Musicians We Lost in 2008 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gail Robinson

Gail Robinson was only 62 when she passed from rheumatoid arthritis complications. Born in Tennessee in 1946, she was just 19 when she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She began her career in opera with a small part in Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and by age 24 she had performed her first Met Lucia. She gave her final performance in 1987 because of health concerns and finished her career as a Professor of Voice, spending considerable time mentoring young singers.

British soprano Jane Eaglen was born in 1960 and is still performing. American soprano Deborah Voigt was also born in 1960. Pennsylvania native and soprano Renée Fleming was born in 1959 and is scheduled for performances at the Metropolitan Opera in 2009.

Answer: Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley was born Ellas Otha Bates but later assumed the name Ellas McDaniel from a relative who raised him, Gussie McDaniel. The Mississippi native was lured to Chicago and started playing in the streets for tips. He started performing with some of the local Chicago greats and eventually landed a recording contract. He became known for a signature driving beat. By 1955 he had appeared on the "Ed Sullivan Show". His career spanned clubs to arena concerts and he performed regularly until a stroke sidelined him in 2007.

Danny Cedrone passed in 1954 and was known for his solo guitar solo work on such classics as "Rock Around The Clock". Mickey Baker is Mickey of Mickey & Sylvia. Bo Diddley co-wrote their 1957 hit, "Love Is Strange". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Duane Eddy was born in 1938.

Answer: Eddy Arnold

Eddy Arnold was one of the first singers to utilize a powerful voice to sing Country music and experiment with a variety of sounds. He was born in Henderson, Tennessee, and by the forties he was managed by Colonel Tom Parker. He began a career singing on radio and made a transition to television in the early fifties. In the early sixties he covered a popular song called "Make the World Go Away". It became a hit and Arnold followed with a string of Top Forty hits for RCA and MGM, amassing 28 Number One hits during his career. After his passing in May, 2008, the song "To Life" was released by RCA. In addition to being the oldest person to that date to have a recording on the Billboard charts, he officially spanned a seven-decade singing career.

Sonny James charted 16 back-to-back Number One songs in his career and was still with us at the end of 2008. Country ballad singer Ray Price turned 82 in 2008. Singer Faron Young passed in 1996 and was known as "The Hillbilly Heartthrob".

Answer: The Four Tops

Levi Stubbs was born Levi Stubbles in Detroit in 1936. In 1954 he and three friends formed a group they called The Four Aims. Two years later the boys signed with Chess records and became The Four Tops. Along with baritone Stubbs the group included Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Lawrence Payton and Renaldo "Obie" Benson.

They were performing for supper club venues when they signed with Motown in 1963. By the dawn of the seventies the group had amassed over twelve hits, most with Stubbs on lead vocals. Levi also branched into film work, doing the voice work for the plant in the 1986 film, "Little Shop of Horrors" among other credits.

The original group stayed together until Peyton passed in 1997. Benson died in 2005 and after Stubbs passed in 2008 Abdul "Duke" Fakir was the only remaining original member. Stubbs married his wife, Clineice, in 1960 and they remained together until his death. Jackie Wilson was one of his cousins and his brother, Joe, was with Motown bands such as The Originals and The Contours. Smokey Robinson fronted the Miracles. Members of he Primes and the Distants merged to form The Temptations in the early sixties.

Answer: The Kingston Trio

Nick Reynolds' dad was a Navy man and not only introduced Nick to songs from around the world, he also got him interested in playing the guitar and ukulele. When Nick was in college he met musicians Bob Shane and Dave Guard. They began performing as Dave Guard and the Calypsonians with occasional temporary member changes but eventually evolved into the Kingston Trio.

They had their first major hit with "Tom Dooley" and earned a Gold Record for the song in 1958. They continued with a string of hit records and sold-out concerts for the next decade. Reynolds remained with the group until 1967.

There were occasional reunions in the eighties including a 1981 concert hosted by Tommy Smothers. Reynolds passed from respiratory failure while living in his native San Diego at age 75 in October 2008.

Answer: The Classics IV

The Classic IV had their genesis in Jacksonville, Fl in the early sixties. Dennis Yost doubled on vocals and drums. The original members included Dennis with James R. Cobb, Joe Silson and Wally Eaton. In the late sixties the band relocated to Georgia, obtained a new manager and released their first hit, the number three "Spooky".

They recruited a drummer after the success of the song and continued to chart Top Twenty hits such as "Stormy" and "Traces" under the name Dennis Yost and the Classics IV. With occasional lineup changes Dennis continued to perform until he fell while recuperating from an illness and sustained a brain injury in 2006.

A benefit concert was held in 2007 to defray medical expenses and Yost succumbed to respiratory failure in December 2008.

His legacy continues with numerous cover versions of "Stormy" having been released through the years including a never-released Supremes version.

Answer: Smokey and the Bandit

Jerry Reed enjoyed some minor chart success before his first hit, "Guitar Man", charted in 1967. Elvis soon covered the song with Reed playing guitar on the session. During the same session Elvis recorded Reed's "U.S. Male". In 1970 Reed released the Cajun-tinged "Amos Moses" followed by "When You're Hot You're Hot", appearing frequently on "The Glen Campbell Good Time Hour". His first film with Reynolds was the 1974 release "W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings". He went on to appear in all three "Smokey and the Bandit" films and had a Top Ten hit with "Eastbound and Down". Reed continued acting and performing until he died from emphysema at age 71 in September, 2008.

Kris Kristofferson and Ali MacGraw headed the cast of the 1978 release, "Convoy", about a band of truckers vowing revenge against a sheriff. "Blacktop" was a 2002 thriller featuring Meat Loaf as a singer who got a gig in a truck stop. Henry Fonda was in "The Great Smokey Roadblock", a 1978 film about an aging trucker who retrieves his repossessed rig.

Answer: Mitch Mitchell

By the time Mitchell joined forces with Hendrix he had already been playing drums for some of London's hottest bands as well as working for the legendary Jim Marshall in his amplifier shop. Mitchell played with the The Jimi Hendrix Experience between October 1966 until the middle of 1969 as well as backing him at Woodstock. When Hendrix died Mitchell assisted in wrapping up some Hendrix recordings which were posthumously released. He continued to record with various artists and in 2008 he was performing on the 2008 "Experience Hendrix Tour" with a legendary ensemble. Five days after the tour completed he was found dead in his hotel room from natural causes at age 62.

Noel Redding played bass in the group and passed away in 2003. Jimmy Carl Black played drums for Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and passed on November 1, 2008. Ola Brunkert was a drummer for ABBA who died March 16, 2008.

Answer: Trumpet

Indiana native Freddie Hubbard played trumpet and mellophone in high school and later studied at the Jordan Conservatory under the tutelage of the principal trumpeter of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He began working with Wes and Monk Montgomery and an array of other jazz artists.

By the late sixties he was emerging with his own sound and style, playing on two Coltrane albums. In 1972 he was awarded a Grammy for his "First Light" project. Among many other artists to call on Hubbard were Billy Joel, Woody Shaw and Benny Golson.

In 2006 Hubbard was a recipient of the NEA Jazz Masters Award. On November 26, 2008, Hubbard suffered a heart attack and passed away the following month.

Answer: Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes' multi-faceted career included a session musician, singer, arranger and actor. He toiled at Stax until his breakthrough "Shaft" theme became a huge hit. He also had a cameo appearance in the film as a bartender. In 1974 he wrote themes for and appeared in the "Three Tough Guys" and "Truck Turner" films. He worked with Dionne Warwick on several projects and appeared in episodes of "The Rockford Files" (1974) in a recurring role as an ex-con. In the late nineties he developed a new fan base when he became the voice of Chef on "South Park". After suffering a minor stroke in 2006 Hayes died while apparently working out on a treadmill a few days shy of his 66th birthday.

Whitfield was a Motown producer and composer known for a string of Motown hits including "I Heard It through the Grapevine", "Car Wash", "Papa Was a Rolling Stone", "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" and many more. David Porter of Sam and Dave co-wrote hits such as "Hold On I'm Comin" and "Soul Man" with Hayes. Rufus Thomas was a Stax artist famous for "Walking the Dog".