That Musician is From Missouri? Quiz

Answer: Steve Cropper

Cropper was born Stephen Lee Cropper outside Dora, Missouri, and the family moved to Nashville when he was ten. The first band he formed was the Mar-Keys, who had a 1961 hit with "Last Night". He then earned a position as the Stax resident guitar player and played on literally hundreds of records.

He also wrote or co-wrote such hits as "Knock On Wood", "In the Midnight Hour" and "Respect". In the late seventies Cropper and Dunn went on to lead The Blues Brothers Band. This led to Blues Brothers albums and two movie soundtracks.

In June 2005 Cropper was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with Bill Withers, Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman, John Fogerty, David Porter and former Stax musician Isaac Hayes. Booker T. & The M.G.s were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. Donald "Duck" Dunn plays bass with Cropper.

The late Al Jackson, Jr. was the drummer at Stax. The late Sam T. Brown was a jazz guitarist born in St Louis.

Answer: Sheryl Crow

Sheryl Crow has won a total of nine Grammy Awards as of 2008, has had her music on the soundtracks of several movies and has done duets with Kid Rock, Mick Jagger, Micheal Jackson and others. Not bad for a girl from Kennett, Missouri. After earning a number of athletics awards during High School she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music from the University of Missouri. Southeast Missouri State University has awarded Sheryl an honorary Doctorate Degree.

After college she began teaching music and started doing local advertising jingles. Before long she was doing ads for national accounts such as McDonalds.

Her first attempt at recording an album was ultimately rejected by her label, but other artists began recording her compositions. She released the "Tuesday Night Music Club" album containing the hit, "All I Wanna Do", and her career skyrocketed. Crow has also entered the ranks of Bond movie theme singers with "Tomorrow Never Dies". Grammy winner Melissa Lou Etheridge was born in Leavenworth, Kansas. Joanna Connor is a Chicago-based blues singer. Pianist and singer Marcia Ball is from Orange, Texas.

Answer: Eminem

Marshall Bruce Mathers III also calls himself Slim Shady and was born in Missouri. As a teen he relocated to Michigan and began an interest in hip-hop music. He performed locally and worked as a dishwasher until his debut album, "Infinite", was released in 1996.

The "Slim Shady" LP followed in 1999 and the "Marshall Mathers" LP came out the following year. He toured with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Limp Bizkit and Ice Cube in 2001. He began his own label, Shady Records, in 2000 and the following year he was featured in the movie "8-Mile", about growing up in Detroit.

He continues to release top selling albums annually. Detroit native Alvin Nathaniel Joiner is better known by his stage name Xzibit. Richard Melville Hall is also known as Moby and was born in Harlem. Fellow St Louis-born Howard Bailey, Jr. is better known by the stage name Chingy.

Answer: The Jordanaires

Elvis Presley was only 13 years old when the Jordanaires formed in Springfield, Missouri. By the time they met up with Elvis they had already undergone some membership changes and had been backing various country singers for some time. In 1955 they were backing Eddie Arnold and Elvis was still a struggling up-and-comer when he saw their show. Elvis introduced himself and told the group that if he ever got a major record deal he wanted them to back him.

They had impressed Elvis with their rendition of "Peace in the Vally", one of his favorite songs.

The following year he signed with RCA and kept his word. The group appeared in Elvis' movies and backed him on over 100 recordings during the next 15 years. The Sweet Inspirations were formed on the Easy coast and backed Elvis in the seventies.

The Drinkard Singers hold the distinction of recording the first Gospel album to appear on a major label. The Staple Singers formed in Chicago.

Answer: Sue Thompson

Sue Thompson was born Eva Sue McKee in Nevada, Missouri. She began performing as a youngster. When the family relocated to San Jose she was featured on the "Hometown Hayride" television show. She came to the attention of a local disc jockey and eventually landed a record deal with Hickory Records.

After a few unsuccessful recordings she released "Sad Movies (Make Me Cry)" and "Norman". Both songs made the top five. She continued to have hits with "James (Hold the Ladder Steady)" and "Paper Tiger". Songwriter John D. Loudermilk penned the songs.

After the pop success faded she sang with Country singer Don Gibson in the seventies and in the nineties she settled in Las Vegas where she performed periodically. Timi Yuro had a hit with "Hurt" and hails from California. Peggy March is from Lansdale, Pennsylvania and had sixties hits such as "I Love Him". Diane Renay was born Renee Diane Kushner in South Philadelphia.

In 1964 she sang "Navy Blue".

Answer: Gene McDaniels

Although he was born in Missouri, singer Gene McDaniels grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. He sang in a choir growing up and before long he was in various bands. He signed with Liberty Records as a solo artist. In addition to the number three "A Hundred Pounds of Clay", McDaniels placed six songs in the Top Forty in the early sixties.

His is also an accomplished songwriter. Among his notable compositions is Roberta Flack's number one hit, "Feel Like Making Love" penned under his birth name, Eugene McDaniels.

He made a brief transition to films, appearing in "It's Trad, Dad!" in 1962, "The Young Swingers" in 1963 and a brief role as a choir singer in "Uptown Saturday Night". Clyde McPhatter is from New Jersey and joined Billy Ward & the Dominoes before singing with the Drifters. Brook Benton was born in Lugoff, South Carolina.

Answer: Porter Wagoner

The Blue Ridge Boys started performing on radio station KWPM from a butcher shop in West Plains, Missouri. Porter Wagoner cut meat when he wasn't singing. In 1951 he was hired by another station and his singing ability led to a contract with RCA. He performed on the "Ozark Jubilee" and after moving to Nashville he joined the Grand Ole Opry in the late fifties.

In 1961 he began hosting "The Porter Wagoner Show". The show would continue until 1981, airing over 600 episodes. His variety show featured Dolly Parton for several years and he released duet albums with Dolly. Clint Eastwood cast him in "Honkytonk Man". On his 80th birthday he was honored by the Grand Ole Opry for his 50 years as a Country artist.

He passed away in November, 2007, and the town of West Plains named a street Porter Wagoner Boulevard in his honor. Faron Young is from Shreveport, Louisiana. Foley was born in Blue Lick, Kentucky, and Conway Twitty was born Harold Lloyd Jenkins in Friars Point, Mississippi.

Answer: Charlie Parker

Charlie Parker didn't take up the saxophone until he was in his early teens. Initially he was not good at it and gave it up for a while. While playing in a show he was playing so poorly that another musician threw a cymbal at him. He vowed to rehearse up to 16 hours a day for the next few years.

When he felt confident enough, he moved to New York and started working as a dishwasher in jazz clubs. It was inevitable that he would start working with some of the better players in various after-hours joints.

In 1945 Parker began a musical connection with fellow Be-Bop enthusiast Dizzy Gillespie. His uncanny ability on the sax caused many musicians to transcribe his solos and he became one of the most respected jazz musicians among his peers. Unfortunately, drug and alcohol abuse took his life at the young age of 34. Texas native Henry "Buster" Smith was a mentor to Charlie Parker. Charles Mingus was a jazz bassist from Los Angeles. Jimmy Woods is a jazz saxophonist from St Louis.

Answer: The Doobie Brothers

McDonald played in several local bands including Mike and the Majestics, Jerry Jay and the Sheratons, the Reebtoors and The Guild while in high school in his hometown of Ferguson, Missouri, before relocating to California. Michael became a session player, doing backing vocals and playing piano on some Steely Dan recording sessions.

He also did sessions for Christopher Cross, Bonnie Raitt, Jack Jones, O.C. Smith and others. When Doobie Brothers' singer Tom Johnston became ill during a tour, Michael was recruited to fill in.

He blended in so well with the group he was asked to remain with them. He recorded several hits while with the band and co-wrote "What a Fool Believes" with Kenny Loggins. The song reached number one and earned him a Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1980.

After his career with The Doobie Brothers, McDonald began releasing solo albums. He has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Answer: Leroy Van Dyke

Leroy Van Dyke has a cousin named Roy Sims who is enshrined in the National Auctioneers Association Hall of Fame. Roy was the inspiration for Leroy's song, "The Auctioneer". The song was released in the mid-fifties and has sold over 3,000,000 copies. The song inspired a movie titled "What Am I Bid?". Ray Sims plays himself as the auctioneer and Leroy naturally plays the role of an aspiring Country singer.

In 1961 his recording of "Walk On By" remained at number one for 19 weeks and also sold over 3,000,000 records.

In addition to putting Country songs on the charts he hosted the "Country Crossroads" radio show for 10 years. Van Dyke still calls Sedalia, Missouri, home and has maintained a full performing schedule into the 21st century. Joyce Wayne "Red" Murrell was a Western swing performer from Missouri and the leader of Red Murrell and his Ozark Playboys. Leland Martin hails from Success, Missouri, and is also a country singer. Lee Dorman was born in St. Louis and is a bass guitarist who played with Iron Butterfly and Captain Beyond.