Swing Music Trivia Questions and Answers

This page is just for fun!

(Updated September 1, 2010)

 

Each week we'll post a trivia question, each with its own deadline. 

If you e-mail the correct answer to any question before its deadline has passed, your name will be entered into a drawing for a FREE CD. E-mails should be addressed to swing@bigband-era.com. ,

Please, no more than one entry per trivia question.
You may
submit answers to more than one question in the same e-mail message

Once you're declared a winner, you'll be ineligible to win again for six months.

NOTICE THE SMALL NUMBER OF CORRECT ANSWERS TO PAST QUESTIONS. IF YOU KNOW THE ANSWER, CHANCES ARE VERY GOOD THAT YOU'LL WIN A PRIZE.

Questions for October 2010

The monthly winner will receive a CD of any segment of "Swingin' Down The Lane" that's listed in the music store. 

Question # Trivia Questions Deadline
1468 José Feliciano has an accent above the "e" in his first name. Give me two other singers who have an accented "e" in either their first or last name. September 7
1469 Duke Ellington's career was advanced in part through the services of Irving Mills, a white man who helped Duke get recognition in a white-oriented music profession. Name the man who performed a similar role for Louis Armstrong. September 14
1470   September 21
1471   September 28

Answers for October 2010

Question # # of 
Correct Entries
1468   0
1469   0
1470    
1471    

Questions for September 2010

The monthly winner will receive a CD of any segment of "Swingin' Down The Lane" that's listed in the music store. 

Question # Trivia Questions Deadline
1464 What was the name of the musical conductor brother of Raymond Scott? September 7
1465 Shep Fields' first theme song was Rippling Rhythm. Later he adopted a new concept, with nine reeds and a rhythm section. Name the theme song associated with that band. September 14
1466 A well-known big band theme song, played as an instrumental, was also recorded with a vocal by a female. Name the song and the vocalist. September 21
1467 I'll name the theme song, you name the deejay associated with it: (a) The All Night Record Man (b) It's Make Believe Ballroom Time. September 28

Answers for September 2010

Question # # of 
Correct Entries
1464   0
1465   0
1466   0
1467   0

Questions for August 2010

This month's winner is Lanny Bender of Las Vegas, Nevada. He'll receive a CD of any episode of "Swingin' Down The Lane" that's listed in the music store.  


Question # Trivia Questions Deadline
1459 In the tune Down the Road A Piece, the lyrics go "The drummer man's a guy they call eight-beat Mac and you remember Doc and ol' Beat Me Daddy Slack. Slack is Freddie the piano player. Identify the other two members of the Will Bradley Trio. August 3
1460 The Count Basie band recorded a composition that Quincy Jones wrote in honor of a singer and her musical director husband. Identify the couple. August 10
1461 Bob Wills led a western swing band called the Texas Playboys. By what name did they go by before they referred to themselves that way? August 17
1462 Name two big band theme songs with the word "Star" in the title. August 24
1463 A song nominated for an Academy Award in 1943 was sung in a movie by a Hollywood star noted for dramatic roles rather than vocalizing. Name the song and the movie queen. August 31

Answers for August 2010

Question # # of 
Correct Entries
1459 Eight-Beat Mac is drummer Ray McKinley. The bass player is Doc Goldberg. 2
1460 Lena Horne and Lennie Hayton. The composition was entitled For Lena and Lennie. 1
1461 The were the Light Crust Doughboys, so-called because they had a bread company as sponsor of their radio broadcasts. They were also known as Bob Wills' Fiddle Band. 3
1462 Hats off to Dave Balaban, who provided a handful of stars: Nat Brandwynne's If Stars Could Talk, Jack Denny's Under the Stars, Edgar Hayes' Stardust, Gene Krupa's Starburst, Enoch Light's You're the Only Star, Johnny Long's The White Star of Sigma Nu, Paul Specht's Evening Star and Charlie Spivak's Stardreams! 2
1463 Bette Davis sang They're Either Too Young or Too Old in the movie "Thank Your Lucky Stars." 1


Questions for July 2010

Our July winner is Ed Cecchini of Clinton, Massachusetts. If his name sounds familiar, he won the January prize, too, which means that he's back in the winner's circle after the mandatory time out. He'll receive a CD of any segment of "Swingin' Down The Lane" that's listed in the music store.  

Question # Trivia Questions Deadline
1455 How did Glenn Miller's theme song acquire the title Moonlight Serenade? July 6
1456 Stan Kenton was noted for hiring talented female singers, one of whom became his wife. Name four. July 13
1457 Count Basie's theme was One O'Clock Jump. Give the titles of three more songs that include "o'clock." July 20
1458 Kay Kyser turned his back on the popular music scene to pursue another interest. What was that? July 27

Answers for July 2010

Question # # of 
Correct Entries
1455 It had no official title until it was recorded. It was on the reverse side of Sunrise Serenade, so that's how it acquired its new name. Mitchell Parish later added lyrics. 2
1456 Anita O'Day, June Christy, Chris Connor and Stan's wife, Ann Richards 2
1457 Three that quickly come to mind are Two O'Clock Jump, Three O'Clock in the Morning and Five O'Clock Whistle. Among the more obscure: 12 O'Clock Waltz, 5 O'Clock Shadow (and Jump, News, Blues and Drag, and 5 O'Clock in the Morning Blues. 6
1458 He became the principal spokesperson for Christian Science. 5

Questions for June 2010

He's done it again! Dave Balaban of Boynton Beach, FL is our monthly winner. He will receive a CD of any segment of "Swingin' Down The Lane" that's listed in the music store.  

Question # Trivia Questions Deadline
1450 The song Baby Mine was a lullaby from a 1940 movie. Identify the baby. June 1
1451 The song's lyrics include "I'll repeat that I love you, sweet, in all the 48 [states]." Name that tune. June 8
1452 What was the highest rank achieved by Ray McKinley in the armed forces? June 15
1453 Jimmy Dorsey recorded an instrumental with a one-word title that also applied to a mineral, a range of Italian mountains, a 1975 movie and the principal character in that movie. Name the Jimmy Dorsey instrumental. June 22
1454 Artie Shaw recorded a number called simply Blues, from the Lenox Avenue Suite. Two parter: Who was the composer and where is Lenox Avenue? June 29

Answers for June 2010

Question # # of 
Correct Entries
1450 Dumbo the elephant, from the Walt Disney animated film. 3
1451 Let's Get Away From It All, most notably recorded by Tommy Dorsey with vocals by Jo Stafford and the Pied Pipers on one side and Connie Haines and Frank Sinatra on the reverse. This was obviously written a few years before Alaska and Hawaii joined the Union. 3
1452 Ray was Technical Sergeant in the Army Air Force. 3
1453 Dolimite (not always spelled this way). 2
1454 William Grant Still. Upper Manhattan, New York City. 1

Questions for May 2010

I'm back from vacation, refreshed and bursting to tantalize you with more puzzlers. The May winner is John Overstreet, who listens to the program on Troy (AL) public radio. He'll receive a CD of any segment of "Swingin' Down The Lane" that's listed in the music store.  

Question # Trivia Questions Deadline
1446 Artie Shaw recorded Any Old Time three times, with three different female vocalists. Name them. May 4
1447 Jerry Gray was responsible for arranging Artie Shaw's first big recording hit. Name the tune and indicate what Jerry's original role was, back in the earlier days of the Shaw band. May 11
1448 After Artie Shaw had stopped playing the clarinet he conducted an orchestra and produced an album for Capitol re-creating some of his hits from 1938. Whom did he choose to play the clarinet solos? May 18
1449 Can you think of a famous vocalist whose last name has only two letters? May 25

Answers for May 2010

Question # # of 
Correct Entries
1446 February 15, 1938: Anita Bradley; July 24, 1938: Billie Holiday; March 12, 1939: Helen Forrest. I stumped everybody? 0
1447 Jerry Gray, who earlier played violin in Shaw's first band, did the arrangement for Begin The Beguine. 3
1448 Walt Levinsky. Congrats to Dave Balaban, who figured out that Artie pledged allegiance to Walt Levinsky. Some years later, Artie declared that Dick Johnson was the only clarinetist good enough to gain Artie's blessing and lead a band devoted to the Shaw book. 1
1449 Don Ho, the Hawaiian crooner known to me as the Frank Sinatra of the Islands. 3


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