Classic Country Crooners Trivia Game | Music Mixture

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone. Let's pretend that we're together, all alone." The song's title? "He'll Have To Go". Now, who was the crooner who released this mellow little country/pop tune in 1959?

Answer: Jim Reeves

Jim Reeves, (Gentleman Jim), was born in 1923 but he passed away as the result of a plane crash in 1964. His music was so popular that his songs continued to hit the music charts for years after his death.

He became an internationally known singer and helped to carry the country and pop music genres abroad to countries like Norway, South Africa and India.

He was inducted posthumously into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1967.

2. "Before The Next Teardrop Falls" was a huge hit for this country singer in 1975, although it had been covered by a variety of musicians since the late 1960s. Who enjoyed the best success with this classic country hit, singing it in both English, then in Spanish, then reverting back to English near the song's end?

Answer: Freddy Fender

"If he brings you happiness
Then I wish you both the best.
It's your happiness that matters most of all.
But if he ever breaks your heart,
If the teardrops ever start,
I'll be there before the next teardrop falls."

In an interview, Freddy once noted, "The recording only took a few minutes. I was glad to get it over with and I thought that would be the last of it."

Wrong! The song topped the Billboard Hot Country Singles Chart as well as Billboard's Hot 100 in 1975. This tune signaled a major comeback for Freddy Fender after he had experienced an arrest in 1960 on drug-related charges.

3. "She's Got You", a song by this music artist that was released in 1962 topped out at number one the Billboard Country Charts and climbed up to the number 14 position on the Billboard Hot 100. What was the name of this classic country crooner?

Answer: Patsy Cline

"I've got your picture that you gave to me,
And it's signed "With Love" just like it used to be.
The only thing different, the only thing new;
I've got your picture, she's got you."

This plaintively melancholic tune was a megahit for Patsy Cline in 1962.

Virginia Patterson Hensley (known professionally as Patsy Cline), died in an airplane crash just a short time after the song was released, on March 5, 1963 about 90 miles from Nashville, Tennessee.

4. Tom T. Hall once smoothly offered this song about "little baby ducks, old pickup trucks, slow-moving trains and rain". In the next line he mentioned "little country streams, sleep without dreams, Sunday School in May and hay". What was the name of this gentle classic from 1973?

Answer: I Love

"I Love" managed to climb to the number 12 position on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1973.

Each of the other songs noted as options were also written by Tom T. Hall.

Jeannie C. Riley struck it big with "Harper Valley PTA" that soared to number one in 1968; Tom himself had a number one hit with "The Year Clayton Delaney Died" in 1971, while Alan Jackson hit pay dirt (and scored a number one hit) with "Little Bitty" in 1996.

Tom T. Hall was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

5. Tammy Wynette had a controversial smash hit with her "Stand By Your Man". The controversy arose due to the fact that feminism was blossoming in the U.S. at about the same time as the song was charting in 1968. Who collaborated with her on the writing of this song?

Answer: Billy Sherrill

Billy was long associated with both Tammy Wynette and her third husband, George Jones. He was one of the major influences of what became known as the "countrypolitan" sound of the cross-over country and pop music genres.

"Stand By Your Man" became a huge number-one success story for Tammy Wynette, not only in the U.S. but also in the U.K. and in the Netherlands.

6. "Why does the sun go on shining? Why does the sea rush to shore? Don't they know it's the end of the world? 'Cause you don't love me any more?" Now, many folks will recognize that tune as having been popularized by "Skeeter" Davis, but do you remember in what year she managed to get that song onto no less than FOUR music charts, simultaneously?

Answer: 1963

In 1963, "The End Of The World" which had been written by country singer/songwriter Chet Atkins, turned into a raging success for "Skeeter" Davis. Her birth name was Mary Frances Penick, but her grandfather gave her the sobriquet "Skeeter" as in a slang term for "mosquito".

The song was actually released in December 1962 but it reached the top of the charts in 1963.

7. Martin David Robinson aka Marty Robbins, had a great hit with "A White Sports Coat and a Pink Carnation" in 1957. He was also a WW2 veteran, prior to becoming a Country/Western singer.

Answer: True

It was during his time spent in the Solomon Islands in the U.S. Navy that Marty Robbins learned to play guitar. After the war, he began hosting his own radio program in Mesa, Arizona.

8. This artist, nicknamed "The Cherokee Cowboy" brought us hits like "Heartaches By The Numbers", "Release Me" and "For The Good Times". Who wrote and sang these songs?

Answer: Ray Price

Ray Price was born in 1926 in Cherokee County, Texas; hence the nickname. He spent much of his life writing and singing music in both the country/western genres and later, gospel music. He passed away in 2013, a victim of pancreatic cancer.

9. Kris Kristofferson wrote a country/pop crossover hit called "Help Me Make It Through The Night", which became an instant number one hit in 1971, but can you tell me who popularized this song with her classic voice?

Answer: Sammi Smith

Jewel Faye "Sammi" Smith was first signed with Columbia Records with the help of Johnny Cash, after he heard of her talent. In the late 1970's, while her singing career was not yet over, she had moved to Arizona to work with a group called "Apache Spirit". She had become involved with Native American causes, specifically the Apache tribe.

Her very last country hit song "Love Me All Over" was produced in 1986.

Sammi Smith died in 2005.

10. Married to Waylon Jennings, this country crooner had a super-sized hit in 1975 with "I'm Not Lisa"; a song which she had written herself. Do you remember her name?

Answer: Jessi Colter

I deliberately did not give you the option of Miriam Johnson as a choice, because that was Jessi Colter's name at birth.

"I'm Not Lisa" topped the country/pop charts in 1975 as a number one Hot Country hit while simultaneously peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

"I'm not Lisa; my name is Julie. Lisa left you - years ago", laments the song, in reference to a woman whose man who calls the object of his affections by another name.

Jessi also played the keyboard (piano) on the song's original released recording.

Source: Author logcrawler

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor kyleisalive before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Classic Country Crooners Trivia Quiz

These timeless classics were brought to us by some fantastic singers who specialized in the genre of country music. Enjoy the memories!

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