If I Were a Carpenter Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sheriff

"I Shot the Sheriff" was written and recorded by Bob Marley in 1973 and released on the album "Burnin'". Eric Clapton covered the song a year later for his album "461 Ocean Boulevard" which reached top position on the US Billboard Hot 100, US Cash Box and US Record World charts. This cover was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003.

Answer: Rhinestone

"Rhinestone Cowboy" was recorded by Glen Campbell in 1975 and released on the album of the same name. It was originally written and recorded by Larry Weiss in 1974, but did not have the same success as Campbell's cover which topped the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles, US Billboard Hot 100, U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Track, Irish and Canadian charts.

The most unusual cover version of this song was done by rock band Guns'N Roses in 2009.

Answer: Pope

"This Is Not a Song, It's an Outburst: Or, the Establishment Blues" was recorded by Rodriguez for his album "Cold Fact" in 1970. Largely unknown in the US, the album was a great hit in South Africa and Australia achieving platinum status in both countries in 1998.

"The Pope digs population, freedom from taxation
Teeny Bops are up tight, drinking at a stoplight
Miniskirt is flirting I can't stop so I'm hurting
Spinster sells her hopeless chest."

Answer: The Beatles

The Beatles recorded "Lovely Rita" in 1967 for their album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Legend has it that Paul McCartney received a parking ticket from a female traffic warden (meter maid) and decided to write a song about her. He named her Rita because she apparently looked like a Rita.

The album itself was the band's eighth album and did extremely well on the charts, topping the UK and US album charts as well as the West German, Swedish, Norwegian, Canadian and Australian charts.

Answer: Jester

Don McLean recorded the song "American Pie" for the album of the same name in 1971. The song was a number one hit in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, US Billboard Hot 100 and US Billboard Easy Listening charts. It managed a second place on the UK charts.

McLean has remained fairly enigmatic about the meaning of the song. He stated in an interview, "You will find many interpretations of my lyrics but none of them by me ... Sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence.". A sale catalogue for the original song manuscript does reference Bob Dylan as the jester and Elvis Presley as the king. The "day the music died" refers to the plane crash in 1959 in which Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens died.

The three parts of the song referencing the jester:

"When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean"

"Oh, and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown"

"The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast"

Answer: Don't Stand So Close to Me

"Don't Stand So Close to Me" was released from the third album by The Police named "Zenyatta" in 1980. The song reached number one on the Irish and UK Singles charts. The song was re-recorded in 1986 for the album "Every Breath You Take: The Singles", but fared dismally on the self same charts. It only reached eleventh position in Ireland and twenty-fourth on the UK chart.

"It's no use, he sees her
He starts to shake and cough
Just like the old man in
That book by Nabokov"

Answer: Bad Case of Loving You

"Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)" was written and recorded originally by an artist named Moon Martin in 1978 for his album "Shots from a Cold Nightmare". Martin's original did not enter the charts. Robert Palmer did the cover version in 1979, recorded for his album "Secrets".

His version was much more successful, charting in the top twenty on ten charts. The best chart position was top spot on the Canadian RPM chart. It also managed a fourteenth spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Answer: Generals

Black Sabbath recorded "War Pigs" for their 19670 album "Paranoid". The album was originally called "War Pigs", but was changed by the record company so as not to alienate supporters of the Vietnam War. The song itself, is an anti-war song. "Paranoid" was listed in 2003 at position 130 on Rolling Stone magazine's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.

Answer: Tailor

A traditional folk song, "The House of the Rising Sun" also known as "Rising Sun Blues" has been covered by a number of artists through the years. The earliest known recording was from 1933 recorded by Clarence Ashley and Gwen Foster. Bob Dylan covered the song in 1962 for his eponymous debut album. The Animals cover of the song in 1964 for their eponymous album was so popular that Bob Dylan chose not to perform the song anymore as people referred to his version as a cover version of The Animals.

"My mother was a tailor
She sewed my new blue jeans
My father was a gamblin' man
Down in New Orleans"

Answer: Waitress in a cocktail bar

"Don't You Want Me" was recorded by UK group Human League in 1981 for the album "Dare". The song is notable for being one of the first songs that featured the vocals of Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall as these two had been hired as backing vocals and dancers. The song was extremely popular, reaching top position on the US Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles charts. it reached number one in Belgium, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Norway as well.

"You were workin' as a waitress in a cocktail bar
When I met you
I picked you out, I shook you up and turned you around
Turned you into someone new"

"I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
That much is true
But even then I knew I'd find a much better place
Either with or without you"