美语咖啡屋 Lesson 12: Vince on Jim Hendrix

J: Hello and welcome to American Cafe. My name's Jody.

Y: 各位听众，欢迎大家到美语咖啡屋。我是杨晨。

J: Hey, Yang Chen, you know our friend down in the music library, Vince...he says "hello" by the way ...

Y: 真的？下次你告诉他我也向他问好。

J: Will do. Anyway, did you know he's a guitar player?

Y: 我知道。他上次还建议我应该多听听他的偶像Jimi Hendrix的音乐呢。

J: Oh, that's weird¹. That's exactly what we talked about. Wow, he really admires Jimi Hendrix. But who wouldn't. Jimi Hendrix is a music legend.

Y: 等一等，这个music legend我们应该给听众解释一下，就是音乐界的传奇人物。

J: Exactly. And Jimi is not only a music legend, he changed rock-n-roll, 摇滚音乐forever!

Y: 说起摇滚乐，我可以跟你聊一天一夜。

J: Me too! But let's make sure that Vince gets a word in.

实录1 Vince Bonner: My name is Vince Bonner. And I feel Jimi Hendrix is not the father of the modern guitar, but um, he changed the sound so drastically².

Y: Vince说，虽然Jimi Hendrix并不是现代吉他音乐之父，可是他在很大程度上改变了吉他音乐的声音。不过我不太明白他这儿说的是什么意思。

J: We'll let Vince explain that. But before we hear from Vince I want to mention something again. Sometimes when Vince speaks, he drops the "t" at the end of his words. For example, he will say "lef-handed" instead of "left-handed."

Y: Lift-handed中文就是左撇子。

J: Right. I mean, left. I mean that's correct!

Y: 好了，好了，我看你越说越糊涂。我们还是听听Vince的解释吧。

实录2 Vince: Number one he was a left-handed guitarist. So he played the instrument upside down which is even more incredible³. Um Jimi was the first to use distortion⁴ and reverb, heh, without it sounding like a lot of noise. Everything he was doing he did wrong, technically⁵, he was doing wrong.

Y: Vince刚才说的这段里有两个词比较难懂。Jody，你来解释一下吧。

J: Right. Distortion and reverb are two special terms for music and, especially, for Jimi Hendrix. Reverb is a music term that's short for reverberation⁶ or shaking and tremors⁷ in the music. But you know what, Yang Chen, we have so many examples from Jimi Hendrix himself ... let's just play that.

Y: 对，让听众从音乐中来体会。

J: Here's an example of distortion and reverb from Jimi Hendrix.

Y: 大家可要坐稳了。下面我们欣赏一段Jimi Hendrix演奏的音乐。

(Enter sample of Jimi Hendrix)

Y: Wow, 他的音乐太有震撼力了。

J: Isn't that amazing! Nobody thought that that could sound good. But Jimi Hendrix was such a great guitar player he made he sound great. And Vince felt the same way, too. In the next quote he talks about what makes the guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix so special. Yang Chen, he didn't just play the guitar. His concerts were the ultimate in showmanship.

Y: 是不是所有的音乐家我们都可以称他们为表演家呢？

J: No way! No, no, no, Jimi was special. He used crazy lights and crazy color shows. He even set his guitar on fire one time.

Y: 这就是他和其他音乐家的不同之处。

J: Right. And he just played the guitar so well. When he played it was true showmanship. Here us Vince.

实录3 Vince: For me, and this is what I think makes Jimi so special, is being different, is having your own individuality on the instrument. Everyone right now sounds like everyone else. Everyone else sounds like Jimi Hendrix.

J: I really like how Vince worded it. "Everyone right now sounds like everyone else. Everyone else sounds like Jimi Hendrix."

Y: 现在很多人都在模仿别人，而所有的人都在模仿Jimi Hendrix。

J: Not only was he incredibly individual, but when he played his concerts turned into a spiritual experience. Here is Vince.

实录4 Vince: Jimi once said that when he got on stage and when he started to play he can make the audience do anything. It was like a spiritual revival⁸ when he played.

Y: 我觉得音乐的力量的确是非常伟大。如果大家都来听Jimi Hendrix的音乐，这个世界一定会变得更加美好。

J: You are absolutely right. I couldn't agree with you more.

Y: 谢谢大家收听美语咖啡屋。我们下次节目再见。

J: Let the spirit of Jimi Hendrix fill the air!!

(Enter Jimi Hendrix music)

1 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。

2 drastically   

ad.极端地，严厉地

参考例句：

• Within a year the party had drastically overhauled its structure. 一年内这个政党已大刀阔斧地整顿了结构。
• Next year's budget will have to be drastically pruned. 下一年度的预算将大幅度削减。

3 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

4 distortion   

n.歪曲

参考例句：

• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。
• The distortion of form is a constant in his painting.曲线型是他绘画的一贯特点。

5 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

6 reverberation   

反响； 回响； 反射； 反射物

参考例句：

• It was green as an emerald, and the reverberation was stunning. 它就象翠玉一样碧绿，回响震耳欲聋。
• Just before dawn he was assisted in waking by the abnormal reverberation of familiar music. 在天将破晓的时候，他被一阵熟悉的，然而却又是反常的回声惊醒了。

7 tremors   

震颤( tremor的名词复数 )； 战栗； 震颤声； 大地的轻微震动

参考例句：

• The story was so terrible that It'sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。
• The story was so terrible that it sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。

8 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。