Classic Rock Trivia

Do you know what album is the biggest selling Rock Album of all time? 

The Eagles Greates Hits.  The album has sold over 29 million copies.  Wow!!

Did you know that John Lennon was on the cover of the first Rolling Stone magazine? 

It hit newstands on November 9, 1967.  However, the Beatles have the record for the most covers at more than 30.

Do you know where the band Lynyrd Skynyrd got their name? 

It came from a high school teacher named Leonard Skinner, who was known to have suspended students with long hair.

​While at Abbey Road studios on June 5, 1975, recording the Wish You Were Here album, the current Pink Floyd members wondered who the heavy, balding man was who walked in and started looking around. They were very surprised when they suddenly realized who he was.  It was Syd Barrett, a founding member of the band, and a huge influence on their early music.  And this happened just as they were doing the final mixing of the song Shine On You Crazy Diamond.  Besides the influence on their music, and a strong influence on the general mood of the album, that song was specifically written about Syd. The once thin, young man, with a huge head of hair, had left the band in 1968 due to mental health issues, probably brought about by heavy drug usage.  They hadn't seen Syd in about 6 years.  What a surreal moment that must have been.

What album has been on the Billboard charts the longest?

As of 2008, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon had been on the Top 200 Billboard Album charts for over 1,630 weeks, or approximately 31 years. It fell off the top 200 charts for a short period in 1988, only to chart in the top 200 again just a few weeks later, and has remained in the Top 200 ever since. So far it has sold over 40 million copies, still selling an average of at least 8,500 copies every week, often outpacing the bottom end of the Top 200.  

​Paul McCartney's band, Wings, was recording their new album Red Rose Speedway at Abbey Road Studios in 1973, at the same time that Pink Floyd was recording Dark Side Of The Moon.

​The four original Eagles - Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner, and Bernie Leadon—were already experienced professionals when they were assembled as Linda Ronstadt's backup band. After Don Henley and Glen Frey, who each had some songs they'd written, decided to record their own songs as The Eagles, the rest is history.  Here is a great story of how The Eagles were born:

Do you know how many songs Elvis Presley recorded?  And how many he wrote?

He recorded over 600 songs, but he wrote none of them.

John Bonham, the drummer for Led Zeppelin, drank 40 shots of vodka the night he died.  His son, Jason Bonham, has replaced his father in the group, if and when you're lucky enough to see them perform again.  It's rare that singer Robert Plant will agree to perform with them these days.

Do you know why Buddy Holly wore the very noticeable black horn-rimmed glasses? 

Phil Everly, of the Everly Brothers, told Buddy that if he was going to be a rock and roll star with glasses, he should make them stand out so they become his trademark.  Buddy Holly died in a plane crash on Feb 3, 1959, along with J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens. They had just played a gig at Clear Lake, Iowa.  Buddy was just 22.  J.P. Richardson was 28 and Ritchie was only 17.    Here is the full story, including plane crash pictures:

When Don McClean's song American Pie mentions "the day the music died", he was speaking of that day, when Buddy Holly died.  Don was just 13 at the time, but recorded his song years later which became a hit in 1971.

In 1970, Ann Wilson joined a band that became known as Heart. But they later changed the name to Hocus Pocus, only to later revert back to the name Heart.  Besides the name Hocus Pocus, the band had the temporary names of The Army and White Heart.  Ann's sister Nancy joined the band in 1974.

What song had Sylvester Stallone originally chosen, but was denied permission to use, as the theme song in the 1982 movie Rocky III? 

After he was denied permission to use Queen's song Another One Bites The Dust, the song Eye Of The Tiger by the band Survivor was used.  The song was written by Survivor guitarist Frankie Sullivan and keyboardist Jim Peterik.

In 1999 the band Pearl Jam released their hit Last Kiss, which was written about a teenage girl dying in a tragic car crash.  What band released the song originally?  

J. Frank Wilson and the band The Cavaliers released it first, and it was a hit in 1964.

In 1964, the song House Of The Rising Sun was one of the biggest hits by the band The Animals.  The story, having passed along for many years, perhaps centuries, was supposedly about a house of ill repute.  What band had a minor hit when they released their much harder edged version of the song in 1970? 

The band Frijid Pink released a great version of it.  It's actually my favorite version.​    Listen to it here.