Musical Memoirs: Part One Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen was born on September 23, 1949 in Long Branch, New Jersey. As a child he listened to Frank Sinatra and was influenced by Elvis Presley and The Beatles. From 1964, Springsteen played with various bands around New Jersey, but it was not until the early 1970s that the record companies started to take notice.

He was signed by Columbia Records in 1972 and recorded his first album, "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." His critical and commercial breakthrough came with "Born to Run" in 1975. After that Springsteen produced a number of critically-acclaimed albums. A prodigious songwriter, many of his compositions featured 'blue collar' heroes trying to find their way. Springsteen mixed into his rock sound the folk-influenced "Ghost Of Tom Joab".

At the time this quiz was written in 2020, Springsteen had had 20 albums on the Billboard Hot 100, including 11 at number one. Twelve singles hit the top 10 of the Hot 100, with "Dancing In the Dark" peaking at number two in 1984.

The autobiography "Born To Run" was published in 2016, with many literary critics commenting favourably on the quality of the writing.

Answer: Woody Guthrie

Many singers and songwriters of the latter part of the 20th Century cite the influence of Woody Guthrie on their work. Guthrie was born on July 14, 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma, and died on October 3, 1967 in New York City.

Guthrie packed a lot into a career shortened by illness. Regarded chiefly as a political or protest singer, he championed the causes of poor and working class Americans. In 2016, the "LA Times" noted: "Guthrie's influence on American music and its role in politics was substantial, leading directly to the work of Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan and the folk revival that rose out of New York's Greenwich Village in the late '40s and 1950s."

Guthrie's autobiography "Bound For Glory" was published in 1943, with a foreword by his friend and collaborator, Pete Seeger.

Answer: Harry Chapin

Harry Chapin was born in New York City on December 7, 1942 and died in a traffic collision on July 16, 1981 at Jericho, New York State.

Chapin became known for his long numbers in which he created characters and weaved their lives into what he called "story songs". While he did not score many major successes on the charts, he was noted for strong concert performances. His sole number one on the Billboard Hot 100 was "Cat's In The Cradle" in 1974. That same year, the LP "Verities & Balderdash" reached number four on the Billboard 200 charts.

Chapin was known for supporting humanitarian causes. About half of his concerts were to benefit "World Hunger Year", which he jointly established. In 1987, he was posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.

While Chapin cooperated with the author Peter Morton Coan in writing "Taxi: The Harry Chapin Story" (published in 1987) his widow tried to block the book.

Answer: Grace Slick

Grace Slick was born on October 30,1939 in Highland Park, Chicago, Illinois, but was largely brought up in San Francisco. In the mid 1960s, Slick became involved in the local psychedelic music scene with her band, Great Society. In 1966, she joined Jefferson Airplane. They went on to make a striking performance at the Woodstock festival in 1969.

In the years that followed, she mixed a solo career with periods in Jefferson Starship (later renamed Starship). In 1987, she became the oldest female singer at the time (she was 47) to top the Billboard Hot 100 when Starship recorded the Albert Hammond/Diane Warren smash "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now".

By the 1990s Slick had virtually retired and wrote of her experiences in 1998 in the autobiography "Somebody to Love?".

Answer: Billie Holliday

Bille Holliday was born on April 7 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and died in New York City, on July 17, 1959. Through a problematic childhood, Holiday found a release in the music of Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong.

When she was aged 18, Holiday was discovered by producer John Hammond singing in a Harlem jazz club. Soon she had joined the band of Benny Goodman. She went on to sing with some of the 'greats' of jazz music, including Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, and Count Bassie.

Film roles were to follow, but an addiction to heroin was to blight the later years of her career. She wrote the autobiography, "Lady Sings the Blues", in 1956 in collaboration with William Dufty.

Answer: Gregg Allman

Gregg Allman was born on December 8, 1947 at Nashville, Tennessee, and died on May 27, 2017 at Richmond Hill, Georgia. With his brother Duane, he formed the Allman Brothers Band in 1969. Duane Allman died in 1971, shortly after the release of the band's live album "At Fillmore East".

The Allman Brothers were hailed as pioneers of southern rock. The band continued after Duane's death and notched up several million-selling albums. The band had four top 10s on the Billboard 200 chart. They became one of the most popular, and highest earning, bands around.

The autobiography "My Cross to Bear" was published in 2012.

Answer: Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson was born on April 29, 1933, in Abbott, Texas. He was largely brought up by grandparents with a musical background and was encouraged by them to explore music at a young age. He got his first guitar at the age of six and was soon writing poems. By the age of 10 he was playing in a band.

In his early years he had a number of jobs and had a brief time in the air force before a back condition had him invalided out. He began to work as a disc jockey while writing his own songs. The most famous of those songs was probably "Crazy", which was a huge hit for Patsy Cline.

It was not until the early 1970s that Nelson's own singing career took off. It was to earn him Grammy awards and movie roles. In 1982, "Always on My Mind" was the highest placed original composition for Nelson on the Hot 100, reaching number five. Six of his albums reached the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 chart.

In 2015, he published "It's a Long Story: My Life", written with David Ritz.

Answer: Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn was born on April 14, 1932 in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. She was one of eight children of a man who was a coal miner. Lynn was just 15 when she married and a few years later taught herself to play guitar while bringing up six children. She formed a band and released her first record "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl" in 1960.

Three years later, Her first album, "Loretta Lynn Sings", reached number two on the Billboard country charts. A string of best-selling records followed, with 16 number ones among 51 on the Hot Country charts. These included "Coal Miner's Daughter" in 1970.

Her autobiography, of the same name, (written with George Vecsey) was published in 1976.

Answer: Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger was born on May 3, 1919, in Manhattan, New York City, and died there on January 27, 2014. Seeger was revered by the generations of singers who followed him. Steeped in the folk music tradition, he was a friend and collaborator of Woody Guthrie.

Seeger's songs of commitment to workers' rights, civil rights and the environment flowed through his career. He was blacklisted for several years following his appearance before the House Un-american Activities Committee.

The authorised biography "How Can I Keep From Singing: Pete Seeger" was written by David King Dunaway and published in 1981.

Answer: Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello was born in London on 25 August 25 1954, although his family moved to the Liverpool area when he was a teenager. His father was a jazz trumpeter who also sang with the respected Joe Loss Orchestra.

After moving back to London, Costello formed a pub rock band. He was signed up by Stiff Records, then the leading punk label, in 1976. While often lumped into the category of "punk rocker", Costello was anything but: his music was far too intelligent, for a start.

A number of lyrically astute songs took Costello and his band The Attractions into the charts. Costello went on to have 16 songs in the UK Top 40. His music developed over the years and he was a winner of two Grammys.

The autobiography "Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink" was published in 2015.