1. What day is commonly referred to as ‘the day when music died’?

   Answer: Febrary 3^rd 1959 – a small plane crash new Clear Lake, Iowa killed three of American rock and roll pioneers: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P “The Big Bopper” Richardson (as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson).

   Did you know:
   This day was coined ‘The Day the Music Died’ by Don McLean, in his infamous song “American Pie”. This crash has also been called the first and greatest trageday rock and roll has every suffered. Despite popular belief, there was no blizzard at the time of the crash – only a light case of the flurries. The crash was determined by investigators to be the cause of poor weather conditions as well as pilot error.

2. Which legendary Hollywood “girl next door” was originally named after another famous star, the 1924 silent screen actress Doris Kenyon?

   Answer: Doris Day

   Did you know:
   After Doris’ third husband Marty Melcher died on April 20^th, 1968, Day discovered that Marty and his business partner, Jerome Rosenthal had squandered all her earnings and savings, leaving her in enormous debt and facing bankruptcy. Day took Rosenthal to court and in 1974 was awarded the then-largest civil judgement in the state of California – over $20 million dollars.

3. Who would have thought that this high school glee club singer would be one of the most iconic names in the 1960s music industry and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

   Answer: Janis Joplin

   Did you know:
   Janis Joplin only charted five singles in her life but her endless string of popular songs would become ingrained in music history after her death. Although her career was only 4 years before her premature death, she became known as “the Queen of Rock and Roll” as well as “the Queen of Psychedelic Soul”.

4. “The Frail Finch,” “The Voice,” “Chairman of the Board,” “The General,” “My Man Francis,” “Charlie Brown,” and “The Pope” were all famous nicknames of this Rat Pack member.

   Answer: Frank Sinatra 

   Did you know:
   Four unusual pet peeves of Sinatra were
   

   • Ashtrays filled with cigarette butts
   • Drawers left slightly open
   • Knives and forks not lined up perfectly in a place setting
   • Book in untidy heaps.
5. This “man in black” was a troubled but devout Christian who declared himself as “the biggest sinner of them all”. Much of his music was centered around themes of sorrow and moral tribulation, establishing him as the “philosopher-prince of American country music.” Who was he?

   Answer: Johnny Cash 

   Did you know:
   Although arrested on seven seperate instances, Cash never served a prison sentence, each stay lasting only a single night. In 1965, Cash was suspected by authorities to be smuggling heroin but was found with only prescription drugs – 688 capsules of Dexedrine and 475 tablets of Equanil. Because they were prescription and not illegal narcotics, Cash only received a suspended sentence.

6. This Brooklyn born singer/songwriter was his high school’s fencing champion before paving a five decade career in music. He is considered to be the third most successful adult contemporary artist ever on the Billboard chart – right behind Barbra Streisand and Elton John.

   Answer: Neil Diamond

   Did you know:
   Neil Diamond’s dream in university was to study medicine. He is quoted saying “I actually wanted to be a laboratory biologist. I wanted to study. And I really wanted to find a cure for cancer. My grandmother had died of cancer. And I was always very good at the sciences. And I thought I would go and try and discover the cure for cancer.” Despite his ambition towards medicine, during his senior year at NYU, he received an offer he couldn’t refuse – to be a song writer making $50 a week – the rest is history.

7. Accredited with racially integrating country and pop music during the 1960s, this famous soul music pioneer was married twice and fathered 12 children with 9 different women. Who was he?

   Answer: Ray Charles 

   Did you know:
   Throughout his career, Charles battled a horrible addiction with drugs and was arrested a multiple of times. In 1961, Ray was arrested on charges of herion, marijuana and other items in his Indiana hotel room before a performance. In 1964, he was arrested again for drug possession landing him with five years of probation. His drug addiction and rehab experiences highly influenced the songs “I Don’t Need No Doctor,” “ Let’s Go Get Stoned,” and the release of his first album since having kicked his heroin habit, “Crying Time.”

8. This late 1960’s tv series was originally conceived by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider when they were inspired by the Beatles’ film “A Hard Day’s Night”.

   Answer: The Monkees

   Did you know:
   Although critics claimed that the Monkees were merely just a Beatles’ knowck off, calling them the “Pre-Fab Four”, the Beatles, themselves, took it in their stride and hosted a party for the Monkees when they visited England. Nesmith, one of the Monkees, is recorded asking John Lennon, “Do you think we’re a cheap imitation of the Beatles, your movies and your records?” John Lennon replied, “I think you’re the greatest comic talent since the Marx Brothers. I’ve never missed one of your programs.”

9. Which legendary English rock band was originally named, “Blues Incorporated”?

   Answer: The Rolling Stones

   Did you know:
   According to Keith Richards, Brian Jones coined the band’s infamous name when he saw a Muddy Waters LP lying on the floor of which one of the tracks was “Rollin’ Stone.”

10. This “Hillbilly Shakespeare” was born a frail child in Alabama, quit school at the age of 16 to pursue music and blazed a trail of hits through Nashville during the late 1940s until his premature death in 1953 at the age of 29.

    Answer: Hank Williams

    Did you know:
    At his first performance at the Grand Ole Opry in June 11^th, 1949, he received an unprecedented six encores. Unfortunately due to his growing alcohol habit and unpredictability, he slowly began to fall from the spotlight. On January 1^st 1953, Williams was discovered dead in the back seat of a car due to an “acute ventricular dialation” – a heart attack. In 1961, he was the first person inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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