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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who wrote "We needed . . . to be violently stirred into life . . . intolerable social constraints grew daily upon us"?
(a) Greil Marcus.
(b) Sly Stone.
(c) Frank Kermode.
(d) Leslie Fiedler.

2. What does Marcus point out as valuable in the Beach Boys music?
(a) It reflects everyday people.
(b) It is truthful.
(c) It criticizes mainstream society.
(d) It is poetic.

3. What is the mood in the Riot album?
(a) Hope.
(b) Joy.
(c) Oppression.
(d) Anger.

4. Who wrote "Hound Dog"?
(a) Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
(b) Elvis Presley.
(c) Carl Perkins.
(d) Robert Johnson.

5. How many people came to see Elvis open a shopping center after he produced only one record?
(a) 100.
(b) 30.
(c) 10,000.
(d) 3,000.

6. What two lines from an Elvis song does Marcus claim are the most perfect lines in blues?
(a) "That's All Right" and "My Baby Left Me" (155).
(b) "I tried and I failed / And I feel like going home" (154).
(c) "If you don't believe I'm leavin' / You can count the days I'm gone" (152).
(d) "I'm gonna quit my crying / I'm gonna leave you alone" (152).

7. Who claims that "every great artist must create for a great audience"?
(a) Bob Christgau.
(b) Randy Newman.
(c) Greil Marcus.
(d) The Beatles.

8. In "Elvis," Marcus compares Elvis to what character envisioned by Ralph Waldo Emerson?
(a) The elusive King of Soul.
(b) The transcendental Sun King.
(c) The King of Rock 'n' Roll.
(d) The ubiquitous King.

9. What did RCA first present Elvis as?
(a) A folksinger.
(b) A hillbilly.
(c) A country singer.
(d) The boy next door.

10. According to the myth, who did Staggerlee shoot?
(a) Billy the Lion.
(b) Himself.
(c) A stranger.
(d) Leroy Brown.

11. Who does Marcus quote to introduce the chapter "Randy Newman"?
(a) Robert Johnson.
(b) Randy Newman.
(c) Raymond Chandler.
(d) Sly Stone.

12. What is the name of Randy Newman's album that finally gained him a larger audience?
(a) The Godfather.
(b) Sail Away.
(c) Sunny Afternoon.
(d) Good Old Boys.

13. Why does Marcus discuss many movies in "Sly Stone"?
(a) Sly Stone made the soundtracks for them.
(b) They are biographies for Sly Stone.
(c) They are about black people.
(d) They all include the Staggerlee myth.

14. Where does the line "They're animals anyway . . . let them lose their souls" come from?
(a) Trouble Man.
(b) Cleopatra Jones.
(c) Hit Man.
(d) The Godfather.

15. What was on the cover of Riot?
(a) Sly wearing a zoot suit.
(b) An American flag with flowers for stars.
(c) A gun.
(d) Water.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who said "if I couldn't perform I'd give up . . . It's not a question of the money side of it. . . not having that ninety minutes up there anymore. Phew. I don't like to think about it"?

2. What is Sly Stone's given name?

3. According to Marcus, who is the focus in the song "Sail Away"?

4. What church did Elvis attend as a boy?

5. When referencing the South, who said "it's the only place in the country I've ever been where you can actually drive down the highway at night, and if you listen, you hear music"?

(see the answer keys)

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