The Best of 1973-1980 Multiple Choice Quiz | Music

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear's Choice)", released in 1973, was the Grateful Dead's ninth album and fourth live album. It includes this song sung by Bob Weir with the following lyrics. Can you name the song? (Hint: It also appears on the 1981 live album "Reckoning".) "So blow your whistle freight train Take me far on down the track I'm going away, I'm leaving today I'm going but I ain't coming back"

Answer: Dark Hollow

The music and lyrics for "Dark Hollow" (sometimes "Dark Holler") were written by Bill Browning, who recorded it on the 'B' side of his single "Borned With The Blues" in 1958.

It was also recorded by Jimmy Skinner, Del McCoury, Mac Wiseman, and others. The song is about a man who would rather accept madness than accept the loss of his lover to another man.

A good version of this song also appears on the Grateful Dead's live acoustic album "Reckoning" released in 1981.

2. Another number from "Bear's Choice", this was originally a song recorded by Otis Redding and released posthumously. Sung by "Pigpen" McKernan, which song contains the following lyrics? (Hint: The cover of this song by The Black Crowes is probably the most famous.) "Baby here I am and I'm a man upon the scene I can give you what you want but you got to come home with me I got a whole lot of good old loving and I got some in store When I get through throwin' it on to you got to come back for more"

Answer: Hard to Handle

"Hard to Handle" is a 1968 song originally recorded by Otis Redding and written by Redding, Al Bell, and Allen Jones.

The song was a mainstay of the Grateful Dead's live sets from 1969 to 1971. It was brought back later by Furthur, a band formed by Bob Weir and Phil Lesh.

3. The Grateful Dead's tenth album, and second of 1973, "Wake of the Flood", includes one of my favorites from the early-to-mid seventies. Can you name it from the lyrics provided? "Wake now, discover that you Are the song that the morning brings But the heart has its seasons Its evenings and songs of its own"

Answer: Eyes of the World

"Eyes of the World" was written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter. It debuted in concert on February 9, 1973 at Maples Pavilion at Stanford University, and it remained a mainstay until the end.

"Eyes of the World" was released as a single in 1973, but it failed to chart. You can also find this song on the live album "Without a Net".

4. "Wake of the Flood" also contained this popular number. Can you guess it from the lyrics below? "If all you got to live for Is what you left behind Get yourself a powder charge And seal that silver mine I lost my boots in transit babe A pile of smoking leather Nailed a retread to my feet And prayed for better weather"

Answer: Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo

"Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo" was a Hunter/Garcia composition that first appeared on 1973's "Wake of the Flood". Live versions were later released on "Steal Your Face" and "Without a Net".

The song was first performed on July 16, 1972 at Dillon Stadium in Hartford, Connecticut. It remained a staple of the band from that time on.

5. The Grateful Dead's eleventh album was released in the summer of 1974 and dubbed "From the Mars Hotel". What popular opening number of this album contains these lyrics? "Wave that flag Wave it wide and high Summertime Done come and gone My oh my"

Answer: U.S. Blues

The cover of the album "From the Mars Hotel", shows a beat-up flophouse at 192 Fourth Street in San Francisco. According to "The Annotated Grateful Dead":

"When held upside down in front of a mirror, the graphic on the front of the album cover appears to say 'Ugly Rumors'. This inspired the name of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's band, Ugly Rumours."

This Hunter/Garcia composition is the opening song not only of this album but of "The Grateful Dead Movie".

6. Another song off "From the Mars Hotel" is a slow ballad with the following lyrics. Can you name it? "A pistol shot at five o'clock The bells of heaven ring Tell me what you done it for No I won't tell you a thing Yesterday I begged you Before I hit the ground All I leave behind me Is only what I found"

Answer: China Doll

The very first live performance of "China Doll" was on February 9, 1973 at the Roscoe Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, California. The Hunter/Garcia composition appeared in the second set between "Eyes of the World" and "Big River."

A fully acoustic version of this song also appears on the 1981 live album "Reckoning".

7. The Grateful Dead's twelfth album was called "Blues for Allah", which was released in 1975 and starts off with a medley of three songs: "Help on the Way", the instrumental "Slipknot!", and this third song given by the following lyrics. Can you name it? "God help the child who rings that bell It may have one good ring left, you can't tell One watch by night, one watch by day If you get confused just listen to the music play Roll away The dew"

Answer: Franklin's Tower

"Franklin's Tower" was composed by Jerry Garcia and Bill Kreutzmann, with lyrics by Robert Hunter. It was recorded on three contemporary Dead albums, "Blues for Allah", "Dead Set", and "Without a Net".

Its first live performance was in June of 1975 at Winterland, San Francisco.

The album's title track, "Blues for Allah" was performed only a handful of times in 1975. Meanwhile several other tracks from the album were performed regularly for the rest of the Dead's career, including "Franklin's Tower".

8. 1975's "Blues for Allah" also contained which Weir/Barlow song given by the following lyrics? (Donna Jean Godchaux features prominently in the vocals.) "Say, it might have been a fiddle, Or it could have been the wind. But there seems to be a beat, now. I can feel it in my feet, now. Listen, here it comes again!"

Answer: The Music Never Stopped

"The Music Never Stopped" was released as a single and peaked at 81 on the Hot 100. It was first performed live on August 13, 1975, at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.

The album "Blues for Allah" was the Grateful Dead's first album with Mickey Hart in over four years and the band's first album since their break from touring in 1974.

9. The much maligned and hard-to-find live album, "Steal Your Face", was the band's thirteenth album. It contained the first official Grateful Dead release of which song that originally appeared on the 1972 Bob Weir solo album "Ace" and given by the following lyrics? "Bringing me down I'm running aground Blind in the light of the interstate cars Passing me by The buses and semis Plunging like stones from a slingshot on Mars"

Answer: Black-Throated Wind

The song was composed by Bob Weir with John Perry Barlow providing the lyrics. It was based on the experiences Barlow had on a road trip from New York to San Francisco in 1971. Barlow is quoted as saying it was "right out of Easy Rider," in that he was accosted by locals in the American South for having long hair.

Referring to the album, Jerry Garcia said in an interview: "None of us liked it. I'm sure even Phil and Owsley didn't like it that much. I think part of it was that we were not working, and we didn't have anything else to deliver."

The title of the album comes from the lyrics of "He's Gone", a Hunter/Garcia song first released on "Europe '72": "Like I told ya, what I said, steal your face right off your head".

10. The Dead's fourteenth album, "Terrapin Station" was released in 1977. The first track is a tongue-in-cheek song about a man with delusions of grandeur. Can you name it provided the lyrics? "And I'll call down thunder And speak the same And my word fills the sky with flame And might and glory gonna be my name And men gonna light my way"

Answer: Estimated Prophet

Blair Jackson, in "Grateful Dead: the Music Never Stopped" said:

"According to Weir, he and Barlow wrote the song from the perspective of a crazy, messianic zealot, a type which one invariably encounters in Deadhead crowds now and again. As Weir explains: 'The basis of it is this guy I see at nearly every backstage door. There's always some guy who's taken a lot of dope and he's really bug-eyed, and he's having some kind of vision. He's got a rave he's got to deliver.' In 'Estimated Prophet', the psychopath claims 'My time comin' any day, don't worry about me,' and Weir essentially lets him rave."

The song was first performed live in February of 1977.

11. What song from "Terrapin Station" contains the following lyrics? "Inspiration, move me brightly Light the song with sense and color Hold away despair More than this I will not ask Faced with mysteries dark and vast Statements just seem vain at last Some rise, some fall Some climb to get to..."

Answer: Terrapin Station Part I

"Terrapin Station Part I" debuted live on February 26, 1977 in San Bernardino. It opened the show, a show which also featured the debut of "Estimated Prophet".

Regarding the "Part I" of the song's title, this is only a fragment of Hunter's lyrics. No Part II was ever recorded. Hunter remained dismayed that the full text was not used, particularly because the version Jerry Garcia chose to use does not provide the lyrical conclusion that Hunter intended.

12. The Grateful Dead's fifteen album, "Shakedown Street" was released in November of 1978. Which song from the album contains the following lyrics? (HINT: Don't over-think it!) "You tell me this town ain't got no heart (Well, well, well - you can never tell) The sunny side of the street is dark (Well, well, well - You can never tell) Maybe that's 'cause it's midnight And the dark of the moon besides, or Maybe the dark is in your eyes Maybe the dark is in your eyes Maybe the dark is in your eyes You know you got such dark eyes"

Answer: Shakedown Street

The title track "Shakedown Street" was written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter. It was first performed live in August of 1978 at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.

The album was Number 41 in the Billboard top 200 for 1979. Shakedown Street later became a slang term to describe the area outside of a Dead or sometimes Phish concert where various merchandise is bought and sold.

13. One more song from "Shakedown Street": which song contains the following lyrics? "When the club can't contain the beat It just rolls out in the street Spills on down the avenue Bringing dancers to their feet When it's good as it can be It gets better, wait and see These folks don't never sleep Till they're passed out in the street"

Answer: France

This song was composed by Mickey Hart and Bob Weir with Robert Hunter providing the lyrics. The song was never performed live, perhaps because Donna Godchaux featured so prominently in the vocals. Donna and her husband, keyboardist Keith Godchaux, left the band shortly after this album was completed.

The album cover art of "Shakedown Street" was created by underground comics artist Gilbert Shelton.

14. The Grateful Dead's sixteenth album, 1980's "Go To Heaven", opens with which song having the following lyrics? (HINT: Again, don't think too hard!) "Thirty two teeth in a jawbone Alabama cryin' for none Before I have to hit him I hope he's got the sense to run"

Answer: Alabama Getaway

The first performance of "Alabama Getaway" was on November 4, 1979 at the Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. It opened the second set, and was followed by "Greatest Story Ever Told." The song continued as part of the Dead's repertoire through June of 1989.

Bob Dylan has extensively covered this track.

15. And finally, this song from "Go To Heaven" is sung by Jerry Garcia and contains the following lyrics. Can you name the song? "You may be Saturday's child all grown Moving with a pinch of grace You may be a clown in the burying ground Or just another pretty face You may be the fate of Ophelia Sleeping and perchance to dream - Honest to the point of recklessness Self-centered to the extreme" (Hint: It also appears in my Grateful Dead Title Characters quiz.)

Answer: Althea

"Althea" is a Garcia/Hunter composition that also appears on the live album "Without a Net".

Some believe this song was based on the poem "To Althea from Prison" by the 17th century poet Richard Lovelace. In any event, if you happened to catch the show at Oakland Auditorium Arena on August 4, 1979, you would have heard the first live performance of this song.

Source: Author OofahLandian

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The Best of 1973-1980 Trivia Quiz

I shall give you a sampling from the lyrics of a song and the name of the album on which it appeared. You will tell me the name of the song. No obscure songs here. Only the best from the era (1973-1980)!

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