美国国家公共电台 NPR New Biography Chronicles Bing Crosby's Most Beloved Years

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Bing Crosby was one of the most popular figures of the 20th century. His record sales were in the hundreds of millions. His movies were blockbusters. A new biography focuses on Crosby's career in the 1940s when the crooner's star shined the brightest. Tom Vitale has the story.

TOM VITALE, BYLINE¹: Bing Crosby was a singer first and foremost. His appeal started with his voice, says Gary Giddins, author of the new 700-page biography of the crooner called "Swinging On A Star."

GARY GIDDINS: He had wonderful high notes. He had amazing low notes. He was like a cello² when he was really in a good voice.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TOO-RA-LOO-RA-LOO-RAL (THAT'S AN IRISH LULLABY)")

BING CROSBY: (Singing) Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral too-ra-loo-ra-li, too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush³ now, don't you cry.

VITALE: Early in the decade, Crosby created the template for the multimedia⁴ entertainment superstar. He was everywhere and, says Gary Giddins, audiences embraced Crosby as one of them.

GIDDINS: He really does come across as somebody - even though he's smarter than you are and more talented than you are, as somebody that you really might know, that somebody might live down the block. That was one of the things he did on radio. He really gave the vernacular⁵ American voice back to Americans at a time when the networks wanted these mid-Atlantic, you know, how-now-brown-cow kind of speakers.

VITALE: Here's Crosby on the air with bandleader Spike⁶ Jones in 1944.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING⁷)

SPIKE JONES: Touche.

CROSBY: Oh, the kid makes with the French too - touche.

JONES: Absolument.

CROSBY: Absolument.

JONES: While you were over there, didn't you learn to parlez vous Francais?

CROSBY: I have never been too sharp with the parlez part...

(LAUGHTER)

VITALE: Despite his enormous fame, in public, Crosby was humble⁸ and self-effacing. In 1972, he told a British television interviewer that when he began acting⁹ in movies, producers tried to improve his looks.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CROSBY: They said my ears stuck out too far - looked like a taxi with both doors open.

(LAUGHTER)

CROSBY: And so they got the makeup¹⁰ man to study it and he glued them back. Of course, in those days, they used a lot more light when they were lighting¹¹ the set than they do now. And it's very hot on a set. And that'd make the glue come loose, and they'd pop out.

VITALE: Nevertheless, Crosby became a matinee idol¹². He won an Oscar for best actor in the 1944 film "Going My Way."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOING MY WAY")

ANITA SHARP-BOLSTER: (As Mrs. Hattie Quimp) What's your name?

CROSBY: (As Father Chuck O'Malley) Father O'Malley - Charles Francis Patrick O'Malley.

VITALE: In the film, Crosby plays a parish priest in New York's Hell's Kitchen. He transforms a gang of street toughs into a boys' choir¹³.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOING MY WAY")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, vocalizing).

CROSBY: (As Father Chuck O'Malley, singing) Would you like to swing on a star, carry moonbeams home in a jar and be better off than you are...

VITALE: In his 1942 film "Holiday Inn," Crosby sings an Irving Berlin song, which remains¹⁴ the biggest selling record of all time.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "HOLIDAY INN")

CROSBY: (As Jim Hardy¹⁵, singing) I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know.

VITALE: "White Christmas" struck a nerve with millions of Americans whose husbands, sons and lovers were fighting on a distant continent and dreaming of spending the holidays at home. Three years later, Crosby made a record about the end of the war.

(SOUNDBITE OF BING CROSBY'S "IT'S BEEN A LONG, LONG TIME")

GIDDINS: One of his greatest recordings¹⁶, I think, it's about the end of this long separation between the armed forces and the people at home.

(SOUNDBITE OF BING CROSBY'S "IT'S BEEN A LONG, LONG TIME")

CROSBY: (Singing) Kiss me once, then kiss me twice, then kiss me once again. It's been a long, long time.

GIDDINS: Bing insisted on doing it with a jazz quartet, Les Paul, and gives him a full chorus solo. It's a fantastic guitar solo. The recording is just perfection. You can't improve on perfection.

(SOUNDBITE OF BING CROSBY'S "IT'S BEEN A LONG, LONG TIME")

VITALE: Crosby recorded between 50 and 70 records a year in the 1940s. During World War II, he hosted golf tournaments and gave benefit concerts to sell war bonds. And he recorded special programs for the Armed Forces Radio Network.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CROSBY: It's the old "Kraft Music Hall" friends bound around the world to wherever our soldiers are stationed. I say soldiers because the Army isn't overlooking a bet - spread the news to you men that plenty of soldiers are wanted and are eligible¹⁷ to volunteer as paratroopers. It's a chance to join the outfit¹⁸ that hits the enemy first where it hurts them the most.

VITALE: Just months after the D-Day invasion, Crosby traveled to France to entertain the troops wherever they were.

GIDDINS: The fact that he was within a thousand yards of the fighting in France, a man who hated going to hospitals and was squeamish about those kinds of things, spent so many days in wards¹⁹ seeing young boys that he had traveled with now with missing limbs, this gave him a mission. It turned him into a different kind of man.

VITALE: Gary Giddins says Crosby's devotion was tireless, and the public loved him for it.

GIDDINS: Nothing moved me more than when I was sitting in the Crosby house going through his letters and seeing how many parents, wives, siblings²⁰ of dead soldiers felt they had to write to Crosby - how much my son or brother or husband loved you, how happy you made him when you went over there, I just want to say God bless you. Crosby was beloved.

VITALE: In a 1948 poll, Americans declared Bing Crosby the most admired man alive. At the Crosby home, it was more complicated, but that's another story. For NPR News, I'm Tom Vitale in New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF BING CROSBY'S "I CAN'T BEGIN TO TELL YOU")

CROSBY: (Singing) I can't begin to tell you...

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 cello   

n.大提琴

参考例句：

• The cello is a member of the violin family.大提琴是提琴家族的一员。
• She plays a melodious cello.她拉着一手悦耳的大提琴。

3 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

4 multimedia   

adj.多种手段的，多媒体的；n.多媒体

参考例句：

• Multimedia is the combination of computer and video technology.多媒体是计算机和视频技术的结合。
• Adam raised the issue of multimedia applications and much useful discussion ensued.亚当提出了多媒体应用的问题，从而引发了许多有益的讨论。

5 vernacular   

adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名

参考例句：

• The house is built in a vernacular style.这房子按当地的风格建筑。
• The traditional Chinese vernacular architecture is an epitome of Chinese traditional culture.中国传统民居建筑可谓中国传统文化的缩影。

6 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

7 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

8 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

10 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

11 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

12 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

13 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

14 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。

15 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

16 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

17 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

18 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

19 wards   

区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态

参考例句：

• This hospital has 20 medical [surgical] wards. 这所医院有 20 个内科[外科]病房。
• It was a big constituency divided into three wards. 这是一个大选区，下设三个分区。

20 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分