2007年VOA标准英语-Buck Owens Tributes Remember his 'Maverick' Leg

By Katherine Cole
Washington
06 August 2007

It's been said that the mark of a great artist is the apparent ease with which they perform their craft. In country music, few have ever made it look easier than the Buck¹ Owens and his band, The Buckaroos. Buck Owens' died in March 2006, just hours after taking the stage at his Crystal Theater in Bakersfield, California, playing some of the songs that rocked Nashville in the 1960s. With the approach of Buck Owens' 78th birthday, VOA's Katherine Cole reminds us of his legacy² and importance to country music.

 

Buck Owens

When you hear "Act Naturally" today, it's hard to imagine that 44 years ago Buck Owens, playing his red, white and blue guitar, was considered quite the maverick³ of country music. Or that Buck, a man so closely associated with Bakersfield, California, never set foot in the town until he was 21 years old.

Buck Owens signed his first record contract in 1957. But it was two more years before he recorded "Under Your Spell Again," the song that started a more than decade-long streak⁴ of hit singles.

By 1963, Buck Owens' band featured not the banjos and fiddles⁵ heard on most country songs coming out of Nashville, but Don Rich on electric guitar and singing harmony, backed by a bass⁶, drums and pedal steel guitar.

Soon, Buck turned his back on Nashville, and began making country records his way, out in California and backed by his own band, not Nashville studio musicians. The results sounded more like a Buck Owens concert, and nothing like the string-laden, smooth country-pop hit songs coming out of Nashville at the time.

While some in Nashville fumed⁷ over Buck Owens' new music, lots of people loved what we now call the "Bakersfield Sound." Buck inspired countless⁸ musicians, including Brian Hofeldt, founder⁹ of the hit country band The Derailers. In a recent interview, Brian explained why Buck Owens' sound is so important in the history of American country music.

"At its time, it was looked at as maverick, and out of left field, you know," he said. "Buck was in Bakersfield. He wasn't in Tennessee. And he was doing his own thing, and it was a really stripped-down, revved-up sound. And it just turned everybody on their ear. They loved it! And he was arguably the most successful country artist of the 1960s. His music, I think, still retains the freshness because it's pure and soulful."

You can judge the freshness for yourself by listening to The Derailers' new CD, "Under the Influence of Buck," a tribute to the man who invented the "Bakersfield Sound." But that's not the only Buck Owens musical tribute of note. Dwight Yoakam has one, due in October, titled "Dwight Sings Buck." A portion of the proceeds will go to the Buck Owens American Music Foundation, which serves to preserve the legacy of Buck Owens and his signature "Bakersfield Sound", like his longtime theme song "Buckeroo."

1 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

2 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

3 maverick   

adj.特立独行的；不遵守传统的；n.持异议者，自行其是者

参考例句：

• He's a maverick.He has his own way of thinking about things.他是个特异独行的人。对事情有自己的看法。
• You're a maverick and you'll try anything.你是个爱自行其是的人，样样事情都要尝试一下。

4 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

5 fiddles   

n.小提琴( fiddle的名词复数 )；欺诈；（需要运用手指功夫的）细巧活动；当第二把手v.伪造( fiddle的第三人称单数 )；篡改；骗取；修理或稍作改动

参考例句：

• He fiddles with his papers on the table. 他抚弄着桌子上那些报纸。 来自辞典例句
• The annual Smithsonian Festival of American Folk Life celebrates hands-hands plucking guitars and playing fiddles. 一年一度的美国民间的“史密斯索尼安节”是赞美人的双手的节日--弹拔吉他的手，演奏小提琴的手。 来自辞典例句

6 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

7 fumed   

愤怒( fume的过去式和过去分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟

参考例句：

• He fumed with rage because she did not appear. 因为她没出现，所以他大发雷霆。
• He fumed and fretted and did not know what was the matter. 他烦躁，气恼，不知是怎么回事。

8 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

9 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。