美语咖啡屋 Lesson 12: Vince on Jim Hendrix

J: Hello and welcome to American Cafe. My name's Jody.

Y: 各位听众，欢迎大家到美语咖啡屋。我是杨晨。

J: Hey, Yang Chen, you know our friend down in the music library, Vince...he says "hello" by the way ...

Y: 真的？下次你告诉他我也向他问好。

J: Will do. Anyway, did you know he's a guitar player?

Y: 我知道。他上次还建议我应该多听听他的偶像Jimi Hendrix的音乐呢。

J: Oh, that's weird. That's exactly what we talked about. Wow, he really admires Jimi Hendrix. But who wouldn't. Jimi Hendrix is a music legend.

Y: 等一等，这个music legend我们应该给听众解释一下，就是音乐界的传奇人物。

J: Exactly. And Jimi is not only a music legend, he changed rock-n-roll, 摇滚音乐forever!

Y: 说起摇滚乐，我可以跟你聊一天一夜。

J: Me too! But let's make sure that Vince gets a word in.

实录1 Vince Bonner: My name is Vince Bonner. And I feel Jimi Hendrix is not the father of the modern guitar, but um, he changed the sound so drastically.

Y: Vince说，虽然Jimi Hendrix并不是现代吉他音乐之父，可是他在很大程度上改变了吉他音乐的声音。不过我不太明白他这儿说的是什么意思。

J: We'll let Vince explain that. But before we hear from Vince I want to mention something again. Sometimes when Vince speaks, he drops the "t" at the end of his words. For example, he will say "lef-handed" instead of "left-handed."

Y: Lift-handed中文就是左撇子。

J: Right. I mean, left. I mean that's correct!

Y: 好了，好了，我看你越说越糊涂。我们还是听听Vince的解释吧。

实录2 Vince: Number one he was a left-handed guitarist. So he played the instrument upside down which is even more incredible. Um Jimi was the first to use distortion and reverb, heh, without it sounding like a lot of noise. Everything he was doing he did wrong, technically, he was doing wrong.

Y: Vince刚才说的这段里有两个词比较难懂。Jody，你来解释一下吧。

J: Right. Distortion and reverb are two special terms for music and, especially, for Jimi Hendrix. Reverb is a music term that's short for reverberation or shaking and tremors in the music. But you know what, Yang Chen, we have so many examples from Jimi Hendrix himself ... let's just play that.

Y: 对，让听众从音乐中来体会。

J: Here's an example of distortion and reverb from Jimi Hendrix.

Y: 大家可要坐稳了。下面我们欣赏一段Jimi Hendrix演奏的音乐。

(Enter sample of Jimi Hendrix)

Y: Wow, 他的音乐太有震撼力了。

J: Isn't that amazing! Nobody thought that that could sound good. But Jimi Hendrix was such a great guitar player he made he sound great. And Vince felt the same way, too. In the next quote he talks about what makes the guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix so special. Yang Chen, he didn't just play the guitar. His concerts were the ultimate in showmanship.

Y: 是不是所有的音乐家我们都可以称他们为表演家呢？

J: No way! No, no, no, Jimi was special. He used crazy lights and crazy color shows. He even set his guitar on fire one time.

Y: 这就是他和其他音乐家的不同之处。

J: Right. And he just played the guitar so well. When he played it was true showmanship. Here us Vince.

实录3 Vince: For me, and this is what I think makes Jimi so special, is being different, is having your own individuality on the instrument. Everyone right now sounds like everyone else. Everyone else sounds like Jimi Hendrix.

J: I really like how Vince worded it. "Everyone right now sounds like everyone else. Everyone else sounds like Jimi Hendrix."

Y: 现在很多人都在模仿别人，而所有的人都在模仿Jimi Hendrix。

J: Not only was he incredibly individual, but when he played his concerts turned into a spiritual experience. Here is Vince.

实录4 Vince: Jimi once said that when he got on stage and when he started to play he can make the audience do anything. It was like a spiritual revival when he played.

Y: 我觉得音乐的力量的确是非常伟大。如果大家都来听Jimi Hendrix的音乐，这个世界一定会变得更加美好。

J: You are absolutely right. I couldn't agree with you more.

Y: 谢谢大家收听美语咖啡屋。我们下次节目再见。

J: Let the spirit of Jimi Hendrix fill the air!!

(Enter Jimi Hendrix music)