Anatomy Of A Song: Super Skier's Last Race Quiz

Answer: Kick turned into place

"The starter cried is everybody ready for the race
Our super skier shouted 'yes' and kick turned into place"
A double bass playing the melody of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" was the intro to the song on Gibson's 1959 album "Ski Songs"

Answer: A smirk

"The starter cried is everybody ready for the race
Our super skier shouted 'yes' and kick turned into place
Then boldly waved to all his friends
A smirk upon his face
Well he ain't gonna ski no more"
Bob Gibson was a skier himself, and lived for a time in Aspen, Colorado. The cover of the 1959 album "Ski Songs" had a photo of Gibson with a leg in a plastercast in front of a ski lodge fire and the back had a photo of him schussing down the mountain holding his guitar.

Answer: Ski it blindfolded

"He yawned at his opponents
Said the race's as good as won
H'ld ski the course blindfolded just to add a bit of fun
With bandaged eyes he jetted off, till his bindings came undone
Well he ain't gonna ski no more"
Bob Gibson was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 16th 1931 and died on September 28th 1996 in Portland, Oregon. An early leader of the 'folkscare revolution' of the late 1950s and early 1960s, Gibson's influence is often in modern times underestimated.

Answer: He should have stayed up top

"He felt the wind, he felt the cold, he felt the sudden drop
He tried to stem, he tried to check, and then he tried to stop
His fatal error dawned on him, he should have stayed up top
Well he ain't gonna ski no more"
Bob Gibson was noted for his guitar and banjo playing. He formed a partnership with the songwriter Bob [Hamilton] Camp. Their 1961 album on Electra Records 'Gibson and Camp at the Gate of Horn' was credited with influencing many songwriters, including, it was said, John Lennon.

Answer: Bamboo

"He hit each pole that set the course and 12 spectators too
Came roaring cross the finish wearing garlands of bamboo
Two were killed and four were hurt and six were black and blue
Well he ain't gonna race no more"
If Bob Gibson's career did not rise to the heights his early promise suggested, it was due to his abuse of alcohol and drugs, including speed and heroin. He spent periods in jail and in rehabilitation programmes.

Answer: Brains

"There was crimson on his bindings, there were brains upon his suit
Intestines were a'hanging from the tree tops to the roots
We scraped him up from off the snow and poured him from his boots
Well he ain't gonna ski no more"
In 1978, Gibson eventually gave up the booze and drugs and started to attend AA meetings. He tried to restart is career, but the audience of the late 50s and early 60s had moved on.

Answer: His arms and legs

"They took him to the hospital and fixed him up real great
But took off all his arms and legs a sad and lonely fate"
The young Bob Gibson's aim of becoming a businessman changed when he met that great 'old folkie' Pete Seeger in 1953. He later said he used the money set aside for rent to buy a banjo.

Answer: A paperweight

"Now he's working in an office, hired as a paperweight
Well he ain't gonna ski no more"
Bob Gibson spent his musical apprenticeship touring places as diverse as New York, the Bahamas, Miami and Cleveland, before settling into the newly opened Gate of Horn Club in Chicago for an 11-month residency. Joan Baez and Judy Collins were among those given a start in folk music by Gibson as openers for his act.

Answer: Heaven

Gory gory what a hell of a way to die
Gory gory let us raise our glasses high
Gory gory now he's in St Peter's sky
And he ain't gonna ski no more"
Although, Gibson never regained his leading place in the folk music world, in the later years of his career he formed a successful trio with his old friend Tom Paxton and the young Anne Hill and toured as "The Best of Friends". An album of the same name was released in 2004..

Answer: He was too young to die

"Gory gory who's that bird brain in the sky
Gory gory it's a sport I'll never try
Gory gory I am much too young to die
And I ain't gonna ski no more"
In 1990, Gibson began to feel increasingly ill, but it was not until three years later he was diagnosed with Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). In September 1996 he invited all his old musical friends to a farewell concert in Chicago. He was too ill to do more than get up and say goodnight to the audience. A week later, he died.

I hope you have enjoyed playing this quiz as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Listen to "Super Skier's Last Race" on Spotify. Find out more about Bob Gibson at http://bobgibsonlegacy.com