Dylan Lines in 4/4 Time: A Trivia Contest for the Super Fans

Spring is in the air, and with it comes the final planning for Duluth Dylan Fest, which unfolds each year during the week of Bob Dylan's birthday the last week in May. Sadly, the pandemic overruled our plans for 2020 and there only a handful of streaming events that occurred. 

As the planning for 2021 began in earnest last September, it was slowly becoming apparent that even this year's celebration was probably going to be somewhat crimped. Even so, there are some special events in the works and a full schedule will be unveiled soon.  

Wednesday I wrote about the Call for Poetry for our Poetry Contest, thanks to the hard work of the author, poet and Harvard grad on our team, Phil Fitzpatrick. There will also be a Singer Songwriter contest, and lots of music--some of it even live. We've also been finalizing negotiations with a special speaker for out John Bushey Lecture Series.

Someone recently expressed disappointment that there will not be Dylan Trivia Night, so I decided to put together this one for the Super Fans. Super Fan, in this case, is someone who already knows all of the albums by name. But do you know the songs on all these albums?

* * * 

Before sharing the contest, I wanted to share a new podcast for Dylan fans called The Bobcats. I like the name for two reasons, actually. The first, obviously, is how nice it works as a play on words. Dylan was the ultimate cool cat in his day. His name it Bob. Thus, Bobcat is a moniker drawn from this play on words, a podcast for Bob fans. 

The second reason I like it is that the mascot for my alma mater--Ohio University in Athens, Ohio--is the Bobcat. How cool is that? Interestingly enough, the very first week I was in college I met a guy who put strings on a guitar that he found in a dumpster and was playing "Highway 61 Revisited." Another kid I met in my dorm that week also played guitar said I ought to learn harmonica, which I proceeded to do, and have been playing ever since.

The creator/host of this podcast is Matt Steichen. You can find his podcast here at The Bobcats.

Here's a link to the event where I first met Matt, inside the studio of Paul Metsa's Wall of Power.

* * *

DYLAN LINES in 4/4 TIME

OK, here's the game. I have taken the fourth line of the fourth song from every Dylan album up through Under the Red Sky. I considered shuffling them, but decided that this would be a good enough challenge as is. 

Your objective is to Name the Album and the Song. This will test how deep your experience is with the Dylan catalog. Many will be easy for many of you. This is a Grade Yourself quiz. The answer key is here on the Albums page at BobDylan.com: bobdylan.com/albums/

If you aren't up for the Trivia challenge, just enjoy reading the lines. Consider it a poem titled... 

Dylan Lines in 4/4 Time

Where I was born and partly raised

With my suitcase in my hand

The dogs’ll lose their bark

Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing

Yet she’s true, like ice, like fire

Well, if I go down dyin’, you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.

You just happened to be there, that’s all

I’m not the one you need

“None of them along the line know what any of it is worth”

I treated her like a fool

And all the people say, "There goes Tom Moore, in the days of '49"

And he said, “Well, well, well”

But I know that he don’t talk

Instrumental Theme

The old soft shoe

Ooh, a little touch of your love

I feel like I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door

She inherited a million bucks and when she died it came to me

Rain to the town.

On the pillow where you lie

And you must realize the danger

Honey, I can’t tell right from wrong

And you say, “Who is that man?”

Have they counted the cost it’ll take to bring down

What can I do for You?

More of an outlaw than you ever were

First step was touching the moon

First step was touching the moon

But they made a killer out of him

Shut the light, shut the shade

Precious memories flood my soul

Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?

And all that you’ve held sacred

’Cross the valleys and streams

When we were made of dreams 

* * *

To catch updates for Duluth Dylan Fest visit Duluth Dylan Fest on Facebook or BobDylanWay.com

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

Sgt. Pepper Trivia Quiz and the Winter Dance Party

It's not only one of the greatest albums of all time, it also boasts one of the greatest album covers of all time. The original artwork on this album, both inside and out, has produced hours of entertainment for countless people over the near fifty years since it was released. Let the good times roll.

When we were home schooling, I was responsible for producing many of the quizzes our kids took, to benchmark how much of the material they had grasped. I have enjoyed making many a quiz for other purposes over the years, including a few Dylan trivia quizzes. The upcoming Winter Dance Party at the Sacred Heart seems like a good occasion for one more quiz.

1. I learned something interesting this week. Two faces on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper album were in attendance at the Winter Dance Party when Buddy Holly performed on January 31 at the Duluth Armory 56 years ago. Who were they?

2. Why was Marlon Brando in this picture?
a. Favorite actor of Ringo Starr
b. Favorite actor of Bob Dylan
c. Distant cousin of John Lennon's aunt
d. I don't know

3. Which song from this album was covered by William Shatner in 1968 and has been considered the "worst song of all time?"
a. With a Little Help from My Friends
b. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
c. Within You, Without You
d. A Day in the Life

4. What is the symbolism of the Beatles being on the album cover twice?
a. The band dressed in costumes represents the alter egos of the band.
b. It means whatever you want it to mean.

5. Who created the album cover?
a. John Lennon and Paul McCartney
b. Ian Welshons and Les Higby
c. Jann Hawarth and Peter Blake
d. Thames River Design Studio

6. Which of the following is not on the cover?
a. Aldous Huxley
b. Mae West
c. Leo Gorcey
d. Lewis Carroll

7. Why did John, Paul George and Ringo call themselves The Beatles?
a. It was a take-off on Buddy Holly's group The Crickets.
b. Because The Hollies was already taken.
c. Because the sky is blue.
d. It came to Paul in a dream. He shared it with John and he liked it.

8. Who was in the original version of the cover art but ultimately removed?
a. Mahatmas Gandhi
b. Jesus Christ
c. Adolph Hitler
d. All of the above

9. Which of the following was not on the album cover?
a. Lenny Bruce
b. Aleister Crowley
c. Pretty Boy Floyd
d. Carl Jung

10. What instrument is George Harrison holding?
a. A trumpet
b. A small tuba
c. A piccolo
d. A harmonica

* * * *

Well, how'd ya do? I hope you learned something you didn't know.

The 1959 Winter Dance Party Tour brought a lot of big names together. Three of those who performed here that night lost their lives a few days later in an Iowa cornfield. On January 31, the Armory Arts and Music Center will celebrate that special night in Duluth when Buddy Holly sent sparks into the night. 17-year-old Dylan was there. He was one of many whose hearts were set ablaze by Buddy Holly's energy. Did you guess who the other one was? There's a clue up in the black and yellow poster, if you didn't pick it up. He wasn't in the audience, he was on the stage.

In just over two weeks our 2015 Winter Dance Party will be held at the Sacred Heart Music Center in the Central Hillside. Tickets are only $20. With each passing year the Armory Arts and Music Center's fund raising efforts have been bringing the restoration of the Historic Armory one step closer. Purchase tickets here.


ANSWERS: 1. Bob Dylan and Dion of Dion and the Belmonts were both at the Duluth Armory that night in 1959.  2. d  3.  b (see more here about Lucy here.) 4. a  5. c  6. c  7. a  8. d  9. c  10. c