Gimme a Head with Hair.... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Witchy Woman

"Witchy Woman" was the second of the three hit singles from the Eagles' first album, 1972's "Eagles". Bernie Leadon had been playing around with the song since his days with the Flying Burrito Brothers, and gave it to Don Henley to put together some lyrics.

Henley mixed some of the current southern California fascination with the occult and a book he was currently reading about Zelda Fitzgerald, and it came together in a Billboard Hot 100 number nine hit.

Answer: Johnny Cash and June Carter

"Well, go on down to Jackson; go ahead and wreck your health.
Go play your hand you big-talkin' man, make a big fool of yourself,
Yeah go to Jackson; go comb your hair!"

"Jackson" was first recorded in 1963 by Billy Edd Wheeler, who co-wrote it, and Joan Sommer. Johnny Cash and (then) June Carter put out their version in early 1967, and it was followed by a version from Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood later that same year. Both versions did well, with Cash and Carter's going all the way to number two on Billboard's Country Singles chart.

Answer: The Beach Boys

Due to its complexity, "Good Vibrations" was, at the time, the most expensive single ever recorded. Brian Wilson said "I had a lot of unfinished ideas, fragments of music I called 'feels.' Each feel represented a mood or an emotion I'd felt, and I planned to fit them together like a mosaic" and a mosaic is very much what the song feels like.

It was planned to be part of the "Smile" album, and was eventually included on the less ambitious "Smiley Smile" in 1967, after its release as a single the year before. It shot to the top of the charts in several countries, and in my opinion, belonged there, it's really quite something.

Answer: Rosemary

"Love Grows (Where my Rosemary Goes)" 1970, from Edison Lighthouse.

Tony Burrows was the singer for that band for that song, and, amazingly, was also the singer for three other bands who had charting hits at around the same time: Brotherhood of Man's "United We Stand"; the Pipkins' "Gimme Dat Ding"; and White Plains' "My Baby Loves Lovin'". He also sang on First Class' "Beach Baby" in 1974. He appeared a couple of times on "Top of the Pops" with different bands on the same show.

Answer: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

Written and sung by David Crosby, on 1970's "Deja Vu" album. This was CSNY's first album with Neil Young, and you can hear his guitar on this anthem to staking out one's side in the culture wars.

"But I'm not giving in an inch to fear...I feel like I owe it to someone".

Answer: Signs

Another tip of the hat to the counter-culture, this cheery little ditty from Ottawa's Five Man Electrical Band was first released on 1970's "Good-byes and Butterflies" but didn't make much of a splash until it was re-released the next year.

This band was a moderately big deal in Canada for a few years in the early 70s, and various versions of the band showed up now and then on the touring circuit for decades afterwards. Les Emmerson passed away in 2021 during the COVID pandemic.

California band Tesla had a nice little hit with their cover of "Signs" in 1990.

Answer: My silver-haired daddy

"That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine" comes to us from the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. It was mostly written by his brother in law and early singing partner, Jimmy Long, and a couple of versions kicked around for a few years until Autry sang it in two movies, and it became a hit, in 1935.

Modern audiences are probably most familiar with Gene Autry from his Christmas songs - his big hit, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", and also "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "Frosty the Snowman". But at the time, he was a huge star for his cowboy movies, ramblin' along the trail with his horse and his guitar.

Answer: And I just can't live without you

"Can't you see it in my eyes?"

"Sister Golden Hair" was one of America's biggest hits, from their 1975 album, "Hearts". It's a fine example of the early/mid-1970s California soft-rock sound.

America formed in the late sixties as a trio of Americans living in England; their fathers were with the US Air Force, stationed at RAF South Ruislip.

Answer: Stay Awhile

"Stay Awhile" (1971) was the biggest hit from The Bells, reaching the top of the charts in Canada, and breaking into the Top Ten in the US, and the Top Forty in several countries world wide.

The Bells formed around the nucleus of Cliff Edwards and sisters Anne and Jackie Ralph; Anne Ralph and Cliff Edwards eventually married. Frank Mills, best known for "Music Box Dancer", was a member of the band for awhile.

Answer: Hair

Like several of the songs in this quiz, "Hair" was emblematic of the late 60s/early 70s counterculture. It started as an off-Broadway production, then moved onto Broadway, worldwide tours, and eventually in 1979 a movie from Milos Forman. There have been several recordings of the music, with the original Broadway cast recording probably the best known - it won a Tony award. The show was very controversial due to nudity, profanity, and its treatment of issues such as drug use and resistance to the draft.

Some songs from the show that became hits from other artists include the title song, which was successful for The Cowsills, "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" from the Fifth Dimension, and "Easy to Be Hard" from Three Dog Night.