Railroad, Steamboat, River, and Canal Quiz

Answer: The Monkees

Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart wrote "The Last Train To Clarksville", which in 1966 was the first single released by The Monkees. Although never promoted as such, it was an anti-Vietnam War song. Hart later sad "We couldn't be too direct with The Monkees. We couldn't really make a protest song out of it - we kind of snuck it in."

Lead vocals were by Mickey Dolenz - who was actually the only Monkee on the recording. Boyce and Hart's band, The Candy Store Prophets, played the instruments in the studio.

The song went straight into the Billboard Hot 100 at number one.

Answer: Steve Goodman

The man who popularised it was, of course, Arlo Guthrie. He did, though, change the rhythm of the song that Goodman had written.

According to Guthrie in some of his famous concert ramblings, he was winding down after a show when Goodman approached and said he had a song he wanted him to hear. Arlo said he wasn't all that interested at first, but told Goodman he had the time it would take to drink a beer to sell it to him.

The City of New Orleans was an overnight train that ran from Chicago to New Orleans. The song was written in 1970, when a threat hung over the train's future.

Goodman and Guthrie both released albums in 1972 with the song on them. Goodman died in 1984, the same year that Willie Nelson made the song an album title track and made the single a country number one. It earned a Grammy.

Answer: John Hartford

For almost 50 years from 1953, John Hartford was held in high esteem for his songwriting and banjo playing in the genres of bluegrass and folk.

He was brought up on the banks of the Mississippi and started to work on steam boats at the age of 16, becoming a captain and pilot. However, he left that behind for a musical career and recorded extensively for a number of labels. Hartford was a regular on the 'Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' and also played on an album with The Byrds.

His most famous song was probably "Gentle On My Mind", which won four Grammys in 1968, including best folk performance for Hartford and best solo country and western performance for Glen Campbell. Hartford also won a Grammy for songs on the soundtrack to the movie movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou," (2000).

Hartford died in 2001 at the age of 63 from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Answer: The Rolling Stones

When it comes to longevity, few bands have had the stamina of the Rolling Stones. They first played in 1962 and can claim to be one of the longest running bands that has not officially disbanded and reformed at some time. Some sources claim them to be the oldest band still performing; others give that accolade to the Dutch band Golden Earring, since 1961. (Holding myself as a hostage to fortune here!)

Between 1961 and 2020 the Stones sold 66.6 million records, enough to place them at number 15 on a "Business Insider" list of "The 50 best-selling music artists of all time" in September 2020. Since I know you are just itching to ask, The Beatles were number one on that list, with 183 million sales.

"Following The River" was on the 1972 album "Exile on Main Street" as piano instrumental played by Nicky Hopkins. Mick Jagger added the lyrics for the re-release of the album in 2010.

Answer: Animaniacs

"Animaniacs" was an animated music and comedy show that aired between 1993 and 1998. Initially it was shown on Fox, and later transferred to Warner Bros. Steven Spielberg was executive producer.

It took the form of a variety show in which the 'characters' took part in various sketches. Among those who voiced characters was Nancy Cartwright, who was to find fame as the voice of a certain mischievous yellow boy on "The Simpsons".

The first two runs of "Animaniacs" consisted of 99 shows in five seasons. Each show featured at least one music section.

Answer: Pussycat

"Mississippi, I'll remember you
Whenever I should go away
I'll be longing for the day
That I will be in Grennville again

Mississippi, you'll be on my mind
Everytime I hear this song
Mississippi roll along
Until the end of time..."

Pussycat were active between 1975 and 1983 and their first single, "Mississippi", was a number one in eight countries and a top ten hit in three others. It sold five million copies across Europe and in South Africa and New Zealand, but was not released in the USA.

The band was built around the sisters Toni, Betty, and Marianne Kowalczyk, and was never to repeat that success.

Ace of Base hailed from Sweden, while Wonderwall and A Touch of Class were both from Germany.

Answer: Elton John

"Dreamboat" was a bonus track on the 1998 reissue of "Too Low For Zero". Elton John co-composed it with former Sutherland Brothers & Quiver guitarist Tim Renwick. Gary Osbourne wrote the lyrics. It was also the B side of the "Kiss The Bride" single in 1983.

Elton John taught himself to to play piano, starting at the age of four. His first professional music was with the band Bluesology, that was while he was still calling himself Reg Dwight.

It is estimated that Elton John has sold more than 300 million singles and LPs. Many of his most famous songs were co-written with the lyricist Bernie Taupin. They re-wrote their song "Candle In The Wind" following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and it went on to become the biggest selling single of all time - 33 million copies.

Answer: The Weavers

The best-known lineup of The Weavers featured Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Ronnie Gilbert.

This was a group that fused folk music with politics: a political viewpoint that had them standing foursquare with the working people of America - communists in the view of their detractors.

All four founding members had a strong pedigree in folk music before they started singing together in New York City in 1948. Their early years were not easy. In 1949, rioting broke out at a concert in Peekskill, New York, caused, it is said, by the presence of Paul Robeson. Hundreds of people were injured.

Better times came with a residency at the the Village Vanguard in New York City over Christmas 1949. Their second LP produced two hit songs, "Tzena Tzena Tzena,", and "Goodnight Irene", a chart topper.

Although several hits followed, their political past caught up with the group. A proposed television show was canceled and opposition from right wing groups became more strident. By the end of 1952, the band's career was over, although they reunited for a sell-out Carnegie Hall show in 1955. A recording of that show and several follow up records helped the band limp along until 1958 when Seeger quit.

There were to be more reunions at Carnegie Hall in the 1980s.

Answer: The Grateful Dead

In the late 1960s, San Francisco was the centre of a counterculture in the USA. The city brought us flower power, and the Grateful Dead.

The original line up came from several earlier bands and comprised Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Mickey Hart, and Jerry Garcia. Several others played with the band over the years.

Despite the fact the band never really featured on the charts or the airwaves they became, as Encyclopedia Britannica noted, "one of the most successful touring bands in rock history". Their fusion of blues, folk and bluegrass was to influence other bands that followed.

That touring continued for the best part of 30 years until the untimely death of Jerry Garcia in 1995. In that time, they garnered probably the most passionate of supporters of any band - the famed "Deadheads".

Writing on grunge.com in July 2020, Allison Matyus commented that the jamming band scene of today would not have come about without the Dead and added: "Today, their work resonates as much as it ever did."

Answer: The Doobie Brothers

The Doobie Brothers were not, of course, brothers. Hailing out of California, the original 1969 line-up comprised musicians from various other bands and solo artists.

The band signed to Warner Brothers records in 1970 and their first album disappeared without much of a trace. In 1972 their second long player, "Toulouse Street", gave them several hits, and their third, "The Captain and Me", in 1973 spawned the hits "Long Train Runnin'" and "China Grove."

New band members and new sounds were to come over the years. There were also to be returns for several former players. In May 2020, "Billboard" magazine reported that the band's 50th anniversary tour had been rescheduled, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, until July 2021.

The official Doobie Brothers website cites the founding members as John Hartman, Tom Johnston, and Pat Simmons. Other sources differ. Wikipedia, meanwhile, names 30 current and former members.