Standards - Great American Songbook Trivia

1. The lullaby "Hush Little Baby" might have been the first song sung to you. It usually begins, "Hush little baby, don't say a word. Your Papa's gonna buy you a..." What?

From Quiz Grow Up Singing

Answer: a mockingbird

The author and origin of this lullaby is unknown. Depending on what country or even what part of the country you were born in, the gifts Papa brought you might vary. Some people even sing the beginning as "Hush Little Darlin'".

From Quiz Great American Songbook Plus (GASP) #2

Answer: Bye Bye Blackbird

Ray Henderson and Mort Dixon wrote the song. "Pete Kelly's Blues" starred Jack Webb of television show, "Dragnet", fame. There were two priceless parodies of "Dragnet", one by Johnny Carson and Jack Webb and the other by Stan Freberg. These are just the facts, ma'am. Probably Peggy Lee's most recognized song was the "Siamese Cat Song". I heard it when I had the flu or it may have been a fever.

From Quiz The Great American Songbook

Answer: I've Got You Under My Skin

Cole Porter wrote this as part of the score for the movie "Born to Dance" starring Eleanor Powell. Virginia Bruce performed the song in the movie but it was Ray Noble's Orchestra with Al Bowlly the vocalist that scored a Number Three charting hit with it that year. It has remained a pop and jazz standard ever since. Perhaps the most famous rendition was recorded in 1956 by Frank Sinatra on the album "Songs for Swingin' Lovers!" during that period when he and Nelson Riddle as arranger collaborated on several successful LPs. Never released as a single by Sinatra, it had no charting history on Billboard's Hot 100. However, The Four Seasons' rendition in 1966 made the grade peaking at Number Nine. Numerous versions have graced various albums over the years with the artists ranging from Ella Fitzgerald and Eartha Kitt to Neneh Cherry, Gloria Gaynor and the Cherry Poppin' Daddies.

From Quiz Tea For Two

Answer: No, No, Nanette

"No, No, Nanette" was originally a play, "My Lady Friends" written by Frank Mandel. This was followed by a book and then the musical. It is the story of three couples staying in a country retreat, misunderstandings, confusion and love.

From Quiz My Baby Left Me: Jazz Edition

Answer: When the Sun Comes Out

"When the Sun Comes Out" was written in 1941 by Harold Arlen, with lyrics by Ted Koehler. Harry M. Woods Wrote "When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along)" in 1926. "When Your Lover Has Gone" was written in 1931 by Einar Aaron Swan. "When Sunny Gets Blue" is by Marvin Fisher and Jack Segal. I haven't been able to find out when it was written, but Johnny Mathis recorded it in 1958 and it has remained one of his most enduring favorites.

From Quiz Who Wrote the Lyrics to That Great Song?

Answer: Ira Gershwin

Ira Gershwin (1896-1983) collaborated with his brother George on many Broadway shows and Hollywood musicals from 1924 onward. After George's death, Ira went on to work with other composers, including Jerome Kern and Harold Arlen. In 1959 he published a sort of 'textbook' of lyrics writing that is still considered one of the best. The song here is, of course, 'They Can't Take That Away from Me' (1937; music, George Gershwin). Fred Astaire sang it in the film 'Shall We Dance'.

From Quiz Mature Applicants Only

Answer: Showboat

Helen Morgan starred as Julie LaVerne in the original 1927 Broadway production of "Showboat". She went on to play the role again in a 1932 stage revival, as well as a 1936 film version. Unfortunately bouts of alcoholism led to her early death at the age of 41 from cirrhosis of the liver.

From Quiz Oldies Music... And I Mean Really Oldies!

Answer: Johnny Cash

The Johnny Cash song, "Ring Of Fire" bespoke his love for his second wife, June Carter Cash. He was born as J.R., as his parents could not decide on a name. It wasn't until he joined the U.S. Air Force that he changed his name to John R. Cash in order to satisfy the requirements that forbade the use of only initials as a name.

From Quiz Yet More Lyrics to Jazz Standards

Answer: Alabama

"Stars Fell on Alabama" by Frank Perkins and Mitchell Parish, was apparently written about the August Leonid meteor shower. For a time, Alabama state license plates bore the phrase.

From Quiz Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Answer: Vivienne Segal

Vivienne Segal starred as Vera, opposite Gene Kelly as Joey, in the 1940 production of "Pal Joey". Cast recordings did not happen in those days, the first was "Oklahoma" in 1943, so it was not until 1951 when Columbia records did a studio cast recording of the show, with Harold Lang as Joey, that Vivienne got a chance to record the song. This album was so successful that it spawned a revival of the show with Segal and Lang in the starring roles.

From Quiz Dream a Little Dream of Me

Answer: Gus Kahn

Gus Kahn (Gustav Gerson Kahn) was born in Germany but migrated with his family to the United States in 1890. He wrote the lyrics to 'Dream a Little Dream of Me' in 1931, with Lee Rothman. Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt wrote the music for the song and Cass Elliot (the Mamas & the Papas) recorded the song for their 1968 album, 'The Papas & The Mamas'.

From Quiz Which Great American Song

Answer: The Man I Love

"The Man I Love" features in "Lady, Be Good!" which was the first complete Broadway score that the Gershwin brothers were commissioned to write and which dates from 1924.

From Quiz The Great American Songbook

Answer: Gershwin

"There's a somebody I'm longing to see: I hope that he Turns out to be Someone who'll watch over me" This song dates back to 1926 and was included in the musical "Oh, Kay!". Lyrics were provided by Ira Gershwin and one of the earliest performers was Gertrude Lawrence.

From Quiz Lyrics to Even More Jazz Standards

Answer: A & A train

"Take the A Train" (1941) is probably the most famous of the songs that came out of the collaboration of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. They first joined up in 1939, and Strayhorn lived for a time at Ellington's house in the Sugar Hill district in Harlem.

From Quiz Classic Songs From Classic Singers (Not Rock)

Answer: Joe

"So, set 'em up, Joe, I've got a little story that you ought to know". One of Sinatra's best-known songs.

From Quiz Lyrics to More Jazz Standards

Answer: I'll never use them

"All of Me", written in 1931 by Seymour Simons and Gerald Marks, and recorded by absolutely everybody. Marks was a prominent Tin Pan Alley songwriter. At the age of 96, he wrote a song "At My Age, Why Ask", which he would sing to those inquiring about his health.

From Quiz Lyrics to Jazz Standards

Answer: keeps raining all the time

"Stormy Weather" was written by Harold Arlen in 1933.

From Quiz 2nd Lyrics of Yesteryear: 20s to 60s

Answer: 'Cute', 1958

From Quiz 1st Lyrics from Yesteryear: 20s to 60s

Answer: Little White Lies, 1930.

It was apparently an illusion!

From Quiz Big Bands and Their Theme Songs

Answer: Moonlight Serenade

Glenn Miller and His Orchestra recorded "Moonlight Serenade" on 4 April 1939. It was one of two million-selling singles for the band in 1939. Miller was the composer. Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, ("Quasi una fantasia") Op. 27, No. 2, in 1801. Its popular title is "Moonlight Sonata." Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke wrote "Moonlight Becomes You" for the 1942 motion picture "Road to Morocco." Bing Crosby's 1942 recording was the most popular of the many covers. Paul Dresser (1857-1906), the elder brother of novelist Theodore Dreiser, wrote "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" in 1897. The song was also known as "Moonlight on the Wabash" because of the line in the chorus "The moonlight's fair tonight along the Wabash."

From Quiz Great American Songbook--The Songwriters

Answer: Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin wrote "Always" in 1925 as a wedding gift to his fiancée Ellin McKay. They married the following year. This song has also been covered by multiple artists including Paul McCartney on his album of standards "Kisses On The Bottom", an album he dedicated to his father.

From Quiz Grow Up Singing

Answer: She dropped it

Another visual imagery song that sticks in my head. Ella Fitzgerald, along with Al Feldman, turned this children's rhyme into a jazz piece, which became her breakthrough hit in 1938 with the Chuck Webb Orchestra.

From Quiz Covers by Sinatra

Answer: Liza Minnelli

Minnelli sang the song in the Martin Scorsese film "New York, New York" (1977), but Sinatra's version made the song a hit two year's later. Incredibly, the tune was not nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

From Quiz Tea For Two

Answer: Tom and Nanette

Nanette is the ward of Jimmy Smith, a philanthropic millionaire. Tom is his nephew and assistant who has fallen for Nanette. "No, No Nanette" is really Jimmy Smith's story. He cannot resist helping people, despite his wife's disapproval. Unfortunately his good deeds come back to bite him and causes much confusion.

From Quiz My Baby Left Me: Jazz Edition

Answer: Gone with the Wind

"Gone with the Wind" is a standard written in 1937 by Allie Wrubel and Herb Magidson. Vic Damone among others has recorded it. The Spanish song, "Andalusia" was written by Ernesto Lecuona and Emilio de Torre. Al Stillman wrote the English lyrics for what we know as "The Breeze and I." The record of "The Breeze and I" by Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, with vocal by Bob Eberly, peaked at Number Two on the U.S. Billboard chart in 1940. In 1955, Caterina Valente released a version of the song that peaked at Number Thirteen in the United States and reached the top five in the United Kingdom. It has also been recorded by the Shadows, among many others. Hal David and Don Rodney wrote "The Four Winds and the Seven Seas" in 1949. Sammy Kaye's orchestra had the biggest record, but it has also been recorded by Vic Damone and Mel Torme. "Free as the Wind" by J. Goldsmith and H. Shaper is featured in the 1973 Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman film "Papillon". Engelbert Humperdinck included this song on his 1974 album "In Love."

From Quiz Who Wrote the Lyrics to That Great Song?

Answer: Mitchell Parrish

Mitchell Parrish (1910-1993) was one of the most successful lyricists of the 20th century. He wrote songs full of colour and image, like 'Stars Fell on Alabama', 'Sophisticated Lady' and 'Deep Purple'. The song quoted here is 'Stardust' (1927). I guess I don't have to mention that Hoagy Carmichael wrote the tune.

From Quiz Mature Applicants Only

Answer: Hoagy Carmichael

Born in Indiana in 1899, Hoagy Carmichael met Bix Biederbecke while he was in college. He tried playing the cornet but found it not to his liking and turned his talents to composing. "Stardust", Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You" and "Heart and Soul" are amongst the four most recorded songs ever.

From Quiz Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Answer: Sentimental Journey

In a long and successful career Doris Day made thirty nine films, recorded over six hundred songs, received a Grammy and a Golden Globe and earned a reputation as a wholesome girl next door. "Sentimental Journey" recorded in 1945 with the Les Brown band was her first successful recording, and became something of an anthem of desire for American troops wanting to return home after World War II.

From Quiz Dream a Little Dream of Me

Answer: Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra

Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra were the first to record 'Dream a Little Dream of Me'. Wayne King and his Orchestra (with Ernie Birchill on vocals) recorded their version on February 18, 1931 - two days after the Ozzie Nelson version was recorded. Ella Fitzgerald and Dean Martin both recorded 'Dream a Little Dream of Me' - Martin in 1958 and Fitzgerald in 1963. Fitzgerald also recorded a version with Louis Armstrong in 1950.

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Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:52 AM

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