美国国家公共电台 NPR Boz Scaggs Processes The Past And Rebuilds For The Future

 

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Boz Scaggs is out with a new album called "Out Of The Blues¹." No surprise - over 50 years of making music, he's wandered into R&B, rock ’n’ roll and even some smooth disco. But always, always, his passion for the blues has shone through the music. He joined us from San Francisco.

BOZ SCAGGS: The blues comes along very quickly and very naturally if you're living in a small town in Texas or Oklahoma and you want to play guitar because it's a very basic and simple form. It comes from a complex emotional place. And as it evolved, it picked up subtleties² from every stop and from every one who used the form. And that nuance³ is very important to someone who listens to the blues.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RADIATOR⁴ 110")

SCAGGS: (Singing) Every time I see you walking, I get a temperature of 110. Every time I see you walking, I get a temperature of 110. When you catch yourself cooling down, you heat right up again. I know you've been to college...

If you're digging into it, the notes have to fall right. There's a authentic⁵ way to do it.

MONTAGNE: When you talk about authenticity⁶ and how the notes have to fall, how does that apply to a different, somewhat more recent passion of yours, which is winemaking?

SCAGGS: Well, I'm not a winemaker. And I'm not a - my wife and I bought a little bare piece of land between Napa and Sonoma. We had no intention of growing grapes or producing wine. But a friend of ours who lived nearby, he says, I happen to have some grape vines here left over from a job. Would you like me to stick them in the ground for you? It was months later, after I was coming home from a tour, and I came down my driveway and it was - there was a full moon. And as I was rounding the corner of the road, I looked out into the field and there were something growing that I hadn't noticed before. And I went out in the field. And it was the grape vines. And they had energy, and bigger and stature⁷ like unlike anything else that we'd planted. And I developed some fascination⁸ for these vines. And then, in time, you taste the grapes and you - one thing leads to another. And the next thing you know, you're wondering what it would be like if you took the grapes and made some wine out of it. And we found that we're not very good at selling the wine. It's essentially⁹ family and friends. And it's a thing that sort of binds¹⁰ us to where we are.

MONTAGNE: Sadly that land was caught up in the deadly wildfires last fall north of San Francisco. And Scaggs' winery was not spared. They lost...

SCAGGS: ...Everything.

MONTAGNE: Consumed by flames.

SCAGGS: Yeah. Everything. It's a mind-blower in any way you turn it. But it's simply, all is gone.

MONTAGNE: And this, in a way, connects to your music - I mean, tapes and various things like that?

SCAGGS: Yeah. The books and the odd pieces of paper where I'd written the lyrics¹¹ to everything I've ever done. And that was in some way especially hard for me to come to terms with.

MONTAGNE: Yeah. Could I ask, do you handwrite? I mean, is that what they are?

SCAGGS: Yeah, I write by hand. I just use legal pads. And cocktail¹² napkins are a very popular place to get some of the best lines. You know, all sorts of things with little notes, and scribbles¹³ and so forth¹⁴.

MONTAGNE: For me, one of the blues songs on this album seemed to speak to a certain amount of pain and disorientation of great loss, such as you've had. It's a Neil Young song. It's called "On The Beach." We're going to play some of it. But is there something to say about that?

SCAGGS: Well, let's take a line from that song.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ON THE BEACH")

SCAGGS: (Singing) Though my problems are meaningless, that don't make them go away.

That's one - it sort of answers a quest that a lot of, let's say, our spiritual seekers are confronted with - the meaningless and the nothingness of it all, really, in an ultimate sense. But it don't make the pain go away, to put it in a vernacular¹⁵.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ON THE BEACH")

MONTAGNE: But you are rebuilding, right? Is that how you process it?

SCAGGS: Mm-hmm. That's one way we do it. We're replanting the vineyards as we speak. It's really a part of the coming-to-terms-with-it-all process.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ON THE BEACH")

MONTAGNE: Boz Scaggs, his new album "Out Of The Blues" is out now. Thank you very much.

SCAGGS: Thanks, Renee, nice being with you.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ON THE BEACH")

SCAGGS: (Singing) When I needed you to stand by my side, all you did was...

MONTAGNE: BJ Leiderman writes our theme music. This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

1 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

2 subtleties   

细微( subtlety的名词复数 )； 精细； 巧妙； 细微的差别等

参考例句：

• I think the translator missed some of the subtleties of the original. 我认为译者漏掉了原著中一些微妙之处。
• They are uneducated in the financial subtleties of credit transfer. 他们缺乏有关信用转让在金融方面微妙作用的知识。

3 nuance   

n.(意义、意见、颜色)细微差别

参考例句：

• These users will easily learn each nuance of the applications they use.这些用户会很快了解他们所使用程序的每一细微差别。
• I wish I hadn't become so conscious of every little nuance.我希望我不要变得这样去思索一切琐碎之事。

4 radiator   

n.暖气片，散热器

参考例句：

• The two ends of the pipeline are connected with the radiator.管道的两端与暖气片相连接。
• Top up the radiator before making a long journey.在长途旅行前加满散热器。

5 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

6 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

7 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。

8 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 binds   

v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕

参考例句：

• Frost binds the soil. 霜使土壤凝结。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Stones and cement binds strongly. 石头和水泥凝固得很牢。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

12 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

13 scribbles   

n.潦草的书写( scribble的名词复数 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下v.潦草的书写( scribble的第三人称单数 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• The scribbles on the wall must be the work of those children. 墙壁上的涂鸦准是那几个孩子画的。 来自辞典例句
• There are scribbles on the wall. 墙上有胡乱涂写的字迹。 来自辞典例句

14 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

15 vernacular   

adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名

参考例句：

• The house is built in a vernacular style.这房子按当地的风格建筑。
• The traditional Chinese vernacular architecture is an epitome of Chinese traditional culture.中国传统民居建筑可谓中国传统文化的缩影。