pbs高端访谈:缅怀乡村音乐巨头乔治·琼斯

 　　JEFFREY BROWN:And finally tonight: remembering a giant of country music, George Jones.

　　It was that distinctive¹ voice and the ability to convey heartache and sorrow in song that made George Jones a country music legend. He turned out number one singles in five separate decades and inspired generations of artists, including many of today's stars.

　　GEORGE JONES, Musician: Well, I would be lying if I didn't say I wouldn't like to be remembered. I hope I am. And I'm sure I will be, by a few anyhow.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:Jones began singing for tips on the streets of his hometown of Beaumont, Texas, at age 11. He first performed at the Grand Ole Opry in 1956, and recorded some 150 albums in all.

　　The hard times he sang about often reflected his own hard living. He got the nickname of "No Show Jones" after years of missing concerts while struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction³. Jones was also married four times, most famously to fellow country superstar Tammy Wynette. They recorded the 1976 hit "Golden Ring" 14 months after their divorce.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:One of his best-known songs was the 1980 hit "He Stopped Loving Her Today" about a man who carried his love for a woman to the grave.

　　George Jones died today in Nashville. He was 81 years old.

　　More about the work and life of George Jones. It comes from another well-known country singer and songwriter, Larry Gatlin. He and his brothers were among country's biggest acts in the '70s and '80s with dozens of hit singles. I spoke⁴ with him earlier today.

　　Larry Gatlin, welcome.

　　What made George Jones distinctive? What made him so important in country music history?

　　LARRY GATLIN, Country Music Singer: Well, first of all, he was very unassuming. We all -- you know, all of us said, George, you're the best, and if not the best—my dear friend Coach Bum² Phillips -- many years ago, somebody said, Coach Phillips, is Earl Campbell in a class by himself? And Coach Phillips said, well, if he's not in a class by himself, it darn sure don't take long to check roll.

　　So, that's how people felt about George. He just had that—that edge to his—the way he phrased things. And he kind of go oh, and it's like that. Every country song I ever wrote in my life, I wrote with George Jones singing in my ear.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:Really?

　　It was that much of a—it was that much of a direct influence and impact, huh?

　　LARRY GATLIN:Oh, well, absolutely.

　　Like I say, if he's not in a class by himself—since Jones comes before R. in the dictionary—in the alphabet—that would be Marty Robbins—or P for Ray Price, or even we can go to the Vs, Vince Gill. I know we turned that around.

　　But some of those great singers like that—he is always considered the—by almost everyone as just the best pure country singer.

　　And here's what he was. He was the most unassuming. It almost embarrassed him for you to—for us to fawn⁵ over him like we all did. But I never worked a lot of shows with him. The brothers and I—I mean, my brothers and my sisters sang in a backup group with Tammy after George and Tammy had broken up.

　　So most of the time I was with him would be backstage at award shows and things. But we—the last show we did with Mr. Jones was in Florida two—two summers ago at the Strawberry Festival. I went back, knocked on the bus to go pay my respects. They opened the door and ushered⁶ me in.

　　I said, Mr. Jones, I came to pay my respects. He said, Larry, you know how much I have always loved you boys.

　　You know, so ...

　　JEFFREY BROWN:That did it, huh?

　　LARRY GATLIN:We lived a great life.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:Well, we mentioned in our setup some of the hard aspects to that life, the—in addition to the struggles with alcohol and drugs, I just read, he made millions, he lost millions. A lot of that heartache that he sang about was real?

　　LARRY GATLIN:Absolutely.

　　I mean, you know, people ask me, they say, are all of your songs personal experiences? I say, yes. They're not all my personal experiences, but they are someone's. And that's what songwriters do. That's what singers do.

　　George Jones could sit there and sing the alphabet and make you think that he was singing it directly to you, and that's the only song you had ever really wanted.

　　A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

　　And you would be crying because it was George Jones doing what George Jones did. But, yes, we have a lot of funny stories about him, driving the tractor downtown. He got through mowing⁷ the lawn and just decided⁸ to drive it right on downtown Nashville, and he sold it to an old boy for $25 dollars.

　　So, we all know those stories. He did have his demons⁹, but towards the end of his life, the last 15, 20 years, Ms. Nancy came in there and just—I wrote her an e-mail today that you, Ms. Nancy, sweetheart, you gave some wonderful years to my friend's later life.

　　And, yes, he had demons. We all have demons. But she kind of got him straightened out a little bit. And I think it added to his life.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:That's his wife, yes.

　　LARRY GATLIN:Absolutely.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:Yes.

　　You know, we're all used to these—these days to the crossover stars, musicians doing a lot of different genres¹⁰. I gather he really—he kind of bucked¹¹ that, right? He just sort of stayed with the style that he himself loved.

　　LARRY GATLIN:Absolutely.

　　He was flattop, and a flattop guy in a black suit and a white shirt and a black tie. And he just—you know, he just stood up there and sang like George Jones. I have often said that I thought George Jones was what—to country music what Frank Sinatra was to pop music or Tony Bennett or Johnny Mathis. He was just a purest. He did what he did, and he let everybody else do what they did.

　　And he was the best at it. Like I say, arguably—here's the deal. If Tiger Woods put the golf ball in the hole the fewest amount of times, he wins. That's an objective endeavor. So, when you start talking about who the greatest singers were, it's subjective¹². Everybody could come in.

　　But I think, if you took a poll, the old Possum would be pretty much on the top of that list almost every time.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:All right, Larry Gatlin on the life and music of George Jones, thanks so much.

　　LARRY GATLIN:God bless. Thank you.

1 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

2 bum   

n.臀部；流浪汉，乞丐；vt.乞求，乞讨

参考例句：

• A man pinched her bum on the train so she hit him.在火车上有人捏她屁股，她打了那人。
• The penniless man had to bum a ride home.那个身无分文的人只好乞求搭车回家。

3 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 fawn   

n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承

参考例句：

• A fawn behind the tree looked at us curiously.树后面一只小鹿好奇地看着我们。
• He said you fawn on the manager in order to get a promotion.他说你为了获得提拔，拍经理的马屁。

6 ushered   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
• A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 mowing   

n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The lawn needs mowing. 这草坪的草该割了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• "Do you use it for mowing?" “你是用它割草么？” 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 demons   

n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念

参考例句：

• demons torturing the sinners in Hell 地狱里折磨罪人的魔鬼
• He is plagued by demons which go back to his traumatic childhood. 他为心魔所困扰，那可追溯至他饱受创伤的童年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

11 bucked   

adj.快v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的过去式和过去分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• When he tried to ride the horse, it bucked wildly. 当他试图骑上这匹马时，它突然狂暴地跃了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The plane bucked a strong head wind. 飞机顶着强烈的逆风飞行。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 subjective   

a.主观(上)的，个人的

参考例句：

• The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
• A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。