VOA标准英语2013--Marshall Chapman Shows No Signs of Slowing Down

 

Marshall Chapman Shows No Signs of Slowing Down

“Blaze¹ of Glory” isn’t just the title track to Marshall Chapman’s latest CD, it’s a premonition she once had. Living the hard life of a rock-and-roller, Chapman never figured she’d live past 40. But at 39, after years of a stereotypical² rock-and-roll lifestyle, she checked herself into rehab.  And now, at an age when many performers start thinking about slowing down, Chapman is doing just the opposite

Since graduating from Vanderbilt University in 1971, she he has supported herself not only as a performer, but as a songwriter. Many other acts have recorded her songs, including John Hiatt, Wynonna Judd, Jimmy Buffett and the band Sawyer Brown…yet she’s never had a huge hit of her own.

That doesn’t mean, however, that Marshall Chapman’s not successful. In the past few years, the 1.8-meter-tall Nashville resident has released two albums to glowing reviews from critics around the world, while also acting³ and writing prose⁴. You may have seen her playing Gwyneth Paltrow’s road manager in the hit movie “Country Strong.” Or on the current TV show “Nashville.” Chapman co-wrote the songs for an off-Broadway musical called “Good Ol’ Girls” and has published two books, including an autobiography⁵. In it, she tells how she grew up in a wealthy family in Spartanburg, South Carolina and then defied⁶ her family’s expectations by becoming a rock-and-roll musician.

Marshall Chapman dates the roots of her rebellion⁷ to 1956, when the family maid took her downtown to see Elvis Presley perform.

“My parents were out of town and we just took the city bus down there. They had matinee shows back then. He was on a Country package tour with The Louvin Brothers and The Carter Sisters and Justin Tubb," she said. "I think when that deal was signed, he wasn’t quite “Elvis” yet, but by the time he got to Spartanburg he was Elvis and he was definitely closing the show. This was, of course, during segregation⁸ and I was in the balcony with the blacks. This little tow-headed [blonde] seven-year-old child. So that started it. They measure time BC and AD. I measure time BE and AE.”

The opening track on "Blaze of Glory" harkens back to those early days of rock. “Love In The Wind” is a duet with Todd Snider that almost didn’t happen.

Marshall Chapman’s original vision for “Love In The Wind” had alternative-Country singer-songwriter Todd Snider singing harmony with her. But that idea blew up the minute Snider walked into the studio.

“Todd walks in and the first thing he says is ‘I don’t sing harmony.’ So, I had to rethink this and get loose," Chapman said. "And we went on the ‘Todd plan.’ It sort of became more of a call and response, which actually is probably better than what I had in mind. And that often happens in the studio.  And now it sounds really cool the way it is, because you don’t know when he’s coming in. And I love it.”

When we spoke⁹, Marshall was on her way back to Nashville after a show at Spartanburg’s Chapman Cultural Center, named for her arts-supporting family. The show was a fundraiser for arts education and took place just a few days after the singer was inducted into the Spartanburg Music Trail - an open-air hall of fame for musicians in her hometown.

There are nine original songs on “Blaze of Glory” along with two interesting covers: Hoagy Carmichael’s standard “The Nearness of You,” and this jazzy update of the Delmore Brothers’ Country classic “Blues Stay Away From Me.”

1 blaze   

n.火焰，火堆，火光，火灾；vi.燃烧，着火

参考例句：

• In a blaze of anger he shouted at them.他怒火中烧，对着他们大吼起来。
• Dry wood makes a good blaze.干木燃起夺目的光焰。

2 stereotypical   

n.常规

参考例句：

• Personas should be typical and believable, but not stereotypical. 人物角色应该是典型和可信赖的，但不是一成不变的。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Anything could be stereotypical, so I guess it could be criticism. 任何东西都可以变的老套，所以我猜那就是一种批评。 来自互联网

3 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。

4 prose   

adj.散文的；n.散文

参考例句：

• His writings include poetry and prose.他的作品包括诗和散文。
• He has a taste for purple prose.他喜欢风格华丽的散文。

5 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

6 defied   

不服从( defy的过去式和过去分词 )； 公然反抗； 蔑视； 向…挑战

参考例句：

• He defied his opponents. 他公然反抗他的对手们。
• The vastness of space defied comprehension. 外层空间的茫茫无垠让人无法弄清其究竟。

7 rebellion   

n.造反，叛乱，反抗

参考例句：

• The next year they rose up in rebellion.第二年他们就揭竿起义了。
• The new government quickly suppressed the rebellion.新政府迅速把叛乱镇压下去。

8 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

9 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。