In memory of my good buddy, Gary Rogers.
"Can You Guess This Song"
Welcome to this month's "Guess This Song" game, 6/1/25.
Listen to the songs, guess the song and the artist!
Then click on the "Send me your guesses" link, and
send me your guesses!
DO NOT POST YOUR ANSWERS TO THE GROUP!
That would ruin it for others who haven't played yet!
You have one week to play!
Then I'll reveal the answers to the group!
NOTE: This month's game is in honor of my good friend, Gary Rogers
who started the game, and hosted it for 10 years! Today's songs were
2 of Gary's personal favorite songs! That's why I chose them for
our 1st game, after it's pause.
Song #1
Our Featured Song . . . The song that launched Motown Records!
This song was written by Berry Gordy, Billy Davis, and Gwen Gordy Fuqua,
and made popular by this week's artist in his 1957 recording for the
Brunswick label. It was his first solo hit after leaving the Dominoes and,
over the years, has become one of his biggest international chart
successes. It was the UK Christmas number one in 1986, almost three years
after the artist's death. More hints below if needed!
Guess this song, and the original artist!
Click the left play button below to play. If you'd like to download the MP3,
click the right menu (3 dots) and select "Download"!
Song #2
Our Featured Artist . . . The guy who made Nashville hit the Pop Charts!
Our featured artist was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and
Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music style which
expanded its appeal to adult pop music fans. He was primarily a guitarist, but
he also played the mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and ukulele, and occasionally sang.
More hints below if needed!
Name this tune, and the featured artist!
BONUS QUESTION:
Our featured artist was well known by 2 nick names.
"Mister _ _ _ _ _ _" and "the Country _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"
Additional Hints for Featured Song 1
at number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1957 and reached
number 6 on the UK Singles Chart. With the success of the song, Gordy
was able to fund the launch of Motown Records.
Additional Hints for Featured Artist 2
He was well known for performing this one. It's a cover of a tune
written I think 3 or 4 years prior to ? adding his famous finger
style to the tune on guitar. It was written by Norman Petty and
was first recorded and released by ? and Hank Snow
on the String-A-Longs album in 1960.
It's one of the tunes that set the wheels in motion for his success.
As far as I can remember, it wasn't even recorded by him on one
of his own albums until his 23rd album in 1963, Travelin'. Well
after his fame wheels were spinning on the recording scene!
Good luck! BTW: The name of the song is in the hints above . . .
TWO TIMES! LOL
His signature picking style was inspired by Merle Travis. Other major
uitar influences were Django Reinhardt, George Barnes, Les Paul, and,
later, Jerry Reed. His distinctive picking style and musicianship
brought him admirers inside and outside the country scene, both in the
United States and abroad. He spent most of his career at RCA Victor and
produced records for the Browns, Hank Snow, Porter Wagoner, Norma Jean,
Dolly Parton, Dottie West, Perry Como, Floyd Cramer, Elvis Presley,
the Everly Brothers, Eddy Arnold, Don Gibson, Jim Reeves, Jerry Reed,
Skeeter Davis, Waylon Jennings, Roger Whittaker, Ann-Margret and
many others.
Rolling Stone credited him with inventing the "popwise 'Nashville sound'
that rescued country music from a commercial slump" and ranked him
number 21 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
In 2023, he was named the 39th best guitarist of all time.
Among many other honors, he received 14 Grammy Awards and the
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He also received nine Country
Music Association awards for Instrumentalist of the Year. He was
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall
of Fame and Museum, and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.