Records of Records Trivia Quiz

Answer: Summertime

"Summertime" written by George and Ira Gershwin, with DuBose Heyward. Heyward wrote the book "Porgy", from which came the inspiration for "Porgy and Bess". "Summertime" is one of the many wonderful songs from that show. The song was first recorded in 1935 by Abbie Mitchell accompanied by George Gershwin. There are in excess of 60,000 recordings of this song, by such varied artists as Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Ricky Nelson, Mantovani, Percy Faith, Patsy Cline, Sam Cooke and Janis Joplin. The Guinness Book of Records 2002 edition notes 67,500 versions of the song.

My research shows "Yesterday" has in excess of 2300 recorded versions.
"Amazing Grace" is classified as a hymn and is the most recorded hymn of all time with more than 1700 versions, followed by "How Great Thou Art" with over 1200 recorded versions.

There are many arguments over which is the most popular song or record of all time or the most played or downloaded, but as this quiz is concerned only with recordings, those arguments are moot.

Note: My personal collection contains over 53,000 titles. I checked my list and I have 88 versions of "Summertime", 43 versions of "Yesterday", seventeen versions of "Amazing Grace" and five versions of "How Great Thou Art" (Twelve if you count seven albums by Elvis Presley that it appears on).

Answer: A Fool Such As I

Elvis had to wait through twenty two releases to finally have a number one hit in Australia, when "(Now and Then, There's) A Fool Such As I" topped the chart in May 1959. Elvis charted over 100 singles on the top fifty in Australia with eleven number ones, seven number twos, and six number three hits.

The source for this information is from "The Book-Top 40 Research" by Barnes and Scanes. "The Book" collates information from top forty lists published by various radio stations and information from "The Kent Report".

Answer: False

The opening riff for "Johnny B Goode" was copied from the opening of a record by Louis Jordan, "Ain't That Just Like a Woman". Jordan's guitarist, Carl Hogan made up the riff and Chuck Berry acknowledged his debt to Louis Jordan. Nevertheless, I think "Johnny B Goode" is the best rock and roll song ever, as it encompasses every boy's dream of being a rockstar.

Answer: "From Me to You" - Del Shannon

"From Me To You" by Del Shannon entered the Billboard Hot 100 on 29 June 1963. In fact The Beatles themselves did not make the Hot 100 until 18 January 1964 when "I Want To Hold Your Hand" entered the chart and was number one within three weeks.

"I Wanna Be Your Man" from The Rolling Stones and "Do You Want To Know A Secret" by Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas did not make the Billboard Hot 100 but did chart in the UK. "A World Without Love" by Peter and Gordon was a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1964.

Answer: "Chattanooga Choo Choo" - Glenn Miller

"Chattanooga Choo Choo" by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. The song topped the charts in 1941. Written by the prolific songwriters Harry Warren and Mack Gordon the song has been covered at least 400 times in many languages. In 1942 RCA Victor presented the Glenn Miller Orchestra a 'gold record' for sales in excess of one million for "Chattanooga Choo Choo".

"In The Mood" was a big hit for Glenn Miller in 1939.
"One O'Clock Jump" is synonymous with Count Basie who wrote the tune and used it as his theme.
"At The Woodchopper's Ball" was the best known song by Woody Herman and his Orchestra.

Answer: "Poor Little Fool" - Ricky Nelson

The first number one hit for Ricky Nelson and the first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "Poor Little Fool" has that distinction.

"Splish Splash" comes in at number three on this first chart and is considered a Rock 'n' Roll classic.

The Kalin Twins, Herbie and Hal, cracked the charts with their single "When", peaked at number five on the initial Hot 100 top ten for The Kalin Twins.

"Patricia", was number one in the week prior to this first Hot 100 chart. The record was number two this week having been replaced by "Poor Little Fool".

Answer: Herb Alpert

Herb Alpert achieved a number one hit in 1968 singing "This Guy's in Love With You" written by the top American songwriting duo of the day, Hal David and Burt Bacharach. Then in 1979 he topped the charts with the instrumental "Rise" written by his nephew Randy and A&M Records A & R man Andy Armer. The song stayed at the top of the Hot 100 for two weeks until pushed back by the disco oriented "Pop Muzik" by M. According to one of Herb Alpert's biographies the song "Rise" was sampled by The Notorious B.I.G. on his number one hit single "Hypnotize".

Answer: "The Twist" - Chubby Checker

Written and originally recorded by Hank Ballard, "The Twist" when recorded by Chubby Checker in 1960 raced up the charts. This recording made the top ten in Australia and the top twenty in the UK. Chubby recorded the song again in 1961 and this version was number one again in 1962 on the Billboard Hot 100, number five in the UK and number three in Australia.

The record started a cultural revolution; "The Twist" enabled people do dance with each other and not touch. Furthermore, even the author of this quiz could do the twist.

"Rock Around the Clock" Hit number one in 1955 and whilst re-releases of this original version did chart, they never reached number one.
"The Monster Mash" made it to number one for Halloween in October 1962. Further releases in 1970 and 1973 did not make number one.
"The Loco-Motion" made it to number one for Little Eva in 1962 and did not enter the charts again. However a version of the song by Grand Funk Railroad got to number one 1974 and Australia's Kiley Minogue saw her version make number three in 1988.

Answer: Conway Twitty

Conway Twitty, with 40 number ones, tops the list. His first number one was in 1966, "Next In Line" and his fortieth and last was "Desperado Love" in 1986. Apart from his 40 number one hits, Conway also placed 36 other records in the top ten. Conway also had fifteen hits on the Billboard Hot 100 before he had a country hit. These early hits include his self penned, "It's Only Make Believe" a number one in 1958 and "Lonely Blue Boy" a top ten hit in 1959.

George Strait by 2008 had overtaken Conway Twitty with 43 number ones.
Merle Haggard got to number one 38 times and Eddy Arnold 28 times. Eddy Arnold holds the record for the most weeks at number one with 145 weeks, in a chart career that stretched from 1945 to 1983.

Answer: True

True; "Pee Wee The Piccolo" was the first 45 rpm record released in the USA, being released in early 1949. "Pee Wee The Piccolo" was a children's record and released on four discs. As technology got better the record was re-released by RCA as an EP (Extended Play) so the story would fit on one record.