Rock Me Gently Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dan Fogelberg

Dan Fogelberg was born in 1951 in Peoria, Illinois. His father, who was a high school band director, became the inspiration for the song, "Leader of the Band."

"Run for the Roses," and "Same Old Lang Syne" were also memorable hits for him, but neither topped the U.S. Billboard charts in the number one slot.

On December 13, 2007, Dan Fogelberg passed away, a victim of prostate cancer. As a tribute to him and his entire family, the city of Peoria changed the name of Abington Street to Fogelberg Parkway. The city also approved a memorial garden in Riverfront Park which was dedicated in his honor in 2010.

Answer: Rock and Roll Lullaby

"Rock and Roll Lullaby" was written by Barry Mann and his wife, Cynthia Weil, and was popularized by Billy Joe (B.J.) Thomas in 1972. The song topped the music charts in the number one position that year, but only managed to stay there for one week.

Billy Joe (B.J.) Thomas had decided to use his initials in an effort to avoid being confused with another popular singer of the time, Billy Joe Royal, who had previously had a hit in 1965 with Joe South's song, "Down In The Boondocks".

(In researching information about this question I did discover an older version of the song that had originally been sung by Dion and the Belmonts.)

In 1961, Barry Imberman (Mann), along with co-writer, Gerry Goffin wrote a song which Mann himself took to the Top 40, "Who Put The Bomp"; a parody of the "doo-wop" sound of music that was popular at that time.

Answer: Snowbird

"...So, little snowbird, take me with you when you go
To that land of gentle breezes where the peaceful waters flow."

"Snowbird", as performed by Canadian artist Anne Murray in 1970, only topped the U.S. charts at the number eight position, but fared better "north of the border" in her native Canada; making it to the number two slot. This hit single was the one that launched her singing career.

Anne's father was a doctor and her mother was a nurse. They raised Anne and her five brothers in Springhill, Nova Scotia.

Answer: The Poseidon Adventure

Not only did Maureen McGovern have a huge hit with "The Morning After" that was featured on the film "The Poseidon Adventure", later she garnered another hit with "We May Never Love Like This Again" when it was used on "The Towering Inferno" in 1974.

The song's opening verses have a hint of the melancholy about them, yet offer a promise of hope...

"There's got to be a morning after
If we can hold on through the night
We have a chance to find the sunshine
Let's keep on looking for the light.

Oh, can't you see the morning after?
It's waiting right outside the storm
Why don't we cross the bridge together
And find a place that's safe and warm?"

Answer: Three Dog Night

Hoyt Axton, a folk musician, not only wrote "Never Been To Spain" for Three Dog Night, they had also had a previous hit with another of his tunes, "Joy To The World", in 1970. That song was sometimes called "Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog", due to its opening line.

Three Dog Night was originally known by the name Redwood and recorded some of their early music with Brian Wilson of Beach Boys fame. The members of Three Dog Night wrote very few of their own songs, with the majority coming from external songwriters. Along with Hoyt Axton, these songs included Randy Newman's "Mama Told Me Not to Come"; Laura Nyro's "Eli's Coming"; Russ Ballard's "Liar"; Elton John and Bernie Taupin's "Lady Samantha" and "Your Song"; a Leo Sayer song, "The Show Must Go On; and "One", written by Harry Nilsson. They also popularized two of Paul Williams' songs, "An Old Fashioned Love Song" and "Out in the Country".

Answer: Coven

The opening lyrics to this song about the effects of greed and war follow below:

"Listen, children, to a story
That was written long ago,
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below.

On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath the stone,
And the valley-people swore
They'd have it for their very own..."

The song ends with these lines, after greed has taken its toll -

"Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgement day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away."

I was rather surprised to learn that the group had a rather "dark" history, in that they were linked to the practice of witchcraft; (thus their name, since a 'coven' is a gathering of witches.)

Jinx Dawson was also the first of the pop metal culture to use "the sign of the horns", and she did so at the beginning and the end of each of the band's concerts.

Answer: True

According to Berni Taupin and found in Elton John's autobiography, this Elton John hit was intended as a tribute to those who had fought in Vietnam, had returned home seeking a simpler life, and just could not be left alone by well-wishers and war-haters alike. In a desperate bid for internal peace, a "war-blinded" Daniel flew off to Spain, to escape the pain and horrors of both the war and its after-effects.

The song is presented as if seen through the eyes of Daniel's younger brother, with the last two stanzas shown below. -

"Daniel my brother you are older than me
Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won't heal
Your eyes have died, but you see more than I
Daniel you're a star in the face of the sky.
Daniel is traveling tonight on a plane
I can see the red tail lights heading for Spain
Oh, and I can see Daniel waving goodbye
God it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes
Oh God and it looks like Daniel; must be the clouds in my eyes."

Answer: After The Gold Rush

The group Prelude pushed the song into the top 40, in 1970, but when Dolly, Emmy and Linda covered it, they got a bit confused. At one point, Dolly contacted Neil to ask his permission to change the line, "I felt like getting high", to "I felt like I would cry", which he granted. She then asked him just what the song meant.
His reply was; "Hell, I don't know. I just wrote it. It just depends on what I was taking at the time. I guess every verse has something different I'd taken."

Critiques of the album at the time of its release in 1970 were less than favorable, with one particularly stinging comment made by Rolling Stone magazine critic Langdon Winner - "...none of the songs here rise above the uniformly dull surface..."

Time has been kinder to the album, with it going from a status perhaps best described as "under-achieving" to that of "masterpiece". In an effort to let you understand Dolly Parton's confusion, I will post the song lyrics in their entirety. Maybe YOU can figure them out! I know that I never have been able to, although I truly like the song. See if you can help us out, especially with...
well, the whole song. -

"Well, I dreamed I saw the knights
In armor coming,
Saying something about a queen.
There were peasants singin' and
Drummers drummin'
And the archers split the trees.
There was a fanfare blowing
To the sun
That was floating on the breeze.
Look at Mother Nature on the run
In the nineteen seventies.
Look at Mother Nature on the run
In the nineteen seventies.

I was lying in a burned out basement
With the full moon in my eye,
I was hoping for replacement
When the sun burst thru the sky.
There was a band playin' in my head
And I felt like getting high.
I was thinkin' about what a
Friend had said
I was hoping it was a lie.
Thinkin' about what a
Friend had said
I was hoping it was a lie.

(flugelhorn interlude)

"Well, I dreamed I saw the silver
Space ships flyin'
In the yellow haze of the sun,
There were children cryin'
And colors flying
All around the chosen ones.
All in a dream, all in a dream
The loading had begun.
Flyin' Mother Nature's
Silver seed to a new home in the sun.
Flyin' Mother Nature's
Silver seed to a new home..."

Well? Comments welcome!

Answer: Me And You And A Dog Named Boo

While all of these songs were performed by Lobo (meaning Wolf, in Spanish),
"Me And You And A Dog Named Boo" was his first hit single, topping out at the number five position in the U.S. and peaking at number four on U.K. charts.
Lobo's fourth album, "Just A Singer", was his first album to feature songs not written by Lobo himself. The only single cut released from the album was the song "Rings".

Answer: Cat Stevens

The song was released on the album, "Teaser And The Firecat", by Cat Stevens in 1971, but it did not peak at number one until a year later. Rick Wakeman of the group Yes, wrote the piano interlude for the middle of the song.

The ORIGINAL first words of this song that had been a former Christmas carol began with the words, "Child in the manger, Infant of Mary".

Answer: Time In A Bottle

"If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
Till Eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you."

These are the opening lines to the song "Time In A Bottle", which was released as part of the album, "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" in 1972. James Joseph (Jim) Croce had written the song when his wife was expecting their son, Adrian in 1970. One year after the album's release, Jim was tragically killed in an airplane crash as it took off from the Natchitoches, Louisiana airport, the very same day that his song "I Got A Name" was released.
"Time In A Bottle" was never intended for release as a single, but after his untimely death, ABC records felt that it was almost a premonition of his own demise, and thus released it as a single.

It proved to be Jim's second and last number one hit; his first being "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown".

Answer: Little Lies

"Tell me, tell me, tell me lies.
Tell me lies
Tell me sweet little lies
(Tell me lies, tell me, tell me lies)
Oh, no, no you can't disguise
(You can't disguise, no you can't disguise)
Tell me lies
Tell me sweet little lies

Although I'm not making plans
I hope that you understand there's a reason why
Close your, close your, close your eyes

No more broken hearts
We're better off apart let's give it a try
Tell me, tell me, tell me lies

Tell me lies
Tell me sweet little lies
(Tell me lies, tell me, tell me lies)
Oh, no, no you can't disguise
(You can't disguise, no you can't disguise)
Tell me lies
Tell me sweet little lies

If I could turn the page
In time then I'd rearrange just a day or two
Close my, close my, close my eyes."


"Little Lies" was Fleetwood Mac's third single to be taken from their 1987 album, "Tango in the Night".

Answer: Wildflower

"Wildflower" is the title of this song but that word is never mentioned in it; however the last line offers a hint of it, "She's a free and gentle flower growing wild".

The Canadian group Skylark only released two albums and this was their only hit single to make it into the Top Forty on the music charts in Canada and in the U.S.

Band member Dave Richardson wrote the lyrics for this song. It was originally written as a poem for his girl friend, who later became his wife.

Answer: Olivia Newton-John

"Wherever you go
Wherever you may wander in your life
Surely you know
I always wanna be there
Holding your hand
And standing by to catch you when you fall
Seeing you through
In everything you do

Let me be there in your morning
Let me be there in your night
Let me change whatever's wrong and make it right
Let me take you through that wonderland
That only two can share
All I ask you is let me be there."

Olivia Newton-John became quite a versatile entertainer, actress and singer, but her successes became overshadowed by personal tragedy, to a degree. In the 1990s, she had to do battle with breast cancer, yet was able to triumph over it due to early detection.

Answer: Andy Kim

The opening lyrics to "Rock Me Gently":

"Ain't it good?
Ain't it right?
That you are with me here tonight
The music playin'
Our bodies swayin' in time
In time, in time, in time

Touching you so warm and tender
Lord, I feel such a sweet surrender
Beautiful is the dream that makes you mine."


Canadian-born Andrew Youakim (Andy Kim), (whose parents were Lebanese), has also recorded under the stage names of Longfellow and Baron Longfellow during the early 80s. This was after he had stopped recording altogether in 1976.