Brain break: Can you match these ’60s songs to their artists?
Brain break: Can you match these ’60s songs to their artists?
Ricardo RamirezTue, April 7, 2026 at 2:56 PM UTC
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Brain break: Can you match these ’60s songs to their artists?
The 1960s produced so many songs from so many directions that keeping track of who recorded what was a genuine challenge even at the time. Ten songs, ten artists.
A hint comes with each song. Name the artist before scrolling to the answer.
See how many you get without any help.
Image Credit: Dima Berlin/iStock
Song 1
Two voices harmonize about longing for warmth out west while standing on a cold winter street. The title names the state.
Image Credit: Wikipedia.
Answer
California Dreamin’ by The Mamas & the Papas (1966). Billboard named it the number one single of 1966.
Image Credit: stockfour/iStock
Song 2
A band with a poet frontman. The title is both an invitation and a command.
Image Credit: Elektra Records promotional image / Public Domain.
Answer
Light My Fire by The Doors (1967). Guitarist Robbie Krieger wrote it, not Jim Morrison. The album version runs nearly seven minutes.
Image Credit: Inside Creative House/iStock
Song 3
A folk duo, a film about an older woman and a younger man. The title addresses her by her married name.
Image Credit: Rob Bogaerts / Anefo / Wikimedia Commons.
Answer
Mrs. Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel (1968). Simon wrote it as a fragment and finished it after director Mike Nichols asked for it by name.
Image Credit: stockphotodirectors/iStock
Song 4
Recorded during a Memphis comeback. The narrator loves someone he cannot trust.
Image Credit: Wiki Commons Public domain.
Answer
Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presley (1969). His last number-one single was recorded in Memphis during his comeback.
Image credit: DWPhotos / iStock
Song 5
A jazz legend, a song about beauty in ordinary things. His label refused to promote it. Britain heard it differently.
Image Credit: Library of Congress / Wikimedia Commons.
Answer
What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong (1967). His label refused to promote it. Its American reputation came decades later.
Image Credit: MediaFeed / DALL·E 3.
Song 6
A blue-eyed soul duo and a Wall of Sound production. A pottery scene brought it back to number one.
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Image credit: Wikipedia
Answer
Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers (1965). Phil Spector’s production made every earlier version sound like a rehearsal. It returned to number one in 1990 via Ghost.
Image Credit: MediaFeed / Bing Image Creator.
Song 7
A British group, a girl who keeps standing someone up. Most people know every word and cannot name the band.
Image credit: Wikipedia
Answer
Build Me Up Buttercup by The Foundations (1968). The band has largely faded from memory despite the song’s enduring fame.
Image credit: DWPhotos / iStock
Song 8
A British singer in Memphis, after a more famous American artist passed. That artist later cut her own version.
Image Credit: Amazon.com.
Answer
Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield (1968). Originally offered to Aretha Franklin, who passed. Franklin recorded her own version after hearing this one.
Image Credit: Bing Image Creator.
Song 9
Written for a Hollywood daughter. Number one on both sides of the Atlantic.
Image Credit: Amazon.com.
Answer
These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ by Nancy Sinatra (1966). Lee Hazlewood wrote it for her, demoing it first in a lower key. Number one in both the US and the UK.
Image Credit: tylim / iStock
Song 10
A British songwriter was inspired by his first visit to Times Square. A British woman recorded it and took it to number one in the US.
Image Credit: LordHenriVoton/istockphoto.
Answer
Downtown by Petula Clark (1964). Tony Hatch wrote it after his first visit to New York. It won the Grammy for Best Rock and Roll Recording.
Image Credit: millann / istockphoto.
How did you do?
Eight or more, and the decade is still very much alive in your memory. Fewer than five, and there is a lot more great music still waiting.
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