A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given.

The term General is used in two ways: as the generic title for all grades of general officer; and as a specific rank. Since the late twentieth century, the rank of General is usually the highest active rank of a military not at war.

All general officer ranks

The various grades of general officer are at the top of the rank structure. Lower-ranking officers are known as field officers or field-grade officers, and below them are company-grade officers. All officers who commanded more than a single regiment came to be known as "general officers". The word "general" is used in its ordinary sense in English (and other languages) as relating to larger, general, military units, rather than smaller units in particular.

Common systems

There are two common systems of general ranks.

Variations of one form, the old European system, were once used throughout Europe. It is used in the United Kingdom (although it did not originate there), from which it eventually spread to the Commonwealth and the United States of America. The General Officer ranks are named by prefixing General, as an adjective, with field officer ranks, although in some countries the highest general officers are titled Field Marshal or Marshal.

The other is derived from the French Revolution, where generals' ranks are named according to the unit they (theoretically) command.

Old European system {| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;" |align="center"| Field Marshal or General Field Marshal |- |align="center"| ''Colonel General'' |- |align="center"| General or Captain General |- |align="center"| Lieutenant General |- |align="center"| Sergeant Major General or Major General |- |align="center"| ''Brigadier (General)'' |}

The system used either a ''brigadier general'' rank, or a ''colonel general'' rank (i.e. exclude one of the italicised ranks.)

The rank of field marshal was used by some countries as the highest rank, while in other countries it was used as a divisional or brigade rank. Many countries (notably pre-revolutionary France and eventually much of Latin America) actually used two brigade command ranks, which is why some countries now use two stars as their brigade general insignia. (Mexico and Argentina still use two brigade command ranks.)

In some nations (particularly in the Commonwealth), the equivalent to Brigadier General is Brigadier, which is not always considered by these armies to be a general officer rank, although it is always treated as equivalent to the rank of Brigadier General for comparative purposes. Unlike other general officers, the brigadier general rank is not derived from a ''field'' rank of brigadier.

The rank of ''major general'' is a shorter form of ''sergeant major general'', and is lower than lieutenant general as a lieutenant outranks a sergeant major, although outranked by a major.

French (Revolutionary) system {| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;" |align="center"| Marshal |- |align="center"| Army General |- |align="center"| Corps General |- |align="center"| Divisional General |- |align="center"| Brigade General |} More information about this system can be found on the page: Général.

Other variations

Other nomenclatures for general officers include the titles and ranks:

Adjutant General

Commandant-General

Inspector General

Captain General

General-in-Chief

General of the Army (which is distinct from the title Army General)

General of the Air Force (USA only)

General of the Armies of the United States (of America), a title created for General John J. Pershing, and subsequently granted posthumously to George Washington.

General Admiral (German Navy)

Air General and Aviation General (Chilean Air Force; roughly equivalent to Air Chief Marshal and Air Vice-Marshal respectively)

Wing General and Group General (Mexican Air Force; roughly equivalent to Air Commodore and Acting Air Commodore respectively)

Lieutenant-Colonel General (A Serb rank immediately inferior to Colonel General, and roughly equivalent to Commonwealth/US Major General)

Director General (a common administrative term sometimes used as an appointment in military services)

Director General of National Defence (most senior rank in the Mexican Armed Forces)

Director of Intelligence Bureau (senior most 4 star Indian Police Service post in India)

Controller General (general officer rank in the French National Police)

Prefect General (the most senior rank of the Argentine Naval Prefecture)

Master-General of the Ordnance

In addition to militarily educated generals, there are also generals in medicine and engineering. The rank of most senior chaplain, Chaplain General, is also considered to be a general officer rank.

The specific General rank

In the Old European system, a General, without prefix or suffix (and sometimes referred to informally as a "full general"), is usually the most senior type of general, above Lieutenant General and directly below Field Marshal. Usually it is the most senior peace-time rank, with more senior ranks (for example, Field Marshal) being used only in wartime, or as honorary titles.

In some armies, however, the rank of Captain General, General of the Army, Army General or Colonel General occupied or occupies this position. Depending on circumstances and the army in question, these ranks may be considered to be equivalent to a full General or to a Field Marshal.

The rank of General came about as a "Captain-General", the captain of an army in general (i.e., the whole army). The rank of Captain-General began appearing around the time of the organization of professional armies in the 17th century. In most countries "Captain-General" contracted to just "General".

General ranks by country

The following articles deal with the rank of General, or its equivalent, as it is or was employed in the militaries of those countries.

General (Australia)

General (Canada)

Shang Jiang (China) - People's Republic of China (PRC) and Republic of China (ROC/Taiwan)

Kenraali (Finland)

Kindral (Estonia)

Général (France)

General (Germany)

Obergruppenführer (Nazi Germany, SS rank)

Strategos (Greece)

Aluf (Israel)

Generale (Italy)

Daejang (Korea - DPRK and ROK)

General (Mexico)

Generał (Poland)

Army General (Philippines)

Army General (Russia)

General (Sri Lanka)

General (Sweden)

General (Switzerland)

General (United Kingdom)

General (United States)

Army generals' insignia

Air force generals' insignia

Generals' insignia of disbanded armies

Air Force and Navy equivalents

Some countries (such as the United States) use the General Officer ranks for both the army and the air force; others only use the General Officer ranks for the army, while in the air force they use Air Officers as the equivalent of General Officers. They use the air force rank of Air Chief Marshal as the equivalent of the specific army rank of General. This latter group includes the British Royal Air Force and those based on it (e.g., India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Nigeria, etc.).

In most navies, Flag Officers are the equivalent of General Officers, and the naval rank of Admiral is equivalent to the specific army rank of General. A noteworthy historical exception was the Cromwellian naval rank ''General at sea''. In recent years in the American service there is a tendency to use ''Flag Officer'' and ''Flag Rank'' to refer to generals and admirals of the services collectively.

See also

Général

Generalissimo

List of comparative military ranks

List of Roman generals

Shogun

References

External links

Generals of World War II

Schema-root.org: US Generals News feeds for US Generals in the news

Marines.mil: General Officer Biographies Biographies of US Marine Corps General Officers

Bios & Information on Generals of Western History Information on 10 Generals who influenced Western History

Category:Generals Category:Military ranks

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Jonathan Coulton
background	solo_singer
birth date	December 01, 1970
origin	Brooklyn, New York City
instrument	Guitar, banjo, ukulele, zendrum, tenori-on
genre	Folk rock, power pop, indie rock
occupation	Singer-songwriter
years active	2003–present
associated acts	Paul and StormKristen ShirtsJohn HodgmanMolly LewisEllen McLainZe FrankRiffTraxThey Might Be Giants
website	http://www.jonathancoulton.com/ }}

Jonathan Coulton (born December 1, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are "Code Monkey", "Re: Your Brains" and "Still Alive".

A former computer programmer and self-described geek, Coulton tends to write quirky, witty lyrics about science fiction and technology: a man who thinks in simian terms, a mad scientist who falls in love with one of his captives, and the dangers of bacteria. Rare topical songs include 2005's "W's Duty", which sampled President George W. Bush, and 2006's "Tom Cruise Crazy". Most of Coulton's recordings feature his singing over guitar, bass, and drums; some also feature the various other instruments Coulton plays, including accordion, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and glockenspiel.

Coulton graduated in 1993 from Yale, where he was a member of the Yale Whiffenpoofs and the Yale Spizzwinks(?). He is now the Contributing Troubadour at ''Popular Science'' magazine, whose September 2005 issue was accompanied by a five-song set by him called ''Our Bodies, Ourselves, Our Cybernetic Arms''. He was also the Musical Director for The Little Gray Book Lectures.

Career

Coulton's best-known works include his light-acoustic cover of the Sir Mix-a-Lot hit song "Baby Got Back" and original pieces such as "Code Monkey", which was featured on Slashdot on April 23, 2006 and linked from the webcomic Penny Arcade. It was the theme song for an animated show on G4 called ''Code Monkeys''.

His work has been featured on NPR's ''All Things Considered''. ''Good Morning Silicon Valley'' featured a link to a video set to his song "Re: Your Brains".

Coulton accompanied John Hodgman on his "700 Hobo Names" promotional track for Hodgman's book ''The Areas of My Expertise'' as the guitarist (he was credited as "Jonathan William Coulton, the Colchester Kid"). Coulton also can be heard throughout the audiobook version of the same book, playing the theme song to the book, playing incidental music, and bantering with Hodgman, who reads the audio version of his work. Hodgman has also mentioned Coulton on ''The Daily Show'': a Jonathan Coulton of Colchester, Connecticut, was Hodgman's pick to win an essay contest on overpowering Iraqi resistance to American invasion. Coulton wrote and performed "the winning entry", a song about dropping snakes from airplanes. Coulton appeared on the tour for Hodgman's newest book, ''More Information Than You Require''.

Coulton composed the title music for the show ''Mystery Diagnosis'', and also has contributed other songs under "The Little Gray Book Lectures", a series of audio releases from John Hodgman.

In 2006, Coulton began touring with comedy-duo Paul and Storm. They have since toured together almost exclusively, rarely appearing with other artists. At their first few shows, Coulton opened the concerts, but soon after his rise to fame, he was headlining.

Coulton wrote and performed a song titled "Still Alive" for the ending credits of Valve's 2007 video game ''Portal'', with vocals by Ellen McLain. On April 1, 2008, Harmonix made this track available as free downloadable content for the game ''Rock Band''. A version with Coulton's vocals was also included on the ''Orange Box Original Soundtrack'', in addition to the one heard at the end of the game. "Still Alive" has also made an appearance as an easter egg in Left 4 Dead 2. The song has been called "the most influential game music". In 2011, Coulton followed up the success of "Still Alive" with a new song at the end of ''Portal 2'', "Want You Gone".

A DVD & CD of a concert performed February 22, 2008, at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, entitled Best. Concert. Ever. was released in 2009. At the concert, Coulton played the aforementioned song "Still Alive" on its ''Rock Band'' version, along with guest "musicians" and geek/celebrities Leo Laporte, Merlin Mann and Veronica Belmont.

Coulton opened for They Might Be Giants for a few shows of their March 2010 tour.

Coulton had been working on his follow-up to the ''Thing a Week'' albums, tentatively titled ''The Aftermath''. It has since been stated that the title is merely an umbrella term to classify non-album tracks released after ''Thing a Week''. On May 25, 2010, Coulton said on his official site that he would be working on a new album, to be produced by John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants, and for the first time ever with a full band, including Marty Beller of They Might Be Giants, in a professional recording studio. The resulting album: Artificial Heart, is to be released in September 2011.

In May 2011, Coulton was interviewed on NPR's popular economics-related program ''Planet Money''. He disclosed that he makes about $500,000 a year from his music despite lacking a record label contact. He expressed gratitude towards his fans for his surprise success, the degree of which he called "absurd". In a broader discussion of whether or not the internet is good for musicians, Coulton answered in the affirmative, while journalist Frannie Kelley described him as a "fluke" such as the Snuggie. Coulton posted a tongue-in-cheek response on his blog about the comparison, saying "to which I say: snarkity snark snark!"

Licensing

Coulton releases his songs under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license, allowing others to use them in their own noncommercial works. As a result, a number of music videos have been created using his songs, including such machinima as the ILL Clan's video for "Code Monkey" and a kinetic typography video for the song "Shop Vac".

Thing a Week

From September 16, 2005, to September 30, 2006, Coulton ran "Thing a Week", during which he recorded 52 musical pieces in an effort to push his creative envelope via a "forced-march approach to writing and recording"; to prove to himself that he could produce creative output to a deadline; and to see whether a professional artist could use the Internet and Creative Commons to support himself. Early indications are that the experiment succeeded in generating a large number of high quality songs, boosting sales of music downloads, expanding Coulton's public presence, and enlarging his fan base. The success of the financial objective is more difficult to judge, but Coulton was quoted in a September 2006 interview as stating that "in some parts of the country, I'd be making a decent living". In a February 25, 2008, interview with This Week in Tech, he stated that he made more money in 2007 than he did in his last year of working as a programmer, 40% of it from digital downloads and 40% from merchandise and performances.

Discography

Studio albums

''Smoking Monkey'' (2003)

''Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow'' (2004)

''Our Bodies, Ourselves, Our Cybernetic Arms'' (2005)

''Thing a Week One'' (2006)

''Thing a Week Two'' (2006)

''Thing a Week Three'' (2006)

''Thing a Week Four'' (2006)

''Artificial Heart'' (2011)

Compilations

''JoCo Looks Back'' (2008)

''Best. Concert. Ever.'' (Live album - 2009)

Other releases

''Other Experiments'' (Rarities Collection) (2005)

''Unplugged'' (Live on Second Life) (2006)

''The Orange Box Original Soundtrack'' (2007)

* 1. "Still Alive" (Sung by Ellen McLain)

* 19. "Still Alive" (Sung by Jonathan Coulton)

''The Aftermath'' (2009)

''Portal 2 Soundtrack'' (2011)

* "Want You Gone" (Sung by Ellen McLain)

Most of Coulton's songs are published on his website as MP3 and FLAC downloads. Some of them are free, and none of them are subject to digital rights management. All of his original songs fall under the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 3.0 License. "Still Alive" and "Want You Gone" are the only exceptions to this, as Coulton assigned all rights for the songs to Valve. Along with "Still Alive", Coulton's song "Re: Your Brains" appears in jukeboxes in Left 4 Dead 2, "Want You Gone" also features in the end credits of Portal 2, all of these three games were designed by Valve.

Other versions and covers

Pianist Louis Durra recorded an instrumental trio version of "Code Monkey" released on "Mad World EP" and "Arrogant Doormats" (2011).

References

External links

Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog, a profile of Jonathan Coulton in the New York Times Magazine dated May 13, 2007.

Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:American comedy musicians Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American bloggers Category:Yale University alumni Category:People from Brooklyn

eu:Jonathan Coulton fr:Jonathan Coulton sv:Jonathan Coulton

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Name	Black Stone Cherry
Background	group_or_band
Origin	Edmonton, Kentucky, United States
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal, southern rock
Years active	2001–present
Label	Roadrunner
Website	www.blackstonecherry.com
Current members	Chris RobertsonBen WellsJon LawhonJohn Fred Young }}

Black Stone Cherry is an American rock band formed in 2001 in Edmonton, Kentucky. They are signed to Roadrunner Records. The band consists of Chris Robertson (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Ben Wells (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jon Lawhon (bass guitar, backing vocals), and John Fred Young (drums, backing vocals). Black Stone Cherry has released three studio albums and three EPs, and has charted seven singles on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.

History

2001–2008: Early years and self-titled album

The band Black Stone Cherry originated from Edmonton, Kentucky. Chris Robertson and John Fred Young, son of The Kentucky Headhunters's rhythm guitarist Richard Young, started to play music together early in their teens and Wells and Lawhon soon followed. Black Stone Cherry officially formed on June 4, 2001. They then took over the practice house that had been used by The Kentucky Headhunters since 1968 and began to record tracks. After the band finished recording, they returned to Edmonton for a homecoming gig in the gym of the local middle school, which was attended by 1500 people. After the band’s self-titled debut album was released, Robertson's former school principal invited the band back to Edmonton to celebrate with a concert. As the band entered the town, the streets were filled with people holding "welcome home" signs.

In July 2007, they released a second recording, an EP containing the song "Rain Wizard" along with two previously unreleased tracks.

The first live album by Black Stone Cherry was released on October 31, 2007 immediately following the concert at the Astoria in London. They joined Def Leppard and Whitesnake in the summer of 2008 for European dates.

2008–2009: ''Folklore and Superstition''

On August 19, 2008 Black Stone Cherry released their second album, entitled ''Folklore and Superstition''. Four singles from the album, "Blind Man," "Please Come In," "Things My Father Said," and "Soulcreek" have been released.

In May 2009, they supported Nickelback on their ''Dark Horse'' tour.

2010–present: ''Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea''

Black Stone Cherry has confirmed through their Facebook page that they are working on a new studio album and has continuously posted pictures and videos of them working. A post on December 20, 2010 confirmed they had finished the drums and guitars on 5 tracks. A free download of a new song titled "Blame It on the Boom Boom" is also available.

On March 9, via Facebook, the band announced the title of the upcoming album to be ''Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea'' due to be released on May 31. The first single is titled "White Trash Millionaire" and was released at the end of March.

On January 18, 2011, the band confirmed through Facebook that they are done recording their new album and are "packin' our bags..gettin' ready for the Simple Man Cruise!!".

On May 27, 2011, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea was released on the bittorrent tracker, Demonoid. The early release on the tracker was due to an employee error at an unspecified Walmart. It is yet to be known if other store shelved the CD before the official May 31 release date.

Musical style

Black Stone Cherry's music is often associated with bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd. While there are clear influences in Black Stone Cherry’s music, they have created their own style to a great extent. The musical tone and composition of Black Stone Cherry is very comparable to that of The Black Crowes.

The song writing of Black Stone Cherry is often praised for great storytelling and delivering a strong message. For example, the song "Lonely Train" is about the effect on families when a relative goes to fight in a war. The song "Rain Wizard" is about a local legend of mysterious wisemen who could bring the rain in times of drought. "Backwoods Gold" is about a local man who ran moonshine out of the hardware store in the middle of Edmonton.

Band members

Chris Robertson - lead vocals, rhythm guitar

Ben Wells - lead guitar, backing vocals

Jon Lawhon - bass guitar, backing vocals

John Fred Young - drums, percussion, backing vocals,

Discography

Studio albums

{|class="wikitable" |- ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2" style="width:220px;"| Album details ! colspan="8"| Peak chart positions ! rowspan="2" style="width:150px;"| Certifications |- !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|US !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|AUT !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|CHE !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|FRA !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|IRL !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|SWE !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|UK !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|UK Rock |- | align="center"| 2006 | ''Black Stone Cherry''

Release: June 18, 2006

Label: Roadrunner

Format: CD, LP, DI

| style="text-align:center;"| 90 | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| 188 | style="text-align:center;"| 34 | |- | align="center"| 2008 | ''Folklore and Superstition''

Released: August 19, 2008

Label: Roadrunner

Format: CD, LP, DD

| style="text-align:center;"| 28 | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| 89 | style="text-align:center;"| 167 | style="text-align:center;"| 68 | style="text-align:center;"| 45 | style="text-align:center;"| 23 | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | |- | align="center"| 2011 | ''Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea''

Released: May 31, 2011

Label: Roadrunner

Format: CD, LP, DD

| style="text-align:center;"| 29 | style="text-align:center;"| 31 | style="text-align:center;"| 31 | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| 43 | style="text-align:center;"| 13 | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | |- |}

Live albums

''Live at the Astoria, London (31.10.07)'' (2007); (Limited to 1000 copies)

EPs

''Hell & High Water EP'' (2006) - Digital-only EP released November 11, 2006

#"Hell & High Water" #"Big City Lights" #"We Are the Kings"

''Rain Wizard EP'' (2007) - Digital-only EP released July 10, 2007

#"Rain Wizard" #"Drinkin' Champagne" #"Stop Runnin'"

''The Kerrang! Radio Sessions EP (Acoustic)'' (2008) - Digital-only EP released January 29, 2008

#"Lonely Train" (Acoustic) #"Hell & High Water" (Acoustic) #"Maybe Someday" (Acoustic)

Compilations

#"Roadrunner Records: Annual Assault" (2008) #"Roadrunner Records: Between a Rock and a Hard Place" (2008) #"Roadrunner Records: Hard Rock Christmas (2010)

Singles

Year	! Title	style="text-align:center;"	! Album
	"Lonely Train"
"Hell & High Water"
	"Rain Wizard"
"Big City Lights"			''Hell & High Water EP''
"Please Come In"
	"Things My Father Said"
"Soulcreek"
	"White Trash Millionaire"
"Blame It on the Boom Boom"

Music video

{|class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director(s) |- |rowspan="2"| 2006 | "Lonely Train" | Hobos with Guns |- | "Hell & High Water" | JB Carlin |- |rowspan="2"| 2008 | "Blind Man" | David Sutton |- | "Please Come In" | Adam Grabarnick |- |rowspan="2"| 2009 | "Things My Father Said" | Andrew Bennett |- | "Soulcreek" | Joe McKinney |- |rowspan="2"| 2011 | "White Trash Millionaire" | David Sutton |- | "In My Blood" | Andrew Bennett |}

References

External links

Black Stone Cherry's Official Website

Black Stone Cherry at Roadrunner Records

Black Stone Cherry at MySpace

Black Stone Cherry Live Review @ Brixton Academy on The Daily Music Guide

Interview with GiggingNI.com!

Interview from Rock on the Range

Category:Musical groups from Kentucky Category:Musical quartets Category:Southern rock musical groups Category:People from Metcalfe County, Kentucky Category:Musical groups established in 2001 Category:American hard rock musical groups Category:American post-grunge musical groups

de:Black Stone Cherry es:Black Stone Cherry fr:Black Stone Cherry it:Black Stone Cherry no:Black Stone Cherry pl:Black Stone Cherry pt:Black Stone Cherry simple:Black Stone Cherry sv:Black Stone Cherry