美国国家公共电台 NPR--From Pat Boone to the Sex Pistols: Inside the secret White House record collection

From Pat Boone to the Sex Pistols: Inside the secret White House record collection

Transcript¹

John Chuldenko's uncle, Jeff Carter — the son of former President Jimmy Carter — was talking about a night at the White House during his dad's administration in the late 1970s.

Uncle Jeff wasn't sure if it was a state dinner, but it "was something fancy," Chuldenko remembers him saying.

Later in the evening, presumably after the fancy dinner, Uncle Jeff snuck upstairs to the residence with a couple friends and they started playing records and "drinking wine and stuff." They were playing The Rolling Stones, specifically the song "Star Star" off their 1973 album Goats Head Soup.

The song is not rated PG, and it drew the attention of Uncle Jeff's mom, Rosalynn Carter, and then-second lady Joan Mondale. They apparently² did not stay long.

Back to Chuldenko and the annual Carter family vacation, which the former president's grandson tells NPR he's pretty sure was in Florida that year. Chuldenko was intrigued³ by the records and wondered where they came from. Uncle Jeff blew his mind by telling him that the White House had an official record collection.

But was it true? He needed confirmation⁴.

Shortly after the vacation, Chuldenko decided⁵ to reach out to the White House curator's office to confirm, and to his surprise, they got back to him a few days later. They confirmed the existence of the White House record collection, but said it was stored in a secure facility at a warehouse⁶ that he was not allowed to visit.

But, he persisted and requested to view the record collection at the White House, but that had to be cleared by the office of first lady Michelle Obama. It was.

Chuldenko quickly started planning the trip and reached out to some of the people who curated the collection, like jazz critic Bob Blumenthal and one of his advisers⁷, Kit⁸ Rachlis — both of whom ultimately accompanied him to the White House later that year — just days before Christmas in 2010.

"We walk in and they're all in these cardboard boxes," Chuldenko recalls of the visit. "And it's like, whoa. Here I am in the White House, downstairs in the movie theater, digging through these records that are embossed in presidential seal binders⁹. It is the coolest thing ever for a record collector. It is the most exclusive record library in the world, probably."

So, they start laying out their favorites, including: The Woodstock soundtrack, Neil Young's Decade, the self-titled Clash record, Elvis Costello's My Aim Is True, and Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde.

So, what record did they play first? One of Chuldenko's favorites: Van Morrison's Astral Weeks.

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After hours in the White House screening room, someone from the curator's office came down and said it was time to go.

"We put everything back where it belonged and they came in with these dollies and they started wheeling away these cardboard boxes full of records — and I think it was at that moment when I realized, like, they're going to take this back to the secure storage facility," Chuldenko says. "No one is going to ever see these again."

Through that visit, research and interviews he learned a fair amount about this mysterious record collection. The first volume, created during the Nixon administration and presented to the first family in 1973, contained more than 1,800 LPs and featured bands from Elton John and The Doors to more easy-listening acts like Don Ho and Pat Boone.

The second volume, presented to the Carters in 1981, was a little more rock and roll and featured records from artists like Chuck Berry, Neil Young and Bob Dylan — along with some records that Chuldenko refers to as controversial.

"The first Clash record is in there, the Sex Pistols is in there," he says. "Rocket to Russia is in there from The Ramones. You got Funkadelic in there. There's some stuff that you would not expect to be in the White House record library."

What is also not in the White House record library is anything from 1980 to the present day, and Chuldenko wants to change that by updating the collection with a third volume.

Will he succeed? He just may. He has a call scheduled with someone from the Recording¹⁰ Industry Association of America — the folks responsible for the collection from the 1970s — on Wednesday.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

4 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

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 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

7 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

8 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

9 binders   

n.（司机行话）刹车器；（书籍的）装订机( binder的名词复数 )；（购买不动产时包括预付订金在内的）保证书；割捆机；活页封面

参考例句：

• Propellant binders based on these materials have excellent mechanical properties and good performance. 用这些材料制成的推进粘结剂的工作性能很好，而机械性能则更为突出。 来自辞典例句
• The and inferior binders fabrication process has become much more important. 黏合剂制作工艺优劣显得更加重要。 来自互联网

10 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。