A Song For The Road Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ray Charles

"Hit The Road Jack" was written by Percy Mayfield. It was number one for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 for Ray Charles in 1961. It peaked at number six on the UK singles chart the same year but did not chart in Canada.

Ray Charles was born Ray Charles Robinson in Albany, Georgia, USA, in 1930. He started to lose his sight around the age of four, probably as the result of glaucoma. He was completely blind by the age of seven and attended the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine from 1937 to 1945.

Between 1959 and 1966 he had 11 Top Ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 which included the three number one hits "Georgia On My Mind" (1960), "Hit The Road Jack" (1961) and "I Can't Stop Loving You" (1962). Ray Charles was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. He died of acute liver disease in Beverly Hills, California, USA, in 2004 aged 73.

Answer: Roger Miller

"King Of The Road" was written by Roger Miller. It peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 for Roger Miller in 1965. It peaked at number ten on the Canadian chart and was number one for one week on the UK singles chart the same year.

Roger Miller was born Roger Dean Miller in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, in 1936. His father died when he was a year old and he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Oklahoma, USA.

Between 1964 and 1965 he had five Top Ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100. He had two number one hits on the Billboard Country chart with "Dang Me" (1964) and "King Of The Road" (1965). After reaching number one in the UK with "King Of The Road" he never had another Top Ten hit there. He died of lung and throat cancer in Los Angeles, California, USA, in 1992 aged 56.

Answer: The Beatles

"Penny Lane" was written by Lennon/McCartney. It was number one for one week on the Billboard Hot 100 for The Beatles in 1967. It was number one on the Canadian chart and peaked at number two on the UK singles chart the same year.

"Penny Lane" was kept off the UK number one spot by Engelbert Humperdinck with "Release Me". It brought to an end a run of 11 consecutive UK number one hits for The Beatles. If it had made it to number one then The Beatles would have achieved 18 consecutive UK number one hits.

In the US "Penny Lane" was The Beatles' 13th non-consecutive number one hit. They went on to have 20 number one hits in the USA, 22 number one hits in Canada and 17 number one hits in the UK. Some of their singles were double A-Sided number one hits which only count as one number one hit.

Answer: The Beatles

"The Long And Winding Road" was written by Lennon/McCartney. It was number one for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 for The Beatles in 1970. It was number one on the Canadian chart but was not released as a single in the UK.

"The Long And Winding Road" was not released as a single in the UK but it was track three on side two of The Beatles' last released album "Let It Be". It was also the last single released by The Beatles before they disbanded and it was their last US and Canadian number one hit to date.

Allen Klein, The Beatles' manager at the time, brought in the genius American producer, (now convicted murderer) Phil Spector, to remix the album. Paul McCartney was not best pleased at the final remixing of the album, to say the least, especially "The Long And Winding Road". He even attempted to stop the release of the album in that form but was unsuccessful. Later in 1970 John Lennon defended Spector and said that he had made a good job of it.

The Beatles were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

Answer: Rod Stewart

"Gasoline Alley" was written by Rod Stewart/Ronnie Wood. It was track one on Rod Stewart's first album "Gasoline Alley" which peaked at number 27 on the Billboard album chart for Rod Stewart in 1970. It peaked at number 32 on the Canadian album chart and number 62 on the UK album chart the same year.

Rod Stewart was a member of The Faces at the time he recorded "Gasoline Alley". He had joined them in 1969 after the original group The Small Faces has disbanded. Steve Marriot (lead singer/guitar) left The Small Faces to form Humble Pie. Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood left The Jeff Beck Group and joined former Small Faces members Kenney Jones (drums), Ronnie Lane (bass guitar) and Ian McLagan (keyboards) in The Faces.

Rod Stewart was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Answer: Elton John

"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" was written by Elton John/Bernie Taupin. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for Elton John in 1973. It was number one on the Canadian chart and peaked at number six on the UK singles chart the same year.

Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in Pinner, Middlesex, England, in 1947. His first charted single was "Border Song" which was a track on his second UK album "Elton John" (1970). As a single it failed to chart in the UK and only reached number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100. It did however achieve more success in Canada were it peaked at number 34 and became the first Elton John single to chart anywhere in the world.

His best selling single was his 1997 remake of "Candle In The Wind", dedicated to Diana, Princess of Wales. It topped the charts in many countries and sold in excess of 5,000,000 copies in the UK in six weeks. In the US it had advance orders in excess of 8,000,000. In Canada it spent an incredible three years in the Top 20 which included 45 weeks at number one.

Elton John was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and he was knighted in 1998.

Answer: The Eagles

"Life In The Fast Lane" was written by Joe Walsh/Glen Frey/Don Henley. It peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 for The Eagles in 1977. It peaked at number 12 on the Canadian chart but did not chart in the UK.

The Eagles lineup on this recording were Don Felder (guitar), Glen Frey (clavinet, backing vocals), Don Henley (lead vocal, drums), Randy Meisner (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Joe Walsh (guitar). "Life In The Fast Lane" was the third single to be released from The Eagles' album "Hotel California" (1976).

In 1980 with animosity between Felder and Frey boiling over during a show in Long Beach, California, Frey left the group. After the "Eagles Live" album later in 1980 the rest of the group disbanded. They reformed in 1994 minus Randy Meisner but with Timothy B. Schmit (bass guitar). The Eagles were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Glen Frey died of complications of rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia, while recovering from gastrointestinal tract surgery in the Columbia University Medical Center, Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, in 2016 aged 67.

Answer: AC/DC

"Highway To Hell" was written by Scott/Young/Young. It peaked at number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 for AC/DC in 1979. It peaked at number 56 on the UK singles chart the same year but did not chart in Canada.

On this recording AC/DC who were formed in Australia were, Phil Rudd (drums), Ronald Scott (vocals), Cliff Williams (bass guitar) and brothers Angus Young (guitar) and Malcolm Young (guitar). In the UK between 1978 and 2000 they held the record for the most chart hits (28) without a Top Ten hit. In the US between 1979 and 1993 they had seven Hot 100 hits without a Top 20 hit. In Canada they had a Top Ten hit with their first chart entry there with "Let's Get It Up", which peaked at number nine in 1982.

AC/DC were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. After a chart gap of 13 years, the reissue of "Highway To Hell" peaked at number four in the UK in 2013 giving them their first UK Top Ten hit.

Answer: Willie Nelson

"On The Road Again" was written by Willie Nelson. It was number one for one week on the Billboard Country chart for Willie Nelson in 1980. It peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the Canadian Country chart the same year. It did not chart in the UK.

Willie Nelson the actor/activist/author/musician/poet/singer/songwriter/ was born Willie Hugh Nelson in Abbot, Texas, USA, in 1933. he had his first chart hit on the Billboard Country chart with "Willingly" a duet with Shirley Collie, which peaked at number ten in 1962. His first number one hit on the Billboard Country chart was with "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain" in 1975. This was also his first hit on the Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at number 21 the same year.

Many other singers have had hits with songs written by Willie Nelson, such as Faron Young "Hello Walls" (1961), Patsy Cline "Crazy" (1962), Roy Orbison "Pretty Paper" (1963) and Joe Hinton "Funny (How Time Slips Away)" (1964). In 1993 Willie Nelson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and in 2001 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Answer: Green Day

"Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" was written by Billie Joe Armstrong. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for Green Day in 2005. It peaked at number five on the UK singles chart the same year. It did not chart in Canada.

On this recording Green Day were Billie Joe Armstrong (lead vocals, guitar), Tre Cool (drums, vocals) and Mike Dirnt (bass guitar, vocals). "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" was the second single from Green Day's seventh studio album "American Idiot".

Because "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" uses the same chord progression as the Oasis song "Wonderwall", Noel Gallagher of Oasis criticized Green Day. He said "They should have the decency to wait until I am dead before stealing my songs. I, at least pay the people I steal from that courtesy". This from a member of a Beatles tribute band sounds like the pot calling the kettle black to me. Green Day donated all of the iTunes proceeds from this song for the year, to the American Red Cross for the Hurricane Katrina aid efforts.