Songs Referencing Gamblers and Gambling Quiz

Answer: Linda Ronstadt

The original title of the Jagger/Richards composition was "Good Time Women" when it was originally written for their "Sticky Fingers" album the previous year.
"Tumbling Dice" is about a gambler who cannot be faithful to any women. The sessions for "Exile on Main Street" were recorded at the Villa Nellcote in France. On the night that "Tumbling Dice" was recorded bassist Bill Wyman was unavailable so guitarist Mick Taylor played bass and Mick himself played guitar. Charlie Watts recorded double drum tracks.
The Rolling Stones first performed the song live in Canada in June of 1972 and it has remained a consistent part of their live repertoire
"(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher" was a 1977 hit for Rita Coolidge. Jennifer Warnes took "Right Time of the Night" to the Top Ten in the US the same year. Carly Simon took "Nobody Does It Better" to the Number Two slot in 1977.

Answer: Ned Miller

In 1957 Ned Miller recorded "From A Jack to A King" but the song failed to chart. Five years later the song was released again and reached Number Ten on the US Billboard chart, also rising to Number Two on the US Country charts.
After being released from the Marine Corps in the mid-fifties Ned composed "Dark Moon" which was recorded by Bonnie Guitar and Gale Storm. Miller originally recorded "From A Jack to A King" for Fabor Records in 1957. Five years later he convinced the label to release it again and Dot Records handled national distribution. The song sold over two million copies and was the only single by an American to reach the Top Ten in Britain that year. Due to stage fright Miller retired from performing in the seventies. "From A Jack to A King" went to Number One on the Country charts in 1980 when it was recorded by Ricky Van Shelton.
"Roses Are Red (My Love)" was a 1962 hit for Bobby Vinton. Bruce Channel's only US Top Ten single was "Hey Baby" (1962). In 1962 "Speedy Gonzales" was released by Pat Boone.

Answer: Dice

The lyrics relate that "Stagger Lee threw seven Billy swore that he threw eight
Stagger Lee told Billy I can't let you go with that." Stagger Lee went on to return to the bar with a pistol and shoot Billy. The song had been recorded with different titles since Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians released it originally in 1923. Prior to WWII the song was called "Stack O'Lee". In 1950 "Stack-a-Lee" was released by John Leon Gross using the name Archibald. In 1958 Lloyd Price released a version crediting Lloyd Price and Harold Logan as composers that became a hit the following year.
Louisiana native Lloyd Price first charted when he wrote and released "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" in 1952. Fats Domino played piano on the session. Price became known as "Mr. Personality" after his 1959 single "Personality" was released.

Answer: Guys and Dolls

"Guys and Dolls" was based on the Damon Runyon stories "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure". The musical won the Tony Award for Best Musical when it was released in 1950. The song was sung by the character Sky Masterson in the second half of the musical, which involves gambling on horse races.

The first person to perform the song was Robert Alda, father of actor Alan Alda. When the film version was released in 1955 Marlon Brando sang the number. In 1964 Jack Jones recorded a version for his "Bewitched" LP.

The following year Frank Sinatra recorded a version for his "Sinatra '65: The Singer Today". The song was included in the soundtrack of the 1993 film "Mrs. Doubtfire".

Answer: False

"The Gambler" was a smash US Country hit for Rogers and peaked at Number 16 on the US Pop charts. Songwriter Don Schlitz was only 23 when he composed the song and peddled it around Nashville for over two years. Eventually Shel Silverstein urged Bobby Bare to record it on his 1978 "Bare" LP. It was not released as a single. Johnny Cash then recorded a version on his "Gone Girl" album the same year. In November, 1978, Kenny released it as the lead single from his "The Gambler" album and the song achieved national success. Kenny took home a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1980.
Durham, North Carolina native Don Schlitz co-wrote "Forever and Ever, Amen" (1987) for Randy Travis and wrote "When You Say Nothing at All" for Keith Whitley the following year.
In 1978 "The Gambler" was the second of five consecutive Country Number One singles in the US for Rogers.

Answer: United States

Although Juice scored three Number One singles in Canada and only made it as high as Number Two on the Pop charts in the US she is a native of Lakehurst, New Jersey. In 1981 "Queen of Hearts" made it to Number Two, the highest she charted on the US Pop Charts. It came between "Angel of the Morning" and "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" in 1981. The songs were all single releases from her 1981 "Juice" album.
She was born Judy Kay Newton in Lakehurst and after attending college in California she sang in coffee houses and eventually formed a band called Silver Spur that played around northern California. In 1977 she released "It's a Heartache" as a solo artist, the first of 11 hit singles for Juice. She earned one of the five Grammy awards she was nominated for.
Hank DeVito, who wrote "Queen of Hearts", was the steel guitar player in Emmylou Harris' band. It was originally recorded by Dave Edmunds in 1979 on his "Repeat When Necessary" LP.

Answer: Reed

"When You're Hot, You're Hot" was Jerry Reed's most successful US Country single. It stayed at Number One for five weeks and made the US Pop charts Top Ten at Number Nine. The songs is about a gambler at an illegal crap game who gets arrested. Jerry Reed is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, who wrote "Guitar Man" which was covered by Elvis Presley with Reed on guitar in 1967. Jerry had his first charted Billboard Top 100 hit in 1962 when "Goodnight Irene" reached Number 79.

In 1970 "Amos Moses" reached Number Eight on the US Pop charts beginning a streak of hits on both Country and Pop charts.

While he never topped the Pop charts he did have three Number One Country hits beginning with "When You're Hot, You're Hot" followed by "Lord, Mr. Ford" in 1973 and "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)" in 1982. "When You're Hot, You're Hot" earned Reed a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male.

Answer: Blood, Sweat & Tears 4

"Blood, Sweat & Tears 4" is the band's fourth album, reaching number Ten on the Billboard Pop albums chart in 1971. Band members Fred Lipsius, Dick Halligan and David Clayton-Thomas left the band after completing "Blood, Sweat & Tears 4". Three years later David Clayton-Thomas returned when the band recorded their US Number 47 "New York City" album.
David Clayton-Thomas was born David Henry Thomsett in England, the son of a Canadian military member, and the family relocated to Toronto. Eventually David became part of the New York music scene. He composed hits for Blood Sweat & Tears including "Lucretia MacEvil" and "Spinning Wheel" after joining the band.
Founding member Al Kooper returned to co-author and record "John the Baptist (Holy John)" for the "Blood, Sweat & Tears 4" LP.
"The Flying Burrito Brothers", "The Doobie Brothers" and "Black Oak Arkansas" were eponymous 1971 album releases.

Answer: The Bob Seger System

"Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" was written by Bob Seger and included on the album of the same name when the group was called the Bob Seger System. Glenn Frey contributed acoustic guitar back-up vocals to the project. The single peaked at Number 17 in the US.
Detroit native Robert Clark Seger began his musical career in 1961 with a high school band called The Decibels. He worked with a number of other local bands until he signed with Capital Records who suggested the name The Bob Seger System. After releasing a disappointing regional hit the group released "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man". Seger had major success after changing the name to The Silver Bullet Band in 1974.
"Happy Trails" was a 1969 album from Quicksilver Messenger Service. James Gang released "Yer' Album" in 1969 and "The Allman Brothers Band" was also released in 1969.

Answer: Sting

"Shape of My Heart" was the fifth single release from Sting's 1993 album "Ten Summoner's Tales". It was written by Sting and guitar player Dominic Miller. Sting's concept for the song was someone attempting to determine whether gambling involved logic or luck. The song was included in the soundtrack for the 1994 film "Leon" as well as "Three of Hearts" in 1993.
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner embarked on a solo career in 1985 after being a member of The Police from 1977 to 1984. During the course of his career with the band and as a solo artist Sting has garnered 17 Grammy awards and has sold over 100,000,000 records.
"Unplugged" was a 1993 Eric Clapton album. Neil Young released "Lucky Thirteen in 1993 and Kid Rock recorded "The Polyfuze Method" the same year.