Tennessee Towns and Cities in Song Quiz

Answer: Nashville

George Strait and Alan Jackson paired up to sing this song during the 1999 Country Music Association's awards show. Although not released as a single the song reached number 38 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart. The song is not about an actual murder but it mourns the "murder" of traditional country music by the modernization of the genre.

It was written by Larry Cordle and Larry Shell.

Answer: Tina Turner

Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock in the unincorporated town of Nutbush, Tennessee in 1939. She remained there until the age of sixteen. Nutbush is located in western Tennessee about an hour north of Memphis. Nutbush has a population of approximately 200 people but a rich history in music.

Besides Tina Turner, other entertainers such as Noah Lewis, Sleepy John Estes and Willie Newbern were born and/or raised in or around Nutbush. Part of Tennessee State Route 19, which runs through Nutbush has been renamed the "Tina Turner Highway".

Answer: Chattanooga Choo Choo

This song was performed in the movie by Glen Miller and his Orchestra, with the vocals provided by saxophonist and singer Tex Beneke, as well as Paula Kelly and the Modernaires. The song was an instant hit, selling over one million records by 1942. RCA awarded Glen Miller a copy of his record lacquered in gold, making it the first unofficial "gold record" presented in the recording industry.

In 1996 the 1941 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Chattanooga was a major thoroughfare for south bound trains in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The song's popularity has helped create a whole industry in the Southeastern Tennessee city. There is a historic hotel named the Chattanooga Choo Choo, where guests can sleep on passenger cars, and the old train terminal is a resort complex covering about thirty acres near Chattanooga's downtown.

Answer: Jack Daniel's Whiskey

Lynchburg is a small town of about 5,500 people located in Moore County. It occupies the southern portion of Middle Tennessee. According to the Lynchburg, Tennessee, visitors' guide the Jack Daniel's distillery is the "oldest registered distillery in the United States". No one knows for sure when Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel founded his company, but dates ranging from 1866 to 1875 are offered. Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey is among the world's best selling liquor.

It is famous for its square bottle and black label.

In 2005 Brad Paisley recorded the song personifying alcohol which in the chorus refers to Lynchburg along with Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Bordeaux, France. "Alcohol" climbed to number four on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Ironically, since Prohibition the county where Jack Daniel's is made is dry.

However, a special exemption exists that allows the distillery to sell small commemorative bottles of Jack Daniel's whiskey to tourists on every day but Sunday.

Answer: Knoxville and Gatlinburg

Milsap's "Smoky Mountain Rain" was ranked number one on the December 1980 Billboard's Hot Country Singles Chart and later crossed over to become a number one hit on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The song tells the story of a man hitchhiking from Los Angeles to Knoxville in search of his former lover.

A truck driver takes him to the Smoky Mountain town of Gatlinburg but he still does not find the woman. This song was one of Milsap's forty number one hits in his storied country singing career and his fourth number one hit of 1980.

Answer: The Lovin' Spoonful

The Lovin' Spoonful was a short-lived pop/folk band based out of New York City. Some of their hits included "Do you Believe in Magic?" (1965), "Daydream" (1966) and "Summer in the City" (1966). The latter was the group's only number one hit, reaching the top spot in the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in 1966.

It appeared on the same album as "Nashville Cats". The album, "Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful", was an attempt to showcase the group's various musical styles. "Nashville Cats" country sounding song was a musical tribute to the Nashville based guitar players.

The song peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart but did not achieve the success in the country genre that the group had hoped for. Later the song was recorded by bluegrass singers Flatt and Scruggs with limited success.

In 2000 The Lovin' Spoonful was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Answer: An engineer killed in a train wreck

Casey Jones was an engineer for the Illinois Central Railroad. He was killed in a train wreck early in the morning on April 30 1900, near Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was trying to make up some time, allegedly substituting for a fellow engineer who was unable to make the run due to illness. Jones hit another train in the fog but is credited for saving the lives of his passengers and co-workers before losing his life in the accident.

His co-worker, Wallace Saunders, is considered by many historians to be the original writer of the song, but when it was published in 1902 Lawrence Seibert was listed as the lyricist and Eddie Newton was credited with writing the music.

While there are many variations of lyrics to the ballad, the version credited to Saunders which is reportedly considered the most accurate by Jones' wife, Janie, mentions the cities of Memphis and Jackson.

The infamous train journey began in Memphis and Jones was later buried in Jackson, Tennessee. Both of these facts are referred to in the original song.

Some later versions of the lyrics did not mention the Tennessee towns and were considered slanderous by Janie Jones because they implied that she was unfaithful to her husband. She spent the rest of her life refuting those accusations. The numerous different versions of the song, however, solidified Casey Jones as a folk hero. Over the years the various versions of the song have been recorded scores of times and have sold millions of copies.

Answer: Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde

Tritt released "Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde" as a single in 2000. It peaked at number eight on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs Charts. The song tells the story of a man who gives a ride to a woman he meets at a Johnson City, Tennessee truck stop. Later she robs a drive-in market and quickly has him speed away in his Firebird.

They are later caught by police. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were Great Depression era outlaws who were accused of robbing banks, stores and gas stations in and around Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.

The couple, along with their gang, were reportedly responsible for at least nine police officer deaths as well as several more civilian murders. They were killed by police officers in Louisiana in 1934. They were both in their early twenties. Bonnie and Clyde's fame increased when a movie about their exploits was released in 1967 and their legend continues to grow.

For example, in 2009 "Bonnie and Clyde: The Musical" was staged.

Answer: Graceland

Although not a big hit commercially, Paul Simon's "Graceland" and the album with the same name won critical acclaim. In 1986 Simon won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and the following year the song "Graceland" won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

In 2004 it was listed as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by "Rolling Stone Magazine". The song deals with a trip that a father and son take to Graceland, the Memphis home of Elvis Presley. From the lyrics it is obvious that they are dealing with a recent loss of love.

Some speculate that the song is autobiographical in that it deals with Simon's divorce from actress Carrie Fisher.

Answer: NASCAR/ car racing

Bristol Motor Speedway held its first race in 1961. The short track coupled with the high banks make this track a fan favorite because the races held there usually have plenty of wrecks and tempers flaring between drivers. The song specifically refers to the 1995 Goody's 500 NASCAR race held in Bristol, Tennessee and the conflict between Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace.

The 1995 race immortalized in the song was won by Terry Labonte. Earnhardt finished second and Rusty Wallace was knocked out early by Earnhardt. C. W. McCall, whose biggest hit was "Convoy", uses his sprechgesang style of singing to accurately portray the events of that race in a humorous way.

Answer: Give me Memphis, Tennessee

Chuck Berry wrote and released this song on the B side of a single in 1963. His version of the song, "Memphis, Tennessee" was a bigger success in England than in the USA; however Johnny Rivers covered the song in 1964 and it reached a number two ranking on Billboard's US Pop Chart.

The lyrics of the song slowly reveal the singer's desire to get in touch with a loved one who made a call from Memphis. At first it seems as if he is trying to get in touch with an old girlfriend but by the last stanza it is clear that the person he is trying to contact is his six year old daughter. Berry is a legendary singer-song writer who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Answer: Arrested Development

"Tennessee" peaked at number one on both the US Billboard Hot Rhythm and Blues/Hip-Hop singles track and the US Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart. It won a 1993 Grammy Award for "Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group". Arrested Development also won a 1993 Grammy for "Best New Artist".

The song's lyrics make reference to two west Tennessee towns: Dyersburg is the county seat of Dyer County. The town of about 17,000 residents is located in the northwest corner of the state. Ripley is just south of Dyersburg.

The town with a population of just over 7,000 is the county seat of Lauderdale County.

Answer: Nashville

"Crazy Town" showcases the up and down experiences of a young singer trying to make it big in Nashville. The fast paced song peaked at number two on the US Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in February of 2010. "Crazy Town" was the fourth single released from Aldean's "Wide Open" album.

The previous three released singles, "She's Country", "Big Green Tractor" and "The Truth" all reached number one on Billboard Magazine's US Hot Country Songs chart.

Answer: Red Foley

"The Chattanoogie Shoeshine Boy" was recorded by many artists in 1950 including Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, but Foley's recording was by far the biggest hit. Foley's version sat atop Billboard Magazine's Country Singles Chart for 13 weeks before crossing over and spending eight weeks on the magazine's pop chart.

The song was originally titled the "Boogie Woogie Shoeshine Boy" but the title was changed to refer to the city of Chattanooga in order to compliment Foley's other recent hit songs that referred to Tennessee.

They included "Sunday Down in Tennessee", "Tennessee Polka", Tennessee Border" and "Tennessee Saturday Night". Foley is recognized as the person who recorded the first modern country albums recorded in Nashville.

Answer: Memphis

"Walking in Memphis" helped Cohn win a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1992. The song mentions famous Memphians: soul and gospel singer Reverend Al Green, W.C. Handy who known as "The Father of the Blues", and Elvis Presley. Beale Street is considered "the Home of the Blues" so dubbed by Congress in 1977. "Walking in Memphis" is one of many songs which reference this Mississippi River city.

In fact the Memphis Rock and Soul Museum claims that Memphis is mentioned in the lyrics of more songs then any other city in the world.

As of 2009 their list included over 900 recorded and distributed songs that mention Memphis.