2007年VOA标准英语-The Beatles: The Biography

By Jeff Feuer
Washington
17 September 2007
 
The Beatles and the band's music continue to captivate millions to this day. Yet the world may never have heard of John, Paul, George and Ringo if not for a fateful meeting that started it all. VOA's Jeff Feuer explains.

Nearly four decades after their breakup, The Beatles remain a global phenomenon. But the world might never have heard the "Fab Four's" many hits if it had not been for a chance encounter on July 6, 1957 in the city of Liverpool, England.

Bob Spitz

Bob Spitz is the author of The Beatles: The Biography¹.  "This year (1957), one of the moms got John's band, The Quarrymen, to perform at the rose parade at the annual church fair. Now the Quarrymen was John's folk band but they were gonna play a little rock and roll this year as well. And outside the kids gathered to watch them, and John noticed one of the people in the second row. You couldn't miss him. He had come in a sport coat that had silver and gold threads woven into it, and it was a 15-year-old kid who bicycled over from the next community and his name was Paul McCartney. He had been brought by one of John's friends from school because the friend thought that John and he might get along. They were introduced after John had played the opening set."

The Beatles

After a brief introduction, McCartney asked a fateful question. "And Paul brought this guitar on his bicycle into this church festival and asked John if he could play him something. And John was knocked out. It was an amazing performance and he knew right away that there was a place in his band for this fat kid named Paul McCartney"

But success was still years in the making for the group, as they toiled² in small clubs from Liverpool to Hamburg, Germany. But the Beatles hard work would eventually pay off. Still, many record companies rejected them before The Beatles were signed by the British label E.M.I.

"The Beatles were rejected by everybody. Before they went to Hamburg, they were considered the worst band in Liverpool, and they were. There were 300 bands - the Beatles stunk³. They had no show. They punched each other on stage.

Spitz says the band's days in Hamburg were exhausting, but crucial to the Beatles' development. "Then when they got to Hamburg, they really worked hard, they played 11 hours a night, and they became what we now know as The Beatles. When it came time for them to get a record deal and Brian Epstein shopped them around, they got the same message from everyone, and that message was that guitar bands are out."

E.M.I. executives⁴ decided⁵ to take a chance on the band with one key condition.  That demand would forever change the course of two lives, including that of a young drummer from another Liverpool band, Ringo Starr.

"Earlier on, their drummer was someone else, it was Pete Best. He was really their first drummer. He had worked with them for two years. People thought it was very unfair that the day George Martin signed them, he gave the Beatles a record contract (and) they gave Pete Best the boot."

The final lineup of the Beatles - John, Paul, George and Ringo - would capture the imagination of people across England in 1963, in what could be considered the "first wave" of Beatlemania.  The following year, the Beatles went on to conquer America and the world.

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band  by the Beatles

They last recorded as a band in 1969, so why do the Beatles remain so popular to this day?

"The music is very special," says the author. "It speaks to everybody of all ages and all generations. It's terrific⁶ music. It's music that that you don't get tired of hearing 10, 20, 30 years later."

"And, of course, it's their voices. There is so much personality in their voices that it speaks to everybody.  There's something pure, something simple, something so insanely⁷ identifiable that everybody connects with it right away and that's one of the miracles of the Beatles. It's something that they do for all of us in that sound, that it's lasting⁸ and enduring."

1 biography   

n.个人经历，传记

参考例句：

• He is now collecting material for a biography of Tao Yuanming.他正在为写陶渊明传记搜集材料。
• Boswell wrote a famous biography of Dr.White.鲍斯韦尔为怀特博士写过一本著名传记。

2 toiled   

长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉

参考例句：

• They toiled up the hill in the blazing sun. 他们冒着炎炎烈日艰难地一步一步爬上山冈。
• He toiled all day long but earned very little. 他整天劳碌但挣得很少。

3 stunk   

v.散发出恶臭( stink的过去分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透

参考例句：

• Those rotten eggs have stunk the place. 那些臭蛋把这个地方弄得恶臭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A stunk made a bad smell in our yard last night. 昨天臭鼬在我们院子里弄得好臭。 来自互联网

4 executives   

（公司或机构的）经理( executive的名词复数 )； （统称公司或机构的）行政领导； （政府的）行政部门； [the Executive][美国英语]（美国政府的）行政当局

参考例句：

• They have taken measures to equate the salaries of higher civil servants to those of business executives. 他们采取措施使高级文职人员的工资和企业管理干部的工资相等。
• He disregarded the advice of his executives. 他对主管层的建议置若罔闻。

5 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。

6 terrific   

adj.可怕的，极好的，非常的

参考例句：

• The game was terrific.那场比赛棒极了。
• Darren drove at a terrific speed.达伦以惊人的速度驾车。

7 insanely   

ad.精神错乱地；疯狂地

参考例句：

• He got insanely angry at being made a fool of. 他为受到愚弄而气得发昏。
• She got insanely jealous and there was a terrible fight. 她妒忌得发疯，结果是大吵一架。

8 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。