美国国家公共电台 NPR Soul Queen Of New Orleans Has Been Performing On Mother's Day For 35 Years

Soul Queen Of New Orleans Has Been Performing On Mother's Day For 35 Years

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Well, Happy Mother's Day to all you moms and grand-moms out there. Today tends to be a day of traditions - breakfast in bed, maybe a nice brunch¹. In New Orleans, there's another long-standing and beloved Mother's Day tradition 35 years in the making.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG)

IRMA THOMAS: (Singing) Said your love was true, that I'd always have that love.

KELLY: That's Grammy award-winning soul and jazz singer Irma Thomas onstage at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans today. She is known as the Soul Queen of that city. She first stepped on to stage at the zoo back on Mother's Day 1983 as a publicity² stunt³ to get folks in to see the newly renovated⁴ facility.

THOMAS: Thirty-four years ago, it was done on a flatbed truck (laughter). They didn't even have what they would consider a legal stage at Audubon Zoo at that time. I think the gentleman's name is Mr. Forman. When he took over, he said, well, in order to get people out, they thought it would be a good idea to let moms come in free. It went over so well that he kept it going. He said it wasn't broken. He wasn't fixing it.

KELLY: Since then, the Audubon Nature Institute - that's the nonprofit organization that manages the zoo - it has renewed her contract to perform every Mother's Day since.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG)

THOMAS: (Singing) Do you promise to be mine, oh, mine?

KELLY: Irma Thomas has decades of hits and albums under her belt. She says the Mother's Day concert is dear to her though because it creates a special connection with her fans.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

THOMAS: Yeah. Don't forget to yell out what you want to hear, OK? If I can get to it, I will.

I have an opportunity to give back to my fans. I don't look at it for the paycheck as much as I look at it with the camaraderie⁵ I have with my fans. I'm going to be facetious⁶ in saying that I think I have a special relationship with my fans because in so many instances, people will pay a large price to go see a concert and never hear their favorite song.

This way, I have the relationship with my audience that whatever song they feel they want to hear that day, if time allots⁷ me to do it, I try to accommodate because they're the ones I'm there to entertain and bring joy to. And in return, I get the joy out of the fact that I try to give them what they wanted.

KELLY: Irma Thomas says come rain or shine, those fans of hers show up.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IT'S RAINING")

THOMAS: (Singing) It's raining so hard. Looks like it's going to rain all night.

I mean, there have been occasions where the weather was somewhat wet, but that's a normal, typical day in New Orleans. But it didn't dampen the spirit of the folks for that Mother's Day they came out in spite of.

KELLY: Thomas is herself a mother and a grandmother and a great-grandmother. So they come along to hear her sing.

THOMAS: And my kids come and join me, those that are able and financially able to be out there with me. They come and join me, and then afterwards, I come home and then they cater⁸ to me. So what else can you ask for? (Laughter).

KELLY: And, of course, when she is up on that stage, she has her own mother on her mind.

THOMAS: I always think of my mother daily. My mother passed away in 2011. In fact, I - up until she passed away, I used to wear a red flower. I grew up - what the tradition was on Mother's Day you wore a red flower if your mom was alive. You wore a white one if she was deceased. And so since that time, I've managed to wear something white or wear a white flower.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG)

THOMAS: (Singing) I can hear her heart beat from a thousand miles.

KELLY: Here's a bit more of Irma Thomas today, Mother's Day, singing at the New Orleans Audubon Zoo.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG)

THOMAS: (Singing) She smiles. When I come to her, that's where I belong.

1 brunch   

n.早午餐

参考例句：

• They eat much the same thing for brunch every day.每天早午餐他们总是吃同样的东西。
• What did you have for your brunch?你早午饭都吃些什么？

2 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

3 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

4 renovated   

翻新，修复，整修( renovate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He renovated his house. 他翻修了房子。
• The house has been renovated three years earlier. 这所房子三年前就已翻新。

5 camaraderie   

n.同志之爱，友情

参考例句：

• The camaraderie among fellow employees made the tedious work just bearable.同事之间的情谊使枯燥乏味的工作变得还能忍受。
• Some bosses are formal and have occasional interactions,while others prefer continual camaraderie.有些老板很刻板，偶尔才和下属互动一下；有些则喜欢和下属打成一片。

6 facetious   

adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的

参考例句：

• He was so facetious that he turned everything into a joke.他好开玩笑，把一切都变成了戏谑。
• I became angry with the little boy at his facetious remarks.我对这个小男孩过分的玩笑变得发火了。

7 allots   

分配，拨给，摊派( allot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• My days are as happy as those God allots to his saints. 我的日子过得像上帝分配给圣徒的一样快乐。
• In this paper, a combination method that allots multi-objective weights is proposed. 多目标评价中的一个重要因素是考虑目标权系数的选取。

8 cater   

vi.(for/to)满足，迎合；(for)提供饮食及服务

参考例句：

• I expect he will be able to cater for your particular needs.我预计他能满足你的特殊需要。
• Most schools cater for children of different abilities.大多数学校能够满足具有不同天资的儿童的需要。