Blackbird (band)

Formed by brothers Chip and Tony Kinman after they dissolved their cowpunk band Rank and File, Blackbird were an electronic post-punk band. The Kinman's harmony-enhanced singing was as mellifluous as the vocal sound they had established in Rank and File, while the songwriting structure was pop music-inspired. The pop elements were anchored by a grungy-sounding Yamaha RX-5 drum machine, Tony's throbbing 8th-note bass lines and thickened by Chip's heavily distorted and echo-y guitar lines.

Blackbird marked the third distinct musical style embraced and perpetrated by the Kinmans, first with punk rock (The Dils), followed by country punk (or cowpunk) with Rank and File, and finally the abrasive, metallic techno-pop of Blackbird.

The band's oeuvre includes three eponymous albums, the first two released by Iloki Records and produced by then-Butthole Surfers sound tech, Ric Wallace. Subsequent releases include the last album (also eponymous) released on Scotti Bros. in 1992; following the third and final full-length release, Iloki Records hired Braindead Soundmachine's Cole Coonce to produce updated versions of songs the brothers had success with in previous bands, "Class War" by The Dils and "Amanda Ruth" by Rank and File.

Blackbird (Beatles song)

"Blackbird" is a song by the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles (also known as "the White Album"). The song was written and performed as a solo effort by Paul McCartney, though credited to Lennon–McCartney. McCartney has stated that the lyrics of the song were inspired by the unfortunate state of race relations in the United States in the 1960s.

Origins

McCartney explained on Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road, aired in 2005, that the guitar accompaniment for "Blackbird" was inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach's Bourrée in E minor, a well-known lute piece, often played on the classical guitar. As teenagers, he and George Harrison tried to learn Bourrée as a "show off" piece. The Bourrée is distinguished by melody and bass notes played simultaneously on the upper and lower strings. McCartney adapted a segment of the Bourrée (reharmonised into the original's relative major key of G) as the opening of "Blackbird", and carried the musical idea throughout the song.

Blackbird (land yacht)

The Blackbird is an experimental land yacht, built by Rick Cavallaro and John Borton of Sportvision, sponsored by Google and Joby Energy in association with the San Jose State University aeronautics department to demonstrate that it is possible to sail directly downwind faster than the wind. In a test supervised and recognized by the North American Land Sailing Association in July 2010, Cavallaro achieved a speed of 27.7 mph (44.6 km/h) in 10 mph (16 km/h) winds: almost three times the speed of the wind.

History

In 2006, following a viral internet debate started by Rick Cavallaro as a brain teaser, a propeller-driven land yacht was built and filmed, demonstrating that it is possible to sail 'dead' downwind faster than the wind by the power of the available wind only.

In 2009, professor Drela of MIT worked out the equations for such a device and concluded that one could be built "without too much difficulty". Other researchers arrived at similar conclusions.

In the same year, after being challenged that the video was a hoax, team members Rick Cavallaro and John Borton of Sportvision, sponsored by Google and in association with the San Jose State University aeronautics department, built a test vehicle nicknamed Blackbird. A year later, in 2010, Cavallaro successfully tested the vehicle, achieving more than 2 times the speed of wind, definitively demonstrating that it is possible to build a vehicle which can achieve the claim. A second test with an improved vehicle in 2011 reached close to 3 times the speed of wind.

Swirl

Swirl may refer to:

See also

Hey

Hey or Hey! may refer to:

Interjection

Music

Albums

Songs

Hey! (Julio Iglesias album)

Hey! is an album by Julio Iglesias. It was released in 1980 by Columbia Records. The album hit number one worldwide, and sales of the Spanish version purportedly surpassed 20 million. In 1981, Iglesias was nominated for a Grammy Award for the album under the Latin Pop Album category.

Track listing

Sales and certifications

References

External links

Hey, Porter

"Hey, Porter" is a song by Johnny Cash. It was recorded on September 1, 1954 and released as a single in May the following year.

Origins

"Hey Porter" is Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two's first recording and John wrote the song with fellow band mates Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant after Sam Phillips (Owner of Sun Record) turned down "I Was There When It Happened", the song John, Luther, and Marshall auditioned with. Sam didn't want a gospel song, he wanted a fast song, like Elvis Presley's "That's All right". The song is about John on his way home from a four year stint in the United States Air Force. He was stationed in Landsberg, Germany, and as such felt elated to be returning to his native South. "Hey Porter" was the first of many rail-themed songs that Cash would record during his career, and was soon followed by "Folsom Prison Blues", another rail-themed track.

The song is available on many compilations, such as The Complete Sun Singles, The Essential Johnny Cash, Ring Of Fire: The Legend of Johnny Cash Volume Two, The Legend.