We're Number Two - Volume X - The End Quiz

Answer: Proud Mary

Before Creedence Clearwater Revival disbanded in 1972, they would establish a record for bad luck... five Number Two songs with nary a Number One. "Proud Mary" led the way, their biggest and most memorable hit and I suppose that would be a portent of things to come. The other four, in order, were: "Bad Moon Rising", "Green River", "Travelin' Band" and "Lookin' Out My Back Door". Adding insult to injury, "Down on the Corner" peaked at Number Three and "Up Around the Bend" topped out at Number Four.

John Fogerty, the song's composer and group leader, kept a list of song titles with him at all times in case the muses bit. "Proud Mary" topped that list and when he started writing the song, it was intended to be about a poor washerwoman named Mary. However, the guitar riff he was playing around with conjured up images of a river and Mary became a stern wheeler on the Mississippi rather than a cleaning lady. A good choice, I think. The band had a sound that evoked images of the south and Bayou country and eventually it came to be known as swamp rock. Consequently, it was just presumed that the band was from New Orleans or somewhere else nearby. In fact, the band hailed from El Cerrito, California. Another piece of romantic imagery ruined!

Answer: Memphis

"Memphis" was Johnny Rivers' first charting hit single even though he had been bouncing around the music scene and cutting records since 1956 when he was 14 years old. The song was originally recorded as "Memphis, Tennessee" by its composer, Chuck Berry, in 1959 as the B-side to his Number 37 hit "Back in the U.S.A.". "Memphis" was culled from Rivers' maiden album "Johnny Rivers at The Whiskey a Go-Go" and both album and single made their charting debut in June 1964, right in the middle of The Beatles hysteria. Oddly enough, however, it wasn't the "Mop Tops" who denied Rivers his first Number One hit. During its two week residence at Number Two, the two per-eminent American groups at the time proved to be Rivers' nemeses; "I Get Around" by The Beach Boys and "Rag Doll" by the Four Seasons were the Number One hits during that two week stretch.

It took a while, but Rivers would eventually get his Number One hit two years later in 1966 with "Poor Side of Town".

Answer: MacArthur Park

Jimmy Webb composed the song and it was a far cry from his usual pieces of fluff that he wrote for Glen Campbell or The Fifth Dimension. You know them: "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman" and "Galveston". Those were nice, simple, straightforward songs; this one seemed complex and bizarre. Not so, said Webb years later when interviewed about the song. It was simply about a love lost but like other songwriters at the time, he felt it necessary to delve into the surreal and abstract to make it work. Anyway, he was in love with a cousin of Linda Ronstadt. She dumped him and got married to another guy. The wedding was held in MacArthur Park located on the west side of Wilshire Boulevard between downtown L.A. and Santa Monica. Webb surreptitiously took it in, hiding in a landscaping hut. The rains came. He could see the wedding cake from where he was but the raindrops trickling down the window pane made it look like the cake and the park itself was melting in the rain. End of story! Hear the song again or peruse the lyrics and it all is pretty simple in that context.

Utilizing Richard Harris to sing it was not quite as off the wall as many of us in North America thought it was at the time. Basically, he was largely unknown to us as a singer and only marginally recognized as an actor at that time. Of course, in the U.K. he was of star quality and had just begun a lengthy stage run as King Arthur in "Camelot", a role he would reprise for the screen. Webb had met him years earlier and they became good buddies. Webb promised that he would eventually create a piece for Harris, a project that they could work on together. This turned out to be it. Many critics didn't think Harris was much of a singer, that he "acted" the lyrics rather than sang them. Webb was unconcerned. He had spent many an evening with Harris in pubs and heard him sing hundreds of Irish folk songs. He knew Harris could do this and make a hit of it.

Perhaps this turned out to be one of the most famous Number Two hits ever... but just this rendering of "MacArthur Park". Ten years later, in 1978, Donna Summer surprised us all, again, when her discofied cover version reached the top of the Hot 100 charts.

Oh, yes! What song was it that stymied "MacArthur Park" from Number One? "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon and Garfunkel.

Answer: You Don't Know Me

"You Don't Know Me" really was a lovely ballad regardless of the singer.

Eddy Arnold, who co-wrote and first recorded it, had an extraordinarily long career in show business. Born in Tennessee in 1918, he started performing in the 1930s, cut his first single in 1944 and issued his last CD in 2005. In between, he had 28 Number One Country hits and his total of 145 weeks at the top of the Country charts continues to lead the way, as of early 2012, among country performers. More importantly, Arnold likely led the "crossover" trend from country to pop in the late 1940s, his style and delivery readily acceptable to a broad range of listeners. He passed away in 2008, one week before his 90th birthday.

Speaking of "crossover" artists, Ray Charles did that his entire career and not in just two genres. Equally comfortable in the domains of C&W, R&B, Rock, Gospel and Pop, many of his recordings often made appearances on three different Billboard charts. His recording of "You Don't Know Me" is a perfect example - Number One on the Adult Contemporary chart, Number Two on the Hot 100 and Number Five on the R&B chart. His death in 2004 signaled the end of an era in my opinion. Given the compartmentalization of music today, I doubt that we'll ever see a performer with his versatility reach star status in several genres again.

Answer: Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?

The first seven recordings The Lovin' Spoonful released were all top ten successes and "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind" was right in the middle of that run. The group was slowly peaking. "Do You Believe in Magic", their debut release in 1965 peaked at Number Nine followed by the Number Ten "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice". In 1966, they had two Number Two hits, "Daydream" and this song before finally scoring a Number One hit with "Summer in the City". That was followed by The Number Ten "Rain on the Roof" and the Number Eight "Nashville Cats" later in 1966.

The group's decline began in mid-1967. Two of the members, guitarist/vocalist Zal Yanovsky and bassist Steve Boone were nabbed in a drug bust in San Francisco. Yanovsky was still a Canadian citizen at the time and in order to avoid deportation and maintain his working visa in the U.S., was compelled to cooperate with authorities and squeal on their drug source. The group became "persona non grata" among their peers and a segment of their fan base. A critical component to the band's success, Yanovsky decided to part company with the group and when the other mainstay, John Sebastian, also quit in early 1968, the group officially disbanded. Sometime in the early 2000s, Boone and the other original member, drummer Joe Butler, reformed the band and are touring once again as of 2012. Similarly, Sebastian still tours as a soloist or with a revolving concoction of close musical friends. Yanovsky died of a heart attack in 2002.

Answer: Hair

Speaking from personal experience, my hair has been most of those things at one time or another but never polka-dotted, beaded, spangled or spaghettied. These days, it's just plain sparse!

"Hair", from the rock musical of the same name, was performed by The Cowsills, a musical family consisting of Billy, Bob, Barry, Paul, John and Susan. Formed in the mid-1960s, they garnered national attention when their debut release, "The Rain, the Park and Other Things", became a Number Two charting sensation in late 1967. It was followed by the Number 21 "We Can Fly", the Number Ten "Indian Lake", then "Hair" their final Top 40 charting success in 1969.

The Cowsills served as the basis for the TV hit, "The Partridge Family" and they were considered as options to play themselves in the series. Whether the fact that they did not get those parts had any bearing in the group's demise or not, by the time the TV series was airing in 1971, the Cowsills were no more. Eventually, Bob, Paul, John and Susan reformed the group in the mid-1990s and they continue to tour into the 2010s. Sadly, Barry fell victim to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and within six weeks, Bill passed away following a lengthy bout of ill health.

Answer: Can't Take My Eyes Off You

"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" peaked at Number Two during a four-week span when "Windy" by The Association ruled the roost.

Although Valli had been cutting single solo recordings for a couple of years, none had made significant dents on the Hot 100 charts. It was his personal belief that his record label was not devoting near enough energy or resources in the promotion of those recordings. For this song, he personally hired an independent agency to promote the recording the way he thought proper. Was that the difference? Probably not. It's far more likely that this Gaudio-Crewe composition was simply superior to those previous works. Regardless, after this hit both he and The Four Seasons went into a six year period barren of hits before rebounding in the mid-1970s when both entities had a few more hits before fading away once again. Essentially, Valli's charting swan song was the Number One "Grease" in 1978. As of 2012, Valli and The Four Seasons maintain a fairly heavy concert schedule... at least for guys in their late 70s!

Answer: Run To Him

When I composed this question, I actually typed in Bobby Vinton rather than Bobby Vee as the singer. Back in the early 1960s when both artists were just starting out, I often confused them. It took quite a while for me to sort them out - Vinton was the older, laid back one who crooned ballads targeted for my parents more than me. Vee was much younger and although not a "rocker" per se, he did perform songs that were earmarked more for the teen crowd.

Most folks are now familiar with the story of how the teenage Vee was recruited to replace Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens at the concert they were scheduled to perform when they were killed in the plane crash. Within 18 months of this bittersweet introduction to the "big time", as it were, Vee was an up-and-coming recording star in his own right with hits like "Devil or Angel" and "Rubber Ball". "Run to Him" was the second biggest hit of his career, the follow-up recording to his biggest hit, the Number One "Take Good Care of My Baby".

Essentially, Vee was yet another victim of the British Invasion in 1964. He had his last big hit, the Number Three "Come Back When You Grow Up", in 1967. By the early 1970s, he was working the oldies circuit and according to his website, is now sampling "retirement living" as of late 2011.

Answer: Little Green Apples

"Little Green Apples" was first recorded by Roger Miller. It would be his last entry on the Hot 100 chart peaking at Number 39 in March, 1968. Then, another version was recorded by a jazz/R&B singer named O.C. Smith. It steadily climbed the charts before stalling at Number Two in October, unable to unseat The Beatles' "Hey Jude" which was right in the middle of a nine week run at Number One.

Smith entered the music industry in the mid-1950s after graduating from University and serving a stint with the U.S. Air Force. Primarily a jazz vocalist, he performed with the likes of Sy Oliver and Horace Heidt before fronting Count Basie's band for several years in the early 1960s. He switched gears in the middle of the decade, going solo and orienting himself more into R&B. He was just about to abandon music when he finally achieved charting success with the Number 40 "The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp". He followed that up with "Little Green Apples" for which he earned a Grammy for Song of the Year. Although he continued his recording career right into the 21st Century, he never was able to replicate the success he had with this hit. In 1985, he founded and became pastor of the City of Angels Church of Religious Science in Los Angeles and balanced his music career and pastoral work until his passing in 2001.

Answer: 1-2-3

Len Barry (nee Borisoff) was born and raised in Philadelphia and never gave thought to a musical career when growing up. His ambition was to play baseball. Nevertheless, he helped form and sang lead for the Dovells in the late 1950s and following the completion of his obligatory military service, rejoined the band and reveled in the success of "Bristol Stomp". Choosing to go solo and turning from straight rock to blue eyed soul, he scored this Number Two hit but subsequent recordings in 1966 came nowhere close to that level of success. Thereafter, he continued to record until the mid-1980s without any chart action at all, performed live on the oldies circuit then focused on song composition and production work. At present (2012), it seems that he is now retired from show business altogether.

"I Hear a Symphony" by the Supremes spoiled Barry's hopes for the elusive Number One.