Friday, June 12, 2020

Blast from the Past: A Duluth Armory Trivia Contest

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

For a number of years one of the highlights of our Duluth Dylan Fest was the Salute to the Music of Bob Dylan concerts assembled by Magic Marc Productions. In addition to being a great night of music for those who attend the Salute concert served as a fund raiser for the Armory Arts and Music Center.

As noted in Dylan's autobiography Chronicles: Volume One, it was here at the historic Duluth Armory that Dylan as 17-year-old saw Buddy Holly's second-to-last concert just before his untimely death in an Iowa cornfield along with Ritchie Valenz and The Big Bopper. Holly was only 22.

These were not the only famous folk, however, to pass through the Armory's halls. For this reason, I thought I would offer up this quiz as a form of entertainment. I like games and most of us enjoy trivia to some extent. (It made the creators of Trivia Pursuit wealthy for sure.) So here it is.

A DULUTH ARMORY TRIVIA QUIZ

A major feature of the Historic Duluth Armory is what it reveals about American celebritydom in the past century. The Armory’s Great Hall has been a virtual who’s who parade that says much about our iconic connections to America-at-large. It’s an illustrious history worth preserving, not simply for its past but for the foundations it offers for the future.

The following is a list of people who may or may not have performed or appeared at the Armory. Take a sheet of paper and number it from 1 to 12. Your assignment: Identify which name in each set of four did NOT appear at the Duluth Armory in the past century? Once you have filled out your sheet, look for the answers at the very end. No peeking.

Beach Boys on the Ed Sullivan Show, 1964.
1.
A. Marian Anderson
B. Louis Armstrong
C. The Beach Boys
D. Ricardo Montalbán

2.
A. Leonard Bernstein
B. Boston Pops with Arthur Fiedler
C. Johnny Cash
D. Stonewall Jackson

3.
A. Dale Carnegie
B. Patsy Cline
C. Cher and Sonny Bono
D. Tyrone Power

4. 
A. Doris Day
B. Jimmy Dean
C. Dion
D. Duke Ellington

Will Rogers. (Public domain)
5.
A. Roy Rogers
B. Jimmy Rodgers
C. Will Rogers
D. Oral Roberts

6.
A. Tommy Dorsey
B. Duke Ellington
C. Everly Brothers
D. Marty Robbins

7.
A. The Guess Who
B. Harlem Globetrotters
C. Buddy Holly
D. Hoosier Hot Shots

8.
A. Bob Hope
B. Liberace
C. Roy Orbison
D. Jack London

9.
A. The Osmonds
B. Floyd Patterson
C. John Philip Sousa
D. Minnie Pearl

10.
A. Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels
B. Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
C. Isaac Stern
D. Harry S. Truman

11.
A. Hank Williams Sr.
B. Harry Truman
C. Ritchie Valens
D. Frankie Yankovic and the Yanks

12.
A. Bobby Vee
B. Bobby Vinton
C. Lawrence Welk
D. Ritchie Valens

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Billy Hallquist (left) performed here as a lad long ago.
The late Billy Hallquist (left) played in several Salute concerts.


ANSWER KEY: DULUTH ARMORY TRIVIA QUIZ
Everyone listed in every set of four has been here and done that. In other words, all the folks listed performed or spoke here at one time or another in the past.

NOTEWORTHY
Read the Bob Dylan interview in Today's NYTimes on the eve of his latest album of original tunes being released. Bob Dylan Has a Lot on His Mind

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Somebody needs to compile a list of all the rock shows, concerts and dances held at the Duluth Armory. There is no sufficient data available. I saw The Amboy Dukes I believe in 1968-69. (Ted Nugent was with them 1967-71) and all that anybody harps on about is that Dylan was standing in the crowd and inspired by Buddy Hollies appearance. And that is the biggest news these bozos can talk about on the Armory site. There were many National Rock groups there, and they held dances on the weekends with many bands some from the Cities...Pepper Fog, and others I can't name, being in a huff over lack of interest in the subject. All searches directed to Wikipedia and the new armory. The old Armory site is more concerned about a donation and their history is a couple of paragraphs of uninformative nonsense.

Ed Newman said...

Thanks for this. I have seen lists, but not sure how complete the info is. I will dig into it and share.

Popular Posts