Signature Songs 05: The 1960s Edition Quiz

Answer: The Rolling Stones

Ranked Number two on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time,", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" has long been a fixture on classic rock stations. Keith Richards awoke in the middle of the night with the riff in his mind (much like Paul McCartney and the melody of "Yesterday"). He recorded the song into a cassette recorder with the words "I can't get no satisfaction", went back to bed. Richards thought the riff bore a strong similarity to the Martha and the Vandella's track "Dancing in the Streets".

Although Richards did not want the song released a single, the rest of the band did. They released the track with "The Under-Assistant West Coast Promotion Man" as the B-Side. The track went to Number One, replacing The Four Tops "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch). The single stayed at Number One for four weeks, finally knocked off by Herman's Hermits hit "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am".

In a 1968 interview with "Rolling Stone", Mick Jagger made this statement. "[Bob] Dylan once said, 'I could have written "Satisfaction", but you couldn't have written "Tambourine Man.'" It's true, but I'd like to hear Bob Dylan sing, 'I can't get no satisfaction.'"

Answer: The Righteous Brothers

Recorded in August and November 1964 and released December 1964, "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" by The Righteous Brothers became a world wide smash, hitting Number One in both the UK and the United States. According to BMI in a 1999 study this song had more radio and television airtime than any other song ever recorded. The song appears at Number 34 on "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The song is one of the principal examples of Phil Spector's famous production technique called "the Wall of Sound". The song was considered too long for contemporary stands at 3:45, so Spector had the false time printed on the record and single labels, with the song supposedly running at 3:05 rather than its real length.

Interestingly enough, a young Cher is one of the background vocalists on the recording.

Answer: Tony Bennett

With music by George Cory and lyrics by Douglass Cross, this gay couple composed "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" in 1954. In 1962. Tony Bennett recorded the for his album of the same name. Originally written for Claramae Turner, Turner never actually recorded the song.

The song has long been Bennett's signature song. Bennett had this to say regarding the track: "That song helped make me a world citizen. It allowed me to live, work and sing in any city on the globe. It changed my whole life."

Answer: Frank Sinatra

In 1967, Paul Anka, the principal writer to "My Way", heard the French pop song "Comme d'habitude". He flew to France and got the rights to the song. Two years later, as he was having dinner with Sinatra, Frank exclaimed he was getting out of the business. With that statement in mind, Anka took the melody of the French song and rewrote the lyrics, specifically with Frank in mind.

Anka has this to say: ""At one o'clock in the morning, I sat down at an old IBM electric typewriter and said, 'If Frank were writing this, what would he say?' And I started, metaphorically, 'And now the end is near.' I read a lot of periodicals, and I noticed everything was 'my this' and 'my that'. We were in the 'me generation' and Frank became the guy for me to use to say that. I used words I would never use: 'I ate it up and spit it out.' But that's the way he talked. I used to be around steam rooms with the Rat Pack guys - they liked to talk like Mob guys, even though they would have been scared of their own shadows. "I called Frank up in Nevada - he was at Caesar's Palace - and said, 'I've got something really special for you.' "When my record company caught wind of it, they were very [angry] that I didn't keep it for myself. I said, 'Hey, I can write it, but I'm not the guy to sing it.' It was for Frank, no one else."

Anka would later record the song himself, very shortly after Frank released his version. He recorded the song again in 1996 as a duet with Gabriel Byrne and 2007 as a duet with Jon Bon Jovi.

Elvis began performing the song in the mid 1970s at his live concert, despite Anka saying it was not a good song for Presley to sing. Another famous version is one by Sid Vicious, who did a punk recording of the song with several lyrical changes.

Answer: The Mamas & The Papas

Appearing as Song 89 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", John Phillips wrote the song "California Dreamin'" in 1963 in New York. Released as a single in 1965, the song first appeared in LP format on the group's debut album "If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears", which also included "Monday, Monday" and The Beatles' cover "I Call Your Name".

Answer: The Drifters

Barry Martin and Cynthia Weil wrote the song with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The Marten-Weil version was recorded by The Cookies and The Crystals, with a slightly different arrangement and lyrics. When Leiber and Stoller told Martin and Weil that The Drifters were a song short, they all four got together, tweaking the lyrics and changing the music somewhat.

George Benson's hit recording of "On Broadway" came from the 1978 album "Weekend in L.A."

The song has been covered by the following artists: Bobby Darin, Buddy Rich, Eric Carmen, Frank Sinatra, Gary Numan, Johnny Mathis, Livingston Taylor, Lou Rawls, Nancy Sinatra, Neil Young, Paul Rodgers with Jeff Beck, Percy Faith, Sly & the Family Stone, Tito Puente, Tom Jones, and Widespread Panic, among others.

On the original 1963 Drifters recording, Phil Spector plays the guitar solo.

Answer: Nancy Sinatra

Lee Hazlewood wrote the song ""These Boots Are Made for Walking". He helped mentor Nancy during the 1960s and was a large driving force behind the success of her singing career during this period of her life. The song would later be widely covered in a vast array of styles, including punk rock, country, industrial, and dance. Jessica Simpson recorded a version of the song for the 2005 film "The Dukes of Hazzard". Megadeath also recorded a version of the song. Stanley Kubrick used the track for his 1987 Viet Nam war film "Full Metal Jacket".

In 1967, Nancy and her father Frank would record "Somethin' Stupid", which hit Number One in the US and the UK. This is the only father-daughter duet to hit Number One on the US Billboard Top 100.

Answer: Aretha Franklin

Otis Redding wrote "Respect" in 1965. The song became his biggest cross over hit, second only to "I've Been Loving You Too Long". Franklin's producer, Jerry Wexler, brought the song to Franklin's attention. In 1967, Franklin, who is known as the "Queen of Soul", recorded and released her version of "Respect", which features Carolyn and Erma, her sisters, singing backup.

The recording became an immediate hit. Appropriately enough, Redding himself had a profound respect for Aretha as result of her recording of his song. Rolling Stone magazine ranked "Respect" as the Song five on their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Answer: Ben E. King

Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber, and Mike Stoller wrote the song "Stand By Me" in 1960. King was not planning to record the song , but rather let The Drifters record the song. The Drifters decided not to record the track. During the "Spanish Harlem" recording sessions King discovered he had some studio time left over, so they decided to bring back in the studio musicians to record the song. King recorded the track October 27, 1960, and the song was released as a single in May 8, 1961.

According to Mike Stoller, ""I remember arriving at our office as Jerry and Ben were working on lyrics for a new song. King had the beginnings of a melody that he was singing a capella. I went to the piano and worked up the harmonies, developing a bass pattern that became the signature of the song. Ben and Jerry quickly finished the lyrics..."

Two years after its initial release as a single, King put the song on his album "Don't Play That Song".

Answer: The Who

Rolling Stone placed "My Generation" as the 11th song on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and 13th on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Rock & Roll. The band released the song in November 5 1965, and went to Number Two on the UK singles chart. The song has become one of Pete Townshend's most famous compositions, especially the famous line "I hope I die before I get old".

Originally I meant to include a question on this song in the very first "Signature Song" series and its subsequent installments, but for some reason never did.