US Sixties Top Forty Geographical Tour Quiz

Answer: Johnny Horton

Johnny Horton took "North to Alaska" to Number Four in the US. It was one of many Country crossover hits that Horton enjoyed in the fifties and sixties. Other Historical Ballad genre songs Horton released included "The Battle of New Orleans", "Sink the Bismarck" and "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)".

Johnny was a Los Angeles native who had his first Top Ten Country hit in 1956 with "Honky Tonk Man". He died in 1960 at the young age of 35. He had a premonition that he would be killed by a drunk and indeed a drunk driver struck his car on a bridge in Texas.

Jimmy Dean had a huge hit in 1961 with "Big, Bad John". Ray Charles sang about Georgia when he took "Georgia on My Mind" to Number One in 1960 and Marty Robbins had a Number One Country crossover hit in 1960 when he recorded "El Paso".

Answer: Kokomo

Kokomo took the Classical flavored "Asia Minor" to Number Eight. Kokomo was the named assumed by pianist James J. "Jimmy" Wisner. He adopted the name Kokomo for the Pop recording so he would not alienate his Jazz fan base. The song was loosely based on Edvard Grieg's "Piano Concerto in A Minor" and was shopped to over ten labels before being released by Fortune Records. Wisner went on to work in the movie scoring field and as an arranger and producer for many Pop artists.

"Bristol Stomp" was a 1961 Number Two hit by The Dovells. "Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)" was released by The Coasters and reached Number 23 in 1961. Bob Moore and His Orchestra had a Number Seven hit the same year with "Mexico".

Answer: Jo Ann Campbell

Jon Ann Campbell began her career as a dancer with The Johnny Conrad Dancers, appearing on such venues as "The Milton Berle Show". She decided to become a singer and released the unsuccessful "Where Ever You Go" in 1956. She followed the next year with "Wait A Minute" and appeared on Dick Clark's "Bandstand".

She went on to appear in Teen genre movies such as "Go Johnny Go" (1959) but her biggest US Pop hit was the Number 38 "(I'm the Girl on) Wolverton Mountain". "Everybody Loves Me But You" and "All Alone Am I" were 1962 Top Ten hits for Brenda Lee. "Love Letters" went to Number Five for Ketty Lester in 1962. Claudine Clark recorded the Number Five "Party Lights" the same year.

Answer: Abilene

George Hamilton IV began his singing career at age 19 as a Teen Idol when he took John D. Loudermilk's "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" to the Top Ten in 1956. In 1961 he crossed over into the Country and Pop charts when he took Loudermilk's "Abilene" to the top slot on the Country charts and to the Top Twenty Pop on the Pop charts. He followed up with "Fort Worth, Dallas or Houston" in 1964.
He then took his career in a Folk Music direction with a cover of "Early Morning Rain".

"Detroit City" was a Top Twenty hit for Bobby Bare in 1963. Trini Lopez's "Kansas City" reached Number 23 in 1963 and Lonnie Mack's "Memphis" was a hit Instrumental the same year.

Answer: Dodge

It was specifically a Super Stock Dodge. This model was a modified stock version of a 1964 Dodge Polara or Dodge 330. Jan Berry of the duo co-wrote the song with Don Altfeld and Roger Christian.

The beach Boys did a live recording of the hit on their "Beach Boys Concert" LP the same year. Kathryn Minner posed for the album cover and went on to appear in Dodge commercials.

"G.T.O." was a Top Five hit in 1964 by Ronny and The Daytonas. The girl in the 1964 Beach Boys' Number Five "Fun, Fun, Fun" drove a T-Bird and a Sting Ray was featured in Jan and Dean's Top Ten "Dead Man's Curve" in 1964.

Answer: The Ad Libs

The Ad Libs hailed from Bayonne, New Jersey, and began singing Doo-Wop music as The Creators. They changed their name and recorded "The Boy from New York City" in late 1964. It hit the charts in March of 1965, topping out at Number Eight. The group followed with "He Ain't No Angel", which barely dented the Pop Charts. After the failure of "He Ain't No Angel" Red Bird Records did not renew their contract.

The Darts and Manhattan Transfer have both recorded versions of the tune.
"Harlem Nocturne" was a 1965 Top Forty Instrumental by The Viscounts. The Trade Winds released the Number 32 "New York's a Lonely Town" in 1965. "The Girl from New York City" was recorded by The Beach Boys on their 1965 album "Summer Days (And Summer Nights!)".

Answer: Cuba

"Guantanamera" was originally a patriotic Cuban song. The song was first written in the twenties and attributed to Jose Fernandez Diaz. There was controversy surrounding the true composer and in 1993 the Cuban Supreme Court ruled that Jose Fernandez Diaz was indeed the composer.

The Sandpipers were playing at a Lake Tahoe resort as the Grads when they came to the attention of producer Herb Alpert. After a number of unsuccessful releases they changed their name and had a Top Ten hit with "Guantanamera". They followed with a Top Twenty hit, "Come Saturday Morning" from "The Sterile Cuckoo" (1970).

Guantanamera has been covered by dozens of artists as diverse as Jimmy Buffett, Julio Iglesias, Los Lobos, Pete Seeger and Trini Lopez. It has also been done by several international artists.

Answer: Deep Purple

Neil Diamond wrote and recorded "Kentucky Woman", his last hit for Bang Records before he changed labels. The following year Deep Purple broke into the US Billboard charts with their Number Four song, "Hush". Later in 1968 they released a cover of "Kentucky Woman" that reached Number 38.

While Neil Diamond continued to feature the song in his live performances, Deep Purple axed it from their set list in 1970.

The Small Faces took "Itchycoo Park" to Number 16 in the US. "Homburg" was a Top Forty by Procol Harum and "The (Lights Went Out in) Massachusetts" went to Number 11 for The Bee Gees in 1967.

Waylon Jennings also released a version in 1968 on his "Only the Greatest" LP and the same year Gary Puckett and the Union Gap did a cover one their "Woman, Woman" LP.

Answer: True

The Scarborough Fair began under King Henry III as a guild and tradesman fair beginning in mid-August and lasting a month and a half starting in the mid-13th century. The fair featured entertainment to attract tradesmen from neighboring countries and lasted until the mid-eighteenth century. It was later revived as an art festival.

Martin Carthy learned the song from a traditional songbook and introduced it to Paul Simon while Paul was in England. The duo released it as a single from their 1966 album, "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" and it was featured on the soundtrack to the 1967 film "The Graduate".

Answer: By the Time I Get to Phoenix

"By the Time I Get to Phoenix" was originally recorded by Johnny Rivers in 1965 and covered by Campbell in 1967. While Rivers did not enjoy significant chart success with the song, Campbell's version became a smash hit on the Pop and Country charts in the US. It was one of many Jimmy Webb tunes recorded by Glen Campbell.

Isaac Hayes' version was longer and went into more detail about the events leading up to the reason the singer is leaving. The following year Hayes topped the charts with "Theme from 'Shaft'".

Albuquerque and Oklahoma are also mentioned in the "By the Time I Get to Phoenix". "Wichita Lineman" went to Number Three for Glen Campbell in 1969, "Galveston" made it to Number Four the same year. Glen's "Oklahoma Sunday Morning" was not released until 1971.