10 Best Covers of Bruce Springsteen Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The weight of covering a Bruce Springsteen song may have caused a legendary band to speed it up a bit. Whose cover of "Atlantic City" made it onto the 'Far Out' magazine list of "10 Best Covers of Bruce Springsteen"?

Answer: The Band

The Band changed the arrangement around, gave it an accordion-led emphasis and an upbeat feeling. The Canadian/American outfit started out as backing group for Ronnie Hawkins and then Bob Dylan before having a career in their own right.

This was an outfit of some fine talents that never really achieved the success or recognition that those talents deserved. On their own, they did not have a charismatic frontman, like Hawkins or Dylan, and their music was hard to pigeonhole: was it rock or was it country? Or maybe they did not have the hunger to sell themselves to the big time.

This cover appeared on the album "Jericho", released by The Band in 2003.

2. One singer picked up on a number of Bruce Springsteen songs over the years, but which country singer known for identifying with the working man and prisoners made "Johnny 99" his own on our list of "10 Best Covers of Bruce Springsteen"?

Answer: Johnny Cash

Cash made this the title track of his 69th LP. "Far Out" magazine wrote: "Released in 1983, Cash turns the song on its head and makes it his own. It's perfect fodder for Cash as he tells the story of a tragic inmate and once again excels when he has to transfer the emotions of others into his own words."

On a 2000 tribute album of Springsteen songs, Cash sang "I'm On Fire".

3. "Drive All Night" was a classic Springsteen song that became part of an on-stage duet between a Pearl Jam singer and an Irish Oscar winner. Who were they on 'Far Out' magazine list of "10 Best Covers of Bruce Springsteen"?

Answer: Eddie Vedder and Glen Hansard

Illinois-born Eddie Vedder was guitarist and lead singer for Pearl Jam, while Dublin-born Glen Hansard was an actor and a co-author of "Falling Slowly", which won an Academy Award in 2008 for best original song from the movie "Once", in which he also starred.

The song was on Glen Hansard's 2013 EP "Drive All Night". As well as vocals by Hansard and Vedder, the song featured a certain Jake Clemons...from the E Street Band.

4. One of the most iconic of all Springsteen songs was "Dancing In The Dark" and it attracted numerous covers. Which English multi-instrumentalists merited inclusion in a 2020 list of "10 Best Covers of Bruce Springsteen"?

Answer: Hot Chip

Hot Chip were a London, England, Grammy-nominated synthpop band. In 2015, they put "Dancing In The Dark" on an extended play (EP) release.

The wrong answers were all Australian bands.

5. At first glance it is hard to see the connection between blue collar hero Bruce Springsteen and an English pioneer of glam rock. Which out of the world singer covered "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City"?

Answer: David Bowie

In a 1979 radio show interview, Bowie named "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City" as one of his favourite songs of all time. It was a song that he was to sing many times in concert. Bowie recorded the song in 1974, but it was not released on an album until it appeared on the 1989 box set "Sound + Vision".

6. A mutual admiration sprang up between Bruce Springsteen and a Liverpool-born singer and they recorded each other's songs several times. Maybe the angels wanted to wear the red shoes of the singer who sang "Brilliant Disguise" on a Springsteen tribute album?

Answer: Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello sang "Brilliant Disguise" on "Light of Day," the Springsteen tribute album.

Costello has named The Boss as an inspiration: "I wanted to somehow make magic out of the things around me, the way he did on his first two records before he broke through," he said. The admiration was mutual. Springsteen told a 2009 TV show: "Elvis' first three records were a hurricane. He's made great ones, since, all of 'em. But you had the perfect storm, the first three records ... It was just like, 'Whoah.' "

Sadly, there is no place for Dave Edmunds on our list, even though the Welsh rocker made "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)" his own. That was not strictly a cover, The Boss gave him the song (and then covered it himself.)

7. One Bruce Springsteen song that does not get a lot of airplay because of its subject matter is "American Skin (41 Shots)". Which hip hop and rap duo sought to remedy that and their rendition is on the 'Far Out' magazine list of "10 Best Covers of Bruce Springsteen"?

Answer: Mary J Blige and Kendrick Lamar

Springsteen wrote the song about an incident in New York City in which a police officer shot Amadou Diallo, a Guinean immigrant, 41 times after mistaking his wallet for a gun. While the song enraged police authorities and officers, Springsteen has insisted it was not anti-police, but anti-tragedy.

Mary J Blige and Kendrick Lamar released the song as a single in October 2016. Lamar added lyrics of his own.

8. "Downbound Train" was The Boss at his most melancholy but it still attracted a lot of cover versions. Which Pennsylvania-born singer, instrumentalist and songwriter gave such a rawness that it deserved a place on our list of "10 Best Covers of Bruce Springsteen"?

Answer: Kurt Vile

Vile, from Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, started making music from the age of 17. He co-founded the indie band The War on Drugs with songwriter Adam Granduciel. Vile recorded "Downbound Train" on his 2011 album "Smoke Ring for My Halo".

9. Bruce Springsteen could give you any type of production you wanted; from a plethora of instruments to the stripped down bareness on just a few. Which Big Apple indie rockers, though, gave "I'm Goin' Down" their own sparkle on a hit US television show and earned a place on our list of "10 Best Covers of Bruce Springsteen"?

Answer: Vampire Weekend

New York City's Vampire Weekend got together in 2006 and their self-titled debut album reached number 17 on the Billboard 200 in 2008. Their cover of "I'm Goin' Down" was on the soundtrack album from the television comedy-drama "Girls". (Volume 2, to be precise).

The wrong answers are all bands formed in Chicago.

10. On our list of "10 Best Covers of Bruce Springsteen" is "I'm On Fire" by a British singer who won two Ivor Novello awards for her songwriting. Who was she?

Answer: Bat for Lashes

Bat for Lashes was the professional name of Natasha Khan, who was born in London of English/Pakistani heritage. Her first single was released in 2006, and three years later she had a UK number 36 with "Daniel", which won the first of her two Ivor Novello awards. Four of her first five albums reached the top 10 in the UK.

Bat for Lashes recorded "'I'm On Fire" on her "Fur and Gold" LP on 2006.

(Named after the Welsh actor and composer Ivor Novello, the awards were presented annually for songwriting and composing).

Source: Author darksplash

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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With a dozen top ten hits and over 300 songs to his writing credits, Bruce Springsteen has attracted attention for more than 40 years. Identify these ten artists who were named-checked in a 'Far Out' magazine list of "best covers".

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