Welcome to: Friday Night Pub Quiz #16
Test your knowledge of R&B Before Rock’n’Roll
The background to all of these questions and answers can be found in …
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Questions – R&B Before Rock’n’Roll Quiz
1.Which rock’n’roll band had their first UK and US hit single in 1954, with a cover of Big Joe Turner’s Shake Rattle and Roll?
2. In 1953 the Orioles had an R&B #1 with Crying in the Chapel. Which rock’n’roll star had a 1965 hit with the song on both sides of the Atlantic?
3. Around 1950 the Royals formed with Levi Stubbs. Which Motown group did he later find fame with as lead singer?
4. In 1928 James “Boodle It” Wiggins recorded Keep A Knockin’ An You Can’t Get In. Which rock’n’roll legend had a hit with the song on both sides of the Atlantic in 1957?
5. In the 1950s Atlantic Records became known as “the house that Ruth built. Who was Ruth?
6. Which independent American record label launched the careers of R&B group the Spaniels in 1953 and the Beatles in the USA in 1963?
7. Who released Caldonia in 1945 and Saturday Night Fish Fry in 1949, both listed in Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock’n’Roll?
8. Which white Canadian vocal group had a string of hits in America in the mid-1950s, with their covers of black American R&B groups’ hits?
9. American DJ Alan Freed pioneered R&B music to white, teenage audiences. What nickname did he give himself when he started out on Radio WJW in 1951?
10. Who formed the Drifters vocal group at Atlantic Records in 1953?
11. Who recorded the original version of Elvis Presley’s 1956 hit Hound Dog?
12. Who had an R&B #1, when he covered Roy Brown’s Good Rocking Tonight in 1948?
13. Who was the co-founder of Atlantic Records who used the pseudonym “Nugetre” for his songwriting credits?
14. Who released Rollin’ Stone in 1950, the second release on the newly formed Chess Records label? The song’s title was subsequently taken as the inspiration for the Rolling Stones’ band name.
15. Which vocal group had an R&B #1 in 1955 with Only You (And You Alone)?
16. Who had an R&B #1 in 1951 with Sixty Minute Man?
17. Who recorded The Fat Man in 1949?
18. Who had an R&B hit in 1953 with the doo wop classic Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight?
19. Who pioneered feedback and reverb with his 1954 single Space Guitar?
20. When Rocket 88 was released in 1951, it was credited to Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats. In reality, the same band members were far better known by another name – what was it? Rocket 88 is often referred to as the first rock’n’roll record, sadly, the real band-leader is not remembered for this.
