Just Call Me "Mr." Trivia Quiz

Answer: Johnny Cymbal

Johnny Cymbal (real name) was born in Scotland. He was a prolific songwriter and has a list of over 200 published songs. He recorded songs under the pseudonyms Derek, Brother John, The Eye-Full Tower, and The Non-Conformists. His songs have been recorded by Elvis Presley, Glen Campbell, Gene Pitney, The Partridge Family and The Spencer Davis Group, among others. Regrettably, he died of a heart attack in 1993 at age 48.

Answer: Mr Lonely

The song "Mr. Lonely" was on an album called "Roses Are Red" which Vinton released in 1962. It was not released as a single at first. Buddy Greco covered it in late 1962 and the song only made number 64. It was finally released by Vinton in 1964 and went to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Answer: The Fleetwoods

The song "Mr. Blue" was first recorded in 1959 by DeWayne Blackwell, and was made popular by The Fleetwoods, becoming their second straight Billboard number one hit, following "Come Softly To Me". The group was out of Olympia, Washington and was very popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The Cadillac reference (for those who may not know) refers to The Cadillac Fleetwood, a popular American car.

Answer: The Bobbettes

It was The Bobbettes who took "Mr. Lee" up the charts in 1957. The group was based in Harlem, New York and began recording in 1955. The song was about one of their teachers in high school, and although the lyrics suggest that the singer had a crush on the teacher, the original lyrics were different.

The girls actually disliked the teacher, but the record company made them change the lyrics before the recording was released. The song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and was the group's biggest single.

Answer: Mr Moonlight

"Mr. Moonlight" was written by Roy Lee Johnson in 1962 and this is his best known work. The Beatles performed this song many times during their early live shows and decided to include it on their album "Beatles For Sale" in the U.K. and "Beatles '65" in the U.S. Although never released as a single, the song has remained very popular over the years.

Answer: The Byrds

All the listed groups have covered a Dylan penned tune at one time or another, but the only one that fit the criteria were The Byrds, who recorded "Mr. Tambourine Man" in 1965 and took it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts as their first charting hit. Dylan had released the recording in early 1965 and The Byrds were only a few weeks behind with their cover.

The song had the unique distinction of being listed twice on Rollin Stone Magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Dylan's version is listed at number 106 and The Byrds cover is listed as number 79.

Answer: False

The song was actually about a 1965 incident and written by Jerry Jeff Walker in 1968. He claims it was written after spending time in a jail cell with an interesting street performer he met when he was arrested for public drunkeness during a street sweep in New Orleans during July of 1965 after a murder was committed there.

He got to talking to the man and when the conversation got morbid, someone asked that they do something to lighten the mood, so the man performed a tap dance right there in the cell.

The song itself was capably performed by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band who took it to number nine on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1971.

Answer: Ray Stevens

"Itemize the things you covet, as you squander through your life, bigger cars, bigger houses, term insurance for your wife..." begins this Stevens classic, which was a radical departure from his comical hits of the early 1960s. This song was infinitely more analytical than anything he had ever done before.

The song turned into his first top 40 hit in five years when it reached number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1968. Of course, he went back to his old ways later on with hits such as "Gitarzan" in 1969 and of course, "The Streak' in 1974.

Answer: Jean Knight

Jean Caliste changed her stage name to Jean Knight for fear that her real name was too hard to pronounce, and she hit the Billboard charts with "Mr. Big Stuff' in 1971. The song went to number two on the Hot 100 charts and number one on the Billboard R & B charts. Knight could not sustain the success though, as this was her only major hit.

Answer: Counting Crows

The Counting Crows, from Berkeley California, exploded onto the music scene with "Mr. Jones", their smash hit from 1994 off an album called "August and Everything After". The song became a Billboard Mainstream number one hit for the group that year as well as a number 28 hit in the U.K. and a number 13 tune in Australia.