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Year-End Quiz: Musicians And National Parks, The Answers

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Published Date

December 30, 2020

So, how well do you know your musicians and their national park connections?

The Answers

America and Death Valley National Park.

True, this 70's group's ties to Death Valley might be tenuous, but whether your horse has a name or not isn't the point, the desert is.

After two days in the desert sun
My skin began to turn red
After three days in the desert fun
I was looking at a river bed
And the story it told of a river that flowed
Made me sad to think it was dead

Jimmy Buffett and Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

After all, serious parrot heads know the lyrics to A Pirate Looks at Forty, and Cape Hatteras was a favored port of Blackbeard.

Yes I am a pirate, two hundred years too late
The cannons don't thunder, there's nothing to plunder
I'm an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late
I've done a bit of smuggling, I've run my share of grass
I made enough money to buy Miami, but I pissed it away so fast
Never meant to last, never meant to last

Johnny Cash and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Remember that boy named Sue? He confronted "the dirty, mangy dog" that bestowed that name on him in a Gatlinburg saloon.

Kenny Chesney and Virgin Islands National Park.

Kenny has had a home there, and came up big in helping the residents of St. John recover from the September 2017 hurricanes and even recorded a song to help raise funds for the islanders.

Long before a boat anchored the harbor
Long before steel drums filled the breeze
God lifted these islands from the ocean
And they stood strong for centuries

John Denver and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Does it get any easier than Rocky Mountain High?

But the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullabye
Rocky mountain high (Colorado)

The Eagles and Joshua Tree National Park.

This was a sleeper, but if you're a long-time Traveler reader -- or a serious Eagles' fan! -- it might have leapt to mind. An album cover of one of the Eagles' early albums was photographed at Joshua Tree.

Alan Jackson and Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

Not a country music fan? Have you ever cooled off in the Chattahoochee?

Bob Marley and Yosemite National Park.

Those who got this one right would also likely know that Yosemite Ranger Sheldon Johnson knows this connection.

I'm just a Buffalo Soldier
In the heart of America
Stolen from Africa, brought to America
Said he was fighting on arrival
Fighting for survival
Said he was a Buffalo Soldier
Win the war for America

Ronnie Milsap and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

It does rain there.

Mark O'Connor and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

This master fiddler has composed a few albums dedicated to the Appalchians.

Dolly Parton and Great Smoky Mountains Natonal Park.

Dollywood, anyone? 

Bruce Springsteen and either Badlands National Park or Statue of Liberty National Monument.

For Springsteen fans, the Badlands reference is obvious, though understandably tenuous when you try to tie it to the park beyond the name itself, the Statue of Liberty not so much. But long-time Traveler readers know of that connection.

Dave Stamey and Gulf Islands National Seashore.

This proves that the editor-in-chief is a man of many musical interests. Stamey has been called the "Charlie Russell of Western Music," and he's a potent storyteller. Gulf Islands? If you're on top of your national park trivia, you know that Geronimo once was jailed at Fort Pickens, and Stamey sings of Geronimo's great-grandson selling photos of "the old chief."

U2 and Joshua Tree National Park and Death Valley National Park.

The group's 1987 album was named after Joshua Tree apparently only because Bono liked the name. The album cover was actually shot in Death Valley National Park, making this perhaps a trick question.

So, how'd you do?

10-14 right? You know your music and parks.

6-9 correct? You're on the right track to triva expert.

3-5? Pay more attention to the lyrics.

0-2? Don't enter any trivia contests involving music and national parks.

Comments

Some of those are kind of, ahem....tenuous, Kurt. here's one for you. David Lee Roth and The Band are both connected to the same National Park. The features of the the park that are connected to each are within sight of one another.  Name the park and the features


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