1945 and founded The Wailing Wailers. From 1972, they sold 20 million records before Marley died in 1981. His legacy was to introduce and popularise reggae music to a wider world.

Marley had at least nine children - although sources vary. Sons, David "Ziggy" and Stephen, daughter Cedella and step-daughter Sharon performed for years as Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers, later as the Melody Makers. Although Bob had encouraged the creation of the band, their music was different, being classed by some as pop-reggae.

Other sons, Damian "Gong Jr." Ky-Mani, and Julian also became recording artists.

Bob's wife, Rita, meanwhile had played with a trio called The I-Threes, who were hailed as the most influential female singing group in the history of Jamaican music. From 1975 they toured with The Wailers.

Answer: Carter and Cash

In 1927, Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter persuaded his wife Janette and her cousin Maybelle (who was also AP's sister-in-law) to travel from their home in southwest Virginia to Bristol, Tennessee, to make the first recordings by The Carter Family Band.

It is said they became the first country music stars, and were the first to record commercial country music. Between 1927 and 1956, the Carter Family were lauded far and wide and their voices got into the homes of virtually every American who had possession of one of the new-fangled wireless sets.

Just before WW2, the next generation joined the line-up: Janette Carter, Joe Carter, Helen Carter, June Carter, and Anita Carter for radio broadcasts only.

While officially the act disbanded in 1944, Maybelle continued to perform with her daughters Anita Carter, June Carter, and Helen Carter.

A.P., Sara, and their children Joe and Janette got back together to record three albums in the 1950s.

The songs of the Carter Family entered the American consciousness and were to be revised by many other artists in the 1950s and 1960s. Arlo Guthrie has said that the Carter Family were an act his family listened to and were impressed by.

In the meantime, June Carter met an up and coming young star called Johnny Cash at the Grand Ole Opry in the 1950s and they married in 1968.

Johnny Cash had a distinctive singing voice that once heard could rarely be mistaken for anyone else.
They worked and sang together until June's death in 2003. They had a son, John Carter Cash who also became a successful musician.

Then, in the early part of the 21st Century came "Carter Family III". It featured John Carter Cash (third generation Carter family) and his cousin Dale Jett (also third generation). John's wife Laura Weber Cash played with them until their divorce.

Other musicians linked to the family tree include Rosanne Cash and Carlene Carter, Nick Lowe (Carlene's ex-husband) and Rodney Crowell (Rosanne's ex-husband).

Trivia note: one wonders what might have happened if a certain distant cousin of June Carter had joined the family band. His name? Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the USA.