The Rhine is a river that flows from Grisons in the eastern Swiss Alps to the North Sea coast in the Netherlands and is the twelfth longest river in Europe, at about 1,233 km (766 mi), with an average discharge of more than 2,000 m³/s (71,000 cu ft/s).

The Rhine and the Danube formed most of the northern inland frontier of the Roman Empire and, since those days, the Rhine has been a vital and navigable waterway carrying trade and goods deep inland. It has also served as a defensive feature and has been the basis for regional and international borders. The many castles and prehistoric fortifications along the Rhine testify to its importance as a waterway. River traffic could be stopped at these locations, usually for the purpose of collecting tolls, by the state that controlled that portion of the river.

The English name of the Rhine derives from Old English Rīn, which descends from Proto-Germanic *Rīnaz. This is also the source of the name in the other Germanic languages such as Dutch Rijn (formerly also Rhijn), German Rhein, Romansh Rain (via German) and also French Rhin and Spanish Rin, which came into the language through Old Frankish. This in turn derives from Indo-European *Reynos, from the root *rey- "to flow, to run", which is also the root of words like river and run. The Celtic/Gaulish name for the Rhine is Rēnos, which derives from the same Indo-European source as the Germanic name. It is also found in other names such as the Reno River in Italy, which got its name from Gaulish. The Latin name Rhēnus and Ancient Greek Ρήνος (Rhēnos) both derive from the Celtic word, and not from Indo-European directly, because they both share the change from -ei- to -ē-, which is characteristic of the Celtic languages but not of Latin or Greek (the Latin name would have been *Rīnus otherwise).

Darrell McCall (born April 30, 1940) is a country music performer, known for his honky tonk and traditional country musical style at the height of his career in the 1960s, and his return to popularity during the Outlaw country era in the late 1970s.

McCall was born and raised in New Jasper Township, Greene County, Ohio. He was a boyhood friend of fellow future musician Johnny Paycheck. At the age of 15, he landed a job as a disc jockey at a local Ohio radio show on Saturday mornings. During this time, he also performed as a musician at dances and other events. After graduating from high school, McCall joined the military and was stationed in Kentucky.

In 1958, after finishing his duty in the army, McCall moved to Nashville with Paycheck to record as a duo. The duo failed but McCall soon found work as a background singer during recording sessions for various artists including Faron Young, George Jones and Ray Price. Next, he began to tour with the bands of Young, Price and the newcomer Hank Williams Jr.

Robert Lee Helms (August 15, 1933–June 19, 1997), better known as Bobby Helms, was an American country music singer who enjoyed his peak success in 1957 with his hit, "Jingle Bell Rock". He was mostly known for the Christmas song. His other hits include "Fraulein" and "My Special Angel".

Born in Bloomington, Indiana into a musical family, Helms began performing as a duo with his brother, Freddie, before going on to a successful solo career in country music. In 1956, Helms made his way to Nashville, Tennessee, where he signed a recording contract with Decca Records. The following year was filled with astonishing successes. Helms' first single in 1957 titled "Fraulein" went to No. 1 on the country music chart and made it into the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Later that same year he released "My Special Angel", which also hit No. 1 on the country charts and entered the Top 10 on Billboard's pop music chart, peaking at No. 7.

Released just a few days before Christmas 1957, his song "Jingle Bell Rock" was a big hit. Uniquely, it also re-emerged four out of the next five years, and sold so well that it repeated each time as a top hit, and became a Christmas classic still played to this day. It took five years for this song to become a second million seller for Helms. It reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 21 weeks in the chart. The record gained gold disc status. Accounts that Helms wrote and recorded the song with Hank Garland seem to be apocryphal — ASCAP and Allmusic list the writers of the song as Joseph Beal, Joseph Carlton, James Ross and James Boothe.

Willie "Sonny Boy" Williamson (possibly December 5, 1912 – May 25, 1965) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills. He recorded successfully in the 1950s and 1960s, and had a direct influence on later blues and rock performers. He should not be confused with another leading blues performer, John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, who died in 1948.

Born as Alex Miller (pronounced "Aleck") on the Sara Jones Plantation in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, his date and year of birth are a matter of uncertainty. He claimed to have been born on December 5, 1899, but Dr. David Evans, professor of music and an ethnomusicologist at the University of Memphis, claims to have found census record evidence that he was born around 1912, being seven on February 2, 1920, the day of the census. His gravestone, set up by record company owner Lillian McMurry twelve years after his death, gives his date of birth as March 11, 1908, but the birth date on that stone is certainly incorrect.