PBS高端访谈:鲍勃迪伦的《地下室磁带》完整版将首次面世

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Bob Dylan's been one of the most influential¹ voices in music for more than five decades now and an artist frequently considered an enigma² all his own.

　　One of the big mysteries surrounding his work and biography is a series of recordings⁴ he made that were never fully⁵ made public, the so-called Basement Tapes. Now they're about to be released in their entirety.

　　Jeffrey Brown looks at what they tell us about Dylan and the era…

　　JEFFREY BROWN: By 1967, Bob Dylan had dropped from public view, retreating to a house near the town of Woodstock, New York, to recover from a motorcycle accident and the sheer exhaustion⁶ of years of touring and, it seemed, to regain⁷ a sense of mission in his life and music.

　　He was already credited with altering the course of popular music at least twice, first popularizing the folk and protest songs of the early '60s, then turning electric, helping⁸ to launch the folk rock era.

　　In the basement of house called Big Pink, joined by a group of musicians who later came to be known as The Band, Dylan recorded songs that have intrigued⁹ fans and critics ever since.

　　(MUSIC)

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Until now, only limited, often bootlegged portions of the sessions have been able, but, tomorrow, Sony's Legacy¹⁰ Recordings will release “The Basement Tapes Complete,” containing 138 remastered tracks, along with a companion book.

　　And we turn to Anthony DeCurtis, contributing editor at “Rolling Stone” magazine, who has written widely on Bob Dylan.

　　Anthony DeCurtis, thanks for joining us.

　　So, what are the Basement Tapes exactly?

　　ANTHONY DECURTIS, Rolling Stone: The Basement Tapes are a series of recordings that Bob Dylan made in 1967 and into the beginning of 1968.

　　When he retreated to Woodstock, New York, there was a sense in which, you know, Dylan had so much cultural heat around him. And he went up to this area. He went 90 miles north of New York City and disappeared. But who disappeared along with him were the members of his backing group, and in the basement, they would just record.

　　They would record old folk songs. They would record new songs that Dylan was working on. They would record really anything that came to mind. And that sense of relaxation¹¹ and fun and just the sheer enjoyment¹² of making music with your friends in a casual way is something that really comes through on the Basement Tapes.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And why have they come to be considered so important?

　　ANTHONY DECURTIS: The Basement Tapes are important because they reveal a side of Dylan that really is impossible to find anywhere else, which is Dylan just relaxing and making music.

　　You know, ever since — you know, certainly after he made “The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan” in 1963, he was a figure, the voice of a generation, somebody who was looked at all the time, whose every move was analyzed¹³.

　　Well, this is a situation where, because he was essentially¹⁴ in hiding, there was a — he was just doing what he wanted to do. And so that element of getting a peek¹⁵ behind the screen, getting a look at this iconic figure just having fun with music is something that is — simultaneously¹⁶ seems very down to earth and extremely mysterious.

　　The nature of the music, the nature of the types of songs he was writing, their meaning is very hard to pin down, but it was also very different from what was going on at the time. I mean, the Beatles were doing “Sergeant Pepper” at this time, whereas Bob Dylan is in somebody's basement in Upstate New York recording³ old folk songs and new songs that sound like old folk songs.

　　It couldn't possibly have been more out of tune¹⁷ with the times, and consequently has only gained meaning as time has gone on.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Well, there's a lot of music on these tapes. What do we hear? What kind of music? What does it sound like?

　　ANTHONY DECURTIS: Well, the music that's on the Basement Tapes, in a certain way, it's unlike anything else throughout Dylan's career.

　　Some of it is — are traditional folk songs that he and members of the band would try out. They would play some of them, they would start them, they would stop them, they would do variations on them. But then Dylan started writing a lot. He started writing with members of the band.

　　And so that's when you start getting songs like “Tears of Rage, “The Mighty¹⁸ Quinn,” “This Wheel's on Fire.” Now, these aren't necessarily — casual Dylan fans might not know all these songs. But for people following Dylan's career, there's a kind of antic element that is going on in the Basement Tapes, a sense of fun.

　　Dylan is restoring himself, in part by turning back to folk music and by music that is informed by the traditions of folk music. And that's what really comes across in these recordings. It's a sense of mood and fun and just sheer delight both in your own talent and in the joys that music can bring.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And, you know, to this day, Bob Dylan remains¹⁹ I guess this enigmatic figure of rock ‘n' roll. And every aspect of his history, all these transitions are looked at, right, still to this day.

　　ANTHONY DECURTIS: Exactly.

　　Oh, yes, absolutely, and very much hidden in plain sight. Dylan tours every year, does between 120 and 125 dates. He's out there all the time. But, still, like, what's motivating him, what's driving him, what he's thinking about, what he's going to do, even now as he's well into his 70s, there's a sense in which none of those questions can really be definitively²⁰ answered.

　　And back to the Basement Tapes, that was really one of the most mysterious. The songs themselves are very mysterious. There's a kind of genial²¹ surrealism about them. They have a fun, mysterious aspect that's very difficult to pin down, but that's of course one of their joys. It's the kind of thing that Dylan fans revel²² in, is interpreting all these songs.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Anthony DeCurtis on Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes, thanks so much.

　　ANTHONY DECURTIS: Thank you.

1 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

2 enigma   

n.谜，谜一样的人或事

参考例句：

• I've known him for many years,but he remains something of an enigma to me.我与他相识多年，他仍然难以捉摸。
• Even after all the testimonies,the murder remained a enigma.即使听完了所有的证词，这件谋杀案仍然是一个谜。

3 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。

4 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

7 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 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。

10 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。

11 relaxation   

n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐

参考例句：

• The minister has consistently opposed any relaxation in the law.部长一向反对法律上的任何放宽。
• She listens to classical music for relaxation.她听古典音乐放松。

12 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

13 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 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。

15 peek   

vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥

参考例句：

• Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
• Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛，别偷看。

16 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

17 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

18 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

19 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

20 definitively   

adv.决定性地，最后地

参考例句：

• None of the three super-states could be definitively conquered even by the other two in combination. 三个超级国家中的任何一国都不可能被任何两国的联盟所绝对打败。 来自英汉文学
• Therefore, nothing can ever be definitively proved with a photograph. 因此，没有什么可以明确了一张照片。 来自互联网

21 genial   

adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的

参考例句：

• Orlando is a genial man.奥兰多是一位和蔼可亲的人。
• He was a warm-hearted friend and genial host.他是个热心的朋友，也是友善待客的主人。

22 revel   

vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢

参考例句：

• She seems to revel in annoying her parents.她似乎以惹父母生气为乐。
• The children revel in country life.孩子们特别喜欢乡村生活。