Piping Hot Trivia Quiz

Answer: War

War's drummer Harold Brown recalled an incident in the studio that led to wine being spilled on Lonnie Jordan's keyboard and they were suddenly moved into another studio. It seemed coincidental but, at the time, Eric (Burdon) was well into writing this song, which featured a leaping gnome becoming the star of a Hollywood movie, that it was suddenly brought together quite nicely with a chorus about spilling wine.

The track appears on the band's 1970 album "Eric Burdon Declares War" and, along with the flute, it has another unusual feature, the conga drum.

Answer: The Rolling Stones

OK, before people start howling and sending me notes - yes, I know that it is not a flute that you can hear on this single but Brian Jones playing the recorder. However, the effect is quite striking and runs almost parallel to this quiz, so it's in. Keith Richard described "Ruby Tuesday" as a break-up song; "... some chick you've broken up with. And all you got left is the piano and the guitar and a pair of panties." "It's one of those songs that is easiest to write because you're really right there and you really sort of mean it." Released in 1967, the song appears on the Rolling Stones' album "Between the Buttons".

Answer: George Baker Selection

Also known as "Una Paloma Blanca" (one white dove) this is a song about freedom. Baker explains that he pictured a poor farmer, at the end of a hard day's work, gazing up at the titular dove and being envious of its freedom. Whilst this song may have used the dove as a symbol of freedom, two years prior (1973) Elton John used another in "Skyline Pigeon", the b-side of his single "Daniel". Now I am not alluding to anything nefarious here and state that this is merely a coincidence but both lyrics contain a very similar line;
(John) "to the smell of new mown hay"

Answer: Canned Heat

The inspiration for this song came from an old blues tune by Henry Thomas called "Bull Doze Blues". It appears on Canned Heat's 1968 album "Living the Blues". They say that timing is everything and this track certainly got a boost at the Woodstock festival which arrived the following year. Canned Heat played the song on the second day of Woodstock and it almost served as the theme song for the event i.e. going up the country, going to Yasgur's farm. The aptly named Jim Horn, who'd made a name for himself as a saxophone player working with the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones, showed his deft skill with the flute on this track.

Answer: Chicago

"Chicago II" (1970) was the band's second studio album (like that wasn't obvious Poll) and it was also their second double album. Side two of the LP contains two tracks; the two and a half minute "Wake Up Sunshine" and the near-on thirteen minute "Ballet For a Girl in Buchanan".

The latter track is a suite comprised of seven numbers and "Colour My World" is the fifth song in the series. Writer James Pankow describes it ("Colour My World") as a love song, where he endeavours to describe the emotion of being in love as a technicolour movie in his heart.

The highly recognizable flute solo in this song is provided by the band's saxophonist Walter Parazaider.

Answer: King Crimson

You will find this song on King Crimson's debut album, 1969's "In the Court of the Crimson King". If this is not one of the most daring debut albums of all time it certainly is one of the most defining. It was probably too good a debut album for the band, one whose heights they would struggle to live up to.

The progressive rock scene was still a fledgling beast at that time and this album made bands such as The Nice and Moody Blues look like they were still learning the craft. "I Talk to the Wind" is a lilting piece that sounds so serene on the heels of the cacophony that closes out the previous track on the album, "21st Century Schizoid Man". Ian McDonald's flute opens the track and carries you gently through to its clarinet caress. Ah beautiful man!

Answer: The Beatles

This appears on the Beatles 1965 album "Help". John Lennon, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 1971, advised that this song came during a period when he was churning out pop songs daily. The words appeared and there was very little of himself invested in the lyrics.

The change toward being more expressive seemed to occur in this number and he felt that it was no coincidence that it came after an extended period listening to Bob Dylan's work. The Beatles brought in session musicians to play the flute sections of the track.

It represented the first time that outsiders would perform on a Beatles' recording.

Answer: Donovan

This was a 1967 single for the British singer and it made the Top Ten of the UK Singles charts (#8) and came tantalizingly close on Billboard's Hot 100 in the US (#11). According to Donovan the song was an adaptation of a Zen proverb that emphasized change;
"First there is a mountain
Then there is no mountain
Then there is."
Caribbean jazz musician, Harold McNair, who'd made regular appearances on Donovan recordings, provides the flute for this track.

Answer: Murray Head

This track is a part of the hit musical "Chess" (1984) that tells the story of two chess masters going head to head in Thailand. The rivalry between the two, one a Russian, the other an American, serves as a metaphor for the Cold War. The wonderful lyrics for this song, and the musical, were put together by Tim Rice, while the music was composed by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, better known as "those two guys in ABBA."
The flute on this single was provided by Swedish musician Bjorn Lindh who uses the difficult flutter tongue technique that is notable on many of Jethro Tull's tracks.

Answer: Van Morrison

Usually, in the liner notes to an album, you may be provided with a part of the story behind the making of a song. With this track, one of Morrison's most iconic, he doesn't. Instead, he puts forward a fable for the listener - "in ancient times there was an artist (read musician) who kept his wonderful gift to himself.

When his wife became sick he used his gift of song to cure her. His wife then turns to him and says "but who will ease your pain, who will save you?" "Moondance" is the title track to Van Morrison's 1970 album and the flute, which provides such a powerful signature to it, was played by Colin Tilton.