时代周刊:缅怀摇滚鼻祖小理查德

Little Richard Rock-'n'-roll progenitor¹

摇滚鼻祖小理查德

By StephanIe Zacharek

文/斯蒂芬妮·扎卡雷克

In the 1940s, teenagers were just adults in waiting, busy with responsibilities like going to war.

20世纪40年代的青少年与成年人似乎并无二致，除了年龄。因为他们早就在忙着应付各种责任，比如上战场的责任了。

But the luckier teenagers of the 1950s became a kind of royalty²,

相比之下，50年代的青少年则要幸运许多，他们脱胎成了一种贵族，

and Little Richard—who died on May 9 at age 87—welcomed them with an embrace of raucous³, peacock splendor⁴.

成了小理查德——已于今年5月9日去世，享年87岁——用喧嚣而神气的拥抱隆重欢迎的对象。

In 1955, his “Tutti Frutti” hit like a glitter bomb of self-expression,

1955年，小理查德的专辑《Tutti Frutti》犹如一颗金光闪闪的、洋溢自我的炸弹一般横空出世，

opening with a lomp-bomp-bomp that would be rock 'n' roll's Big Bang.

专辑开头那一阵轰隆隆的轰鸣声即将成为为摇滚乐开辟鸿蒙的一声巨响。

Everyone who followed—an eternally scrolling⁵ list that includes the Beatles, Elton John and, of course, Prince—owes him a debt.

所有追随他脚步的人——细数起来就是一份没有尽头的名单，披头士乐队、埃尔顿·约翰，当然，还有普林斯都在其列——都受了他的一份恩惠。

To anyone who would listen, and to those who wouldn't,

无论是喜欢听，还是不喜欢听他的音乐的人，在他们印象里，

the man who was born Richard Wayne Penniman, in Macon, Ga., often boasted that he invented rock 'n' roll.

这位出生在佐治亚州梅肯，原名理查德·韦恩·彭尼曼的家伙都是一个经常吹嘘自己发明了摇滚乐的人。

But is it a boast if it's true?

问题是，如果他说的是真的，那还算吹嘘吗？

His splashy but elegant piano attack, his voice as raw as a hungry kiss:

他弹奏的钢琴曲花俏却又不失优雅，他的歌声又如迫不及待的亲吻一般直白：

Little Richard was carnal but never vulgar, and his personal style—

小理查德是欲而不俗的，他的个人风格——

the pencil mustache, the metallic⁶ suits, the pompadour reaching toward Heaven—

铅笔胡须，金属西装，高高的蓬头——

spoke⁷ to the man inside the woman and the woman inside the man.

既代表了女人内心男人的一面，也代表了男人体内女人的一面。

He showed the world what it meant to be yourself, at a time when that was much harder than it is today.

他昭告了全世界什么才叫做自己，还是在比今天困难得多的年代。

Any among us who ever wanted to scream, shout or wear a sequin:

你我之辈，凡是有过想要尖叫，想要呐喊，或是想穿上带有浓浓金属味的行头的人，

we are all children of Little Richard.

都得尊他一声“爷爷”。

1 progenitor   

n.祖先，先驱

参考例句：

• He was also a progenitor of seven presidents of Nicaragua.他也是尼加拉瓜7任总统的祖先。
• Schoenberg was a progenitor of modern music.勋伯格是一位现代音乐的先驱。

2 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

3 raucous   

adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的

参考例句：

• I heard sounds of raucous laughter upstairs.我听见楼上传来沙哑的笑声。
• They heard a bottle being smashed,then more raucous laughter.他们听见酒瓶摔碎的声音，然后是一阵更喧闹的笑声。

4 splendor   

n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌

参考例句：

• Never in his life had he gazed on such splendor.他生平从没有见过如此辉煌壮丽的场面。
• All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。

5 scrolling   

n.卷[滚]动法，上下换行v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的现在分词 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Another important detail required by auto-scrolling is a time delay. 自动滚屏需要的另一个重要细节是时间延迟。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In 2D visualization and drawing applications, vertical and horizontal scrolling are common. 在二维的可视化及绘图应用中，垂直和水平滚动非常普遍。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 metallic   

adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的

参考例句：

• A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。
• He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。

7 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。