Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The first Jimmy Webb song to hit the charts was recorded by a vocal group from Los Angeles in 1967. A good example of feel-good, sunshine/psychedelic pop, "Up, Up and Away" was themed around a trip on a hot-air balloon; it rose to Number Seven in the US Charts. What was the name of the five-member group from LA that originally recorded this track?
2. In late 1967 Glen Campbell released Webb's song "By the Time I Get to Phoenix". The song is written from the point of view of a man leaving his wife, relating what he thinks she'll be doing at the time he passes through various cities as he drives away from her. So, by the time he gets to Phoenix she'll be rising - but what will she be doing by the time he gets to Albuquerque?
3. April 1968 saw the release of Webb's song "MacArthur Park", sung by the Irish actor Richard Harris. At over seven minutes long with many tempo and mood changes it's an astonishing composition, despite the obscure lyrics. Everyone knows that "someone left the cake out in the rain" - but what colour was the icing on the cake?
4. In mid-1968, after the success of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", Glenn Campbell asked Webb to write another "geographical song". Webb produced an all-time classic that reached Number Three in the US Charts and Number Seven in the UK What is the title of this song?
5. This song was originally the B-side to "MacArthur Park" by Richard Harris, but it was released as an A-side a few months later in 1968. Four years later Barbra Streisand recorded it as part of her "Live Concert at the Forum" album to great critical acclaim. The song is a wistful look-back over the the singer's life as they recall the past with the words "This time we almost made the pieces fit...". What's the title of this song?
6. In February 1969 Webb and Glen Campbell produced yet another "geographical" song, this time a rather upbeat and (possibly) anti-war song. The song is named after a large city in the Lone Star State that suffered a climate disaster in 1900. What's the tile of this song?
7. After about 1970 Webb's output slackened, but he wrote one marvelous song that Art Garfunkel recorded as Track 1, Side 2 of his 1973 debut solo album, "Angel Clare". The song is beautifully arranged with a solo piano at the start and finish. It starts with the highly emotionally-charged words "I bruise you, you bruise me, we both bruise so easily". What is the song's title?
8. Webb is a keen science fiction fan, and one of his favourite authors is Robert A. Heinlein. In 1974 he wrote a song with the same title as one of Heinlein's novels which was published in 1966. The song was recorded by Joe Cocker, and subsequently by Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, Glen Campbell and Joan Baez. What's the title of this song?
9. A cover version of "MacArthur Park" with a disco feel reached Number One in the US Charts and Number Five in the UK in November 1978, eventually selling over three million records. Produced by Giorgio Morodor, which legendary disco diva contributed the vocals on this recording?
10. This next Webb song has a complicated backstory! Webb originally wrote and recorded it in 1977. However in 1985 four Country & Western superstars - Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson - formed a supergroup named after the song, named their first (platinum-selling) album after it and released it as a single, whereupon it won a Grammy in 1986. The song's lyrics are based on reincarnation - but what is its title?
Source: Author
Southendboy
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
agony before going online.
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