A Little Black Music Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hair

The song begins "Black is the color or my true love's hair." This song is thought to have originated in Scotland but migrated to the Appalachian region of the southeastern region of the US. Notable performers who recorded the song include Nina Simone and Joan Baez.

Answer: Hans Zimmer

Hans Zimmer composed the score for the film "Black Hawk Down" in 1996. Danny Elfman and John Williams are also prolific composers of movie soundtracks and have won multiple Academy Awards for their work.

Answer: Eyes

In Russian, the title of the song is "Ochi Chernye" which is usually translated as dark eyes. The lyrics speak in the first person "Dark Eyes, burning eyes. How I love you, how I fear you." The Russian adjective "cherny" means black as well as dark, so this song title fits our current quiz.

Answer: Paul McCartney

This song was written by Paul McCartney but performed with Stevie Wonder. It was released in 1982 and appeared as a number one hit song for seven weeks. Interestingly enough, the duet was created by blending tracks laid down by each singer separately and then mixed together rather than the two singers singing in the same place at the same time.

Answer: Peter Green

British guitarist Peter Green wrote "Black Magic Woman" in the late 1960s when he was performing with Fleetwood Mac. It became famous when the Santana band reframed the music by combining it with a Hungarian folk melody by Gabor Szabo and adding a jazz twist. One place Santana performed was in San Francisco's Fillmore which was managed by Bill Graham. Jerry Garcia's claim to fame was his involvement with the "Grateful Dead".

Answer: A witch

This American children's song is sung at the end of October every year in elementary schools.

"Black cat, black cat looking for a witch
All around the night is dark as pitch
You can see because your eyes are green
Black cat, black cat, this is Halloween."

Answer: Blackbird

This song begins "Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go singing low, bye bye blackbird." It has become a jazz standard and has been recorded by singers as diverse as Bing Crosby, Joe Cocker, and Paul McCartney.

Answer: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

This song was written in 1966 and performed by the Rolling Stones. In addition to vocals, three stringed instruments are featured: acoustic guitar, electric guitar and sitar.

Answer: James Brown

This song came out in 1968 and became a musical theme for the emerging black power movement in the United States. Huey Newton founded the Black Panther Party along with Bobby Seale in 1968. For them, the sentiments expressed in this song were foundational.

Answer: Men in Black

The sound track for "Men in Black" was written by Danny Elfman. The 1997 film became a movie franchise with succeeding films "MIB 2" and "MIB 3" and an animated TV show as well. "The Black Cauldron" was an animated Disney movie was released in 1985 with a soundtrack by Elmer Bernstein.