美国国家公共电台 NPR--Paul McCartney's photos of early Beatlemania are in a book and on display in London

Paul McCartney's photos of early Beatlemania are in a book and on display in London

Transcript¹

This famous moment in music history is now visible from a different angle.

Any capsule history of rock music, or pop music, or the 1960's will include the Beatles' arrival in the United States in early 1964. The images are all familiar — young men with bowl haircuts (that they'd later grow out) and businesslike suits (which they'd later trade for more exotic sixties fashions) and their catchy² hit songs (which they'd later make weirder⁴ and more psychedelic). Also familiar: the screaming fans, who would remain about the same for decades.

What's different about the photos in Paul McCartney's book 1964: Eyes of the Storm is the point of view of the photographer: McCartney himself.

One of the most striking images shows a crowd, mostly women, behind police barricades⁵ at New York City's Plaza⁶ Hotel. They are screaming directly at McCartney even as he snaps their picture in black and white.

In another image, McCartney photographs two men as they point cameras at him.

McCartney says an archivist brought the photos out of his archives. He hadn't seen them in decades. "Most of them I don't remember taking because it was a whirlwind," he said.

Some of the images capture his fellow band members at rest in hotel rooms. Others show America as it was in 1964 — in particular, New York, Washington D.C. and Miami, the three U.S. cities the Beatles toured. (The book also shows prior stops in Liverpool, London and Paris.) One photo shows a railroad worker watching their train pass; others are portraits of police officers who watched over them.

"I'm very proud of being part of the working class, which I think you guys would call blue collar," McCartney said, referring to his youth in Liverpool, England. "If you're looking for photos, they're often the great faces. The faces where there's a story behind them."

The photos, which now hang in a London art gallery, document a moment when McCartney, not quite 22, was experiencing an almost unprecedented⁷ level of fame.

He recalls it as "a very special time" in America. It was a few months after the assassination⁸ of President John F. Kennedy, and a few months before Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. "The attitudes that had gone before us were being changed."

The Beatles changed with the times: their once-cheerful hits evolved rapidly through the 1960's, at times growing dark, weird³, or druggy. Yet their music retains a timeless quality. Though the band had broken up by 1970, much of their catalog remains⁹ familiar.

McCartney's photographic return to an early moment in his journey prompted a question: Is there anything he wishes he could go back and tell his younger self?

Get to know the people you work with, he answers. "I think I might have said to my younger self: Look, you know, not only take this moment, but really nurture¹⁰ these relationships." He said that today he talks regularly with Ringo Starr, the only surviving Beatle besides McCartney.

McCartney then interrupted his own insight. "Oh, wait a minute," he said. In fact he was close to his bandmates in the early days, "so I'm probably just making it up."

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 catchy   

adj.易记住的，诡诈的，易使人上当的

参考例句：

• We need a new slogan.The old one's not catchy enough.我们需要新的口号，旧的不够吸引人。
• The chorus is very catchy to say the least.副歌部分很容易上口。

3 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

4 weirder   

怪诞的( weird的比较级 )； 神秘而可怕的； 超然的； 古怪的

参考例句：

• Actually, things got a little weirder when the tow truck driver showed up. 事实上，在拖吊车司机出现后，事情的发展更加怪异。

5 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

6 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

7 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

8 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。