Sixteen Tons

"Sixteen Tons" is a song about a coal miner, based on life in coal mines in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. It was written and first recorded by Merle Travis at the Radio Recorders Studio B in Hollywood, California on August 8, 1946. Cliffie Stone played bass on the recording. It was first released by Capitol on the album Folk Songs of the Hills (July 1947). The song became a gold record.

The line, "You load sixteen tons and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt," came from a letter written by Travis' brother John. Another line came from their father, a coal miner, who would say, "I can't afford to die. I owe my soul to the company store."

A 1955 version recorded by Tennessee Ernie Ford reached number one in the Billboard charts, while another version by Frankie Laine was released only in Western Europe, where it gave Ford's version competition.

On March 25, 2015 it was announced that Ford's version of the song will be inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.

Jimmy Dean

Jimmy Ray Dean (August 10, 1928 – June 13, 2010) was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand, he became a national television personality starting on CBS in 1957. He rose to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad John" and his 1963 ABC television series, The Jimmy Dean Show, which also gave puppeteer Jim Henson his first national media exposure. His acting career included a supporting role as Willard Whyte in the 1971 James Bond movie, Diamonds Are Forever. He lived near Richmond, Virginia, and was nominated for the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010, although he was formally inducted posthumously.

Biography

Early life

Dean was born in Plainview in Hale County in West Texas in 1928, the son of George Otto Dean, and his second wife, the former Ruth Taylor. He attributed his interest in music to the Seth Ward Baptist Church. He dropped out of high school and became a professional entertainer after serving in the United States Air Force in the late 1940s. Dean was 22 and just starting in show business when he married his first wife Mary Sue (Sue) in 1950.

The Lowdown

The Lowdown is a New Zealand website developed by the New Zealand Ministry of Health's National Depression Initiative (NDI). The website launched on 3 December 2007.

Mission

The Lowdown aims to help young New Zealanders understand and recover from depression. It does this through online support services and testimonials from New Zealand celebrities.

Features

Navigators

The user can choose from one of four celebrity navigators who tell users how to use the website. There is also a "go alone" option.

Information and Help

The website has depression-related fact sheets and contact lists, as well as online self-tests.

Stories

The Lowdown has video of New Zealand celebrities and musicians talking about how they or someone they know made it through depression. Users can also add their own stories by submitting video or text.

Chat

Users can chat together in a style similar to a bulletin board.

Multimedia

Users can listen to streaming songs from contributing musicians.

Interface

The website uses flash built on ActionScript 3. It uses the Sandy 3D engine.

Volvo Trucks

Volvo Trucks (Swedish: Volvo Lastbilar) is a global truck manufacturer based in Gothenburg, Sweden, owned by AB Volvo. It is the world's second largest heavy-duty truck brand.

Volvo Group was re-organized on January 1, 2012 and as a part of the process, Volvo Trucks ceased to be a separate company and was instead incorporated into Volvo Group Trucks, together with Volvo’s other truck brands.

The first Volvo truck rolled off the production lines in 1928 and in 2011 Volvo Trucks employed about 19,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden, Volvo manufactures and assembles its trucks in 15 countries. Volvo Trucks produces and sells over 100,000 units annually.

Volvo Trucks sister truck brands in the Volvo Group Trucks company include Renault Trucks, Mack Trucks and UD Trucks (Nissan Diesel Trucks).

History

When Volvo manufactured its first automobiles in 1927, the first truck was already on the drawing table and in early 1928, the LV series 1 was presented to the public. Though it, by modern standards, was merely a truck, it was an immediate success and 500 units were sold before the summer. It had a 2.0 L 4-cylinder engine rated at 28 hp (21 kW).