Hard It's Good to be Gordy! Quiz / Test | Music

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What is Gordon's full birth name?

Answer: Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr.

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr., was born on November 17, 1938. in the small Ontario town of Orilla.

My dad's first and middle names were Gordon Rodgers. The other two are made up.

2. Which Gordon Lightfoot song was banned on many U.S. radio stations?

Answer: Black Day in July

"Black Day in July" was a moving retelling of the 1967 Detroit race riots.

Lightfoot himself explained the furor this way: "A lot of [radio stations] don't want to upset their listeners. It's the housewife in the morning, let's give her something that'll make her happy, why give her something that'll make her think?"

More than 40 people were killed that hot, July day, including a four-year old girl.

"Black day in July.
Motor City madness has touched the countryside.
And the people rise in anger and the streets begin to fill,
And there's gunfire from the rooftops and the blood begins to spill.
Black day in July."

A moving song. A nasty time.

The other choices are all Lightfoot songs.

3. The following lyrics are from which beautiful Lightfoot song? "I think that I was made for you and you were made for me. And I know that I will never change 'Cause we been friends through rain or shine For such a long, long time."

Answer: Beautiful

Upbeat and romantic, "Beautiful" is my personal favorite Lightfoot song, as it was the first of many my (now) husband sang to me when we were dating.

In 2003, a Gordon Lightfoot tribute album, "Beautiful" was released featuring The Cowboy Junkies, The Tragically Hip, Bruce Cockburn and Maria Muldaur, among others.

4. Gordon Lightfoot's even tried acting. Name the movie in which he appeared that told the story of the surviving members of the Hole-in-the-Wall gang?

Answer: Harry Tracy, Desperado

In this bio-pic about Harry Tracy (played by Bruce Dern), Lightfoot plays Morrie Nathan, a U.S. Marshall out to bring Tracy to justice. It was released in 1982.

"Desperado" is a real movie. The other two are fictional.

5. In 1992, Lightfoot officially opened a rehabilitation center in Toronto called "Renascent House". What addiction did this facility primarily address?

Answer: Alcoholism

Earlier in his life, Lightfoot battled--and beat--his own problems with alcoholism and said "...he was not lucky enough to have a facility like Renascent House when he stopped drinking many years ago."

Lightfoot, once quite a partier and carouser, has been sober since 1982.

6. The following lyrics are from which emotional Gordon Lightfoot song about a proud era in Canadian history? "Behind the blue Rockies the sun is declining, The stars they come stealing at the close of the day. Across the wide prairie our loved ones lie sleeping, Beyond the dark ocean in a place far away."

Answer: Canadian Railroad Trilogy

According to the Candian Broadcasting Corporation archives, "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" is "is instantly identifiable by its opening chords, striking a chord in the hearts of millions of Canadians."

The song was released in 1967. The Canadian Pacific Railroad was built between 1881-1885 and joined by rail the east and west coasts of Canada.

7. Has Gordon Lightfoot ever performed in an operetta?

Answer: Yes

Lightfoot's parents encouraged his musical abilities from an early age. According to "Wikipedia", he appeared as a boy soprano in local operettas, oratorios and Kiwanis music festivals, as well as the St. Paul's United Church choir.

8. Which of Lightfoot's biggest U.S. hits are these lyrics from? "Turning back the pages to the times I love best I wonder if she'll ever do the same. Now the thing that I call living is just being satisfied With knowing I got no one left to blame."

Answer: Carefree Highway

"Carefree Highway" was inspired by, and named after, a highway of the same name in Arizona.

9. In May 2003, Lightfoot received Canada's highest civilian honor. What was it?

Answer: Companion of the Order of Canada

Lightfoot is already a member of the Order of Ontario, the highest honour in the Province of Ontario. He received the Vanier Award from the Canadian Jaycees in 1977. The Granger Prize is awarded to Canadian and international contemporary photographers.

10. Dozens of performers have covered and/or paid tribute to Gordon Lightfoot's music. Whom among the following did NOT do this?

Answer: Patsy Cline

Harry Belafonte recorded six Lightfoot songs, including "Oh Linda," "Last Time I Saw Her," "Early Morning Rain," and "The Hands I Love."

Hank Williams, Jr. recorded "Looking at the Rain."

Barbra Streisand covered "If You Could Read My Mind" in 1971 on the album "Stoney End".

11. What other folk music legend called Gordon Lightfoot "One of my favorite songwriters"?

Answer: Bob Dylan

In fact, Dylan is quoted as saying that when he heard a Gordon Lightfoot song he "wished it would go on forever." (Me too!)

Lightfoot has also recorded several Dylan tunes, including "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" and performed "Ring Them Bells" for Dylan's 60th birthday celebration at Massey Hall in 2003.

12. The world almost lost Gordon Lightfoot in 2002 when what serious illness nearly took his life?

Answer: Abdominal aneurysm

It took Lightfoot almost two years to recover from the aneurysm; but, luckily for his fans, he released the album "Harmony" in 2004 and has kept a very busy touring schedule ever since.

13. A disco dance version of what Gordon Lightfoot hit was recorded in 1998?

Answer: If You Could Read My Mind

That's right. Lightfoot goes disco courtesy of singers Ultra Nat�, Amber and Jocelyn Enriquez. "If You Could Read My Mind" has touched nearly every musical genre, including country, pop, bluegrass and, of course, folk.

14. What English television show did Lightfoot host in 1963?

Answer: BBC TV's Country and Western Show

"Country Hoedown" was a hit CBC show on which Lightfoot appeared in 1959 as part of the Swinging Eight, a dance and choral group. The others are purely fictional.

15. What would a quiz on Gordon Lightfoot be without one question about "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"? What was the last radio transmission from the Edmund Fitzgerald before all contact was lost and she sank?

Answer: We are holding our own.

The ship's bell, recovered in 1995 by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, is on display at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, Whitefish Point, Michigan.

Gordon Lightfoot's poignant 1976 ballad about the Edmund Fitzgerald helped make it one of the most controversial and mysterious of many shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, which took place on a stormy November 10, 1975. Twenty-nine crew members perished and were never recovered.

In addition to sources already mentioned (and my own brain...), I'd like to credit the "Wall Street Journal", "Montreal Gazette" and Valerie Magee's "Gordon Lightfoot and Folk Music Web Page" for help researching this quiz.

Source: Author woboogie

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ralzzz before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

It's Good to be Gordy! Trivia Quiz

Gordon Lightfoot is, deservedly, a Canadian folk music legend. But here in Michigan, I've always loved him, too. Here are some questions about his life and songs. Have fun!

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