VOA慢速英语2010-PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Elvis Presley, 1935-1

FAITH LAPIDUS: Welcome to PEOPLE IN AMERICA, a program in VOA Special English. Today Rich Kleinfeldt and Steve Ember tell about one of America’s most popular singers, Elvis Presley.

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RICH KLEINFELDT: That song, “Hound Dog,” was one of Elvis Presley’s most popular records. It sold five million copies in nineteen fifty-six. Music industry experts say more than one thousand million of Elvis’s recordings² have sold throughout the world. He was a success in many different kinds of music -- popular, country, religious, and rhythm³ and blues⁴.

Elvis Presley won many awards from nations all over the world. Yet, he did not record in any language other than English. He never performed outside the United States, except for three shows in Canada. Yet, his recordings and films have been, and are still, enjoyed by people all over the world.

STEVE EMBER: Elvis Aaron Presley was born in the southern town of Tupelo, Mississippi on January eighth, nineteen thirty-five. His family was extremely poor. During his childhood, he sang in church with his parents. He also listened to music that influenced his later singing, including country, rhythm and blues, and religious music. Elvis and his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee when he was thirteen.

Elvis Presley was drafted⁵ into the army in 1958.

After high school, he had several jobs, including driving a truck. In nineteen fifty-three, he made his first recording¹ of this song, “My Happiness”:

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RICH KLEINFELDT: Elvis Presley recorded the song at the Memphis Recording Service. The story is that he paid four dollars to make a recording for his mother. A woman who worked at the public recording studio had another job with a local independent record company called Sun Records. She made a second recording of Elvis’s songs because she thought the owner of Sun Records should hear him sing.

STEVE EMBER: The owner of Sun Records, Sam Phillips, had been looking for a white performer who could sing black rhythm and blues. He suggested Elvis work with a guitar player and a bass⁶ player. Several months later Mister⁷ Phillips agreed to have the group make a record. It was released⁸ on July nineteenth, nineteen fifty-four. One of the songs was “That’s All Right”:

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The record sold well in Memphis, and was played a lot on local radio stations. To let others hear Elvis, Sam Phillips organized a series of performances at country fairs in the area. One of the people who heard Elvis perform at these shows was Colonel⁹ Tom Parker. Elvis signed an agreement that Colonel Parker would organize his appearances.

One of Elvis’ first new recordings became a huge hit, and led to his many appearances on television. It was “Heartbreak Hotel”:

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RICH KLEINFELDT: By the middle of the nineteen fifties, Elvis Presley was known around the world as the young man who moved his hips¹⁰ in a sexual¹¹ way as he sang rock and roll music. Many adults said he and his music were bad influences on young people. Young women loved him. Huge crowds attended his performances.

He made his first movie in nineteen fifty-six. It was “Love Me Tender¹².” The title song was a big hit.

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STEVE EMBER: Elvis Presley was one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood for a number of years in the nineteen fifties. He acted in thirty-one movies.

In nineteen fifty-eight, just as he finished making the movie “King Creole,” Elvis received notice that he had to serve in the United States Army. He was stationed in Germany where he lived in a large house and dated a lot of beautiful women. One young girl he met in Germany was Priscilla Beaulieu, the daughter of an Army officer. She was fourteen years old. Later, after Elvis had finished his army service, she came to live with him in Memphis. They married in nineteen sixty-seven, when she was twenty-one years old. He was thirty-two. They became parents nine months later of a baby girl, Lisa Marie.

RICH KLEINFELDT: Colonel Parker made sure that songs Elvis had recorded earlier were released during the years he was in the army. So Elvis was just as popular after his military service as he was before it.

Elvis Presley won three of the music industry’s highest award, the Grammy. He received the first one in nineteen sixty-seven. It was for “How Great Thou Art,” an album of religious music.

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STEVE EMBER: Elvis returned to performing live shows in nineteen sixty-nine, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He then traveled around the country performing before huge crowds. He began to take drugs to help him sleep. He gained a lot of weight so he took drugs to help control his weight. And he took extremely strong drugs to reduce pain.

Elvis also suffered from the emotional¹³ sickness, depression. It became worse after his marriage ended. Elvis never permitted Priscilla to stay with him in Las Vegas or travel with him around the country. He also did not want Priscilla to see other people when he was away from home. And he spent time with other women. Priscilla finally left him in nineteen seventy-two for another man.

RICH KLEINFELDT: Elvis Presley released many recordings of his performances during the nineteen seventies. He also enjoyed great success on television. His nineteen seventy-three television show from Hawaii was seen in forty countries by more than one thousand million people.

His last record album was called “Moody Blue.” He recorded it in nineteen seventy-six. One of its hit songs was called “Way Down”:

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STEVE EMBER: Elvis Presley died on August sixteenth, nineteen seventy-seven. First reports said he had a heart attack, but later tests showed many drugs in his body. Experts agree that these drugs probably caused his death.

Hundreds of thousands of people still visit his home, Graceland, in Memphis every year. Fans continue to buy his music, making him the most popular recording artist ever. Elvis Presley remains¹⁴ the undisputed King of Rock and Roll.

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FAITH LAPIDUS: This program was written by Nancy Steinbach. Rich Kleinfeldt and Steve Ember were the narrators. The producer was Paul Thompson. I’m Faith Lapidus. Listen again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program in VOA Special English.

 

1 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。

2 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

3 rhythm   

n.韵律；节奏

参考例句：

• He has an ear for the rhythm of Irish speech.他对爱尔兰语的节奏很敏感。
• His poem has a pleasing rhythm.他的诗有和谐的韵律。

4 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

5 drafted   

v.起草( draft的过去式和过去分词 )；制定；征募；拟稿

参考例句：

• The government has drafted out its plan for future laws. 政府已草拟了未来法律的规划。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was drafted last autumn by the Detroit Lions. 他去年秋天被底特律雄狮队选作队员了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

7 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

8 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

9 colonel   

n.(英国陆军、美国陆空军及海军陆战队)上校

参考例句：

• It's a pity we didn't mend our fences with the colonel.可惜我们还没有和上校先生调整好关系。
• An army major ranks between a captain and a colonel.陆军少校的军阶在上尉与中校之间。

10 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 sexual   

adj.性的，两性的，性别的

参考例句：

• He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
• It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。

12 tender   

adj.嫩的，柔软的；脆弱的，纤细的；温柔的

参考例句：

• At the tender age of seventeen I left home.早在十七岁的小小年纪，我就离开了家。
• We were sent to boarding school at a tender age.很小的时候我们就被送到了寄宿学校。

13 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

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。