(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Barbara Klein. And I'm Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Bo Diddley was one of America's greatest rock and roll guitarists. His influence was so widespread that it is hard to imagine what rock and roll would have sounded like without him. Today, we explore the life and music of Bo Diddley.
That was the song "Bo Diddley," released in nineteen fifty-five. It was his first hit. It established what became known as "the Bo Diddley beat." It is linked to a children's hand clapping game, "hambone." Bo Diddley said he first heard the beat in a church. But it is also a rhythm found in African-Caribbean music. And it has a southern blues base as well.
This hit song from the same year is another good example of the Bo Diddley beat. It is called "Pretty Thing."
Bo Diddley died of heart failure in two thousand eight at his home in Florida. He was seventy-nine.
Music had been a part of his life since his early years. He was born Otha Ellas Bates in nineteen twenty-eight in McComb, Mississippi. His mother, Esther Wilson, was an unmarried teenager. She and her son went to live with her cousin, Gussie McDaniel. Bo Diddley later said Gussie McDaniel raised both him and his mother. Otha was re-named Ellas McDaniel. The family moved to Chicago, Illinois.
When Ellas was seven, he began learning classical violin from a church music teacher. He continued to study violin until he was fifteen. He did not even pick up a guitar until he was twelve and received one as a gift from his sister. But it was the guitar that captured his imagination forever. Here he explains how he developed his guitar sound.
"I took it home and learned how to play on one string, 'When the Saints Go Marching In.' The other strings didn't make a difference. Then I accidentally tuned it the way I'm tuning it now. I say I'm playing it backwards. I don't play like the average guitar player, the cats who move their fingers all around like this. I do it in chords, and basically, do almost the same thing."
When he was in his twenties, Ellas McDaniel formed a band called the Langley Avenue Jive Cats. He was not able to make enough money to support himself, however. So he found other work. He worked in a food store and a picture frame factory. He worked as an elevator operator and a meat packer. He even fought as a boxer. Finally, in nineteen fifty-four, the band got the break it was hoping for. The Jive Cats made a recording of their music to present to Chess Records.
Leonard and Phil Chess were happy with what they heard and agreed to sign the band to a recording contract.
There are many stories about how Bo Diddley got his name. Some reports say one of the band members suggested the new name shortly after they were signed by Chess Records. Other reports say Bo Diddley took the name when he became a boxer. Still others say the name came from a homemade one-string instrument called a diddley bow. Apparently Bo Diddley did not clear up the mystery. He told several versions of the source of his name.
Many bands sang this next Bo Diddley song for many years. From nineteen fifty-seven, here is "Mona (I Need You Baby)."
Bo Diddley's success continued through the nineteen fifties. He appeared on television and on stage. He performed in a national concert series, sometimes with another rock and roll guitar great, Chuck Berry.
However, his love life was never as smooth as his music. Diddley was first married at age eighteen and three times after that. All of his marriages ended in divorce.
However, Bo Diddley did have good relationships with female musicians. He was one of the first rock and rollers to have a female guitarist. Peggy Jones joined his band in the late nineteen fifties as "Lady Bo." Later, she was replaced by Norma-Jean Wofford, whose stage name was "the Duchess."
That was the Yardbirds performing Bo Diddley's song "I'm A Man." The so-called British Invasion by that band, the Rolling Stones and others in the nineteen sixties helped renew interest in Bo Diddley's music. Now, others were recording his songs or performing his style. In fact, American musician Buddy Holly admitted his hit "Not Fade Away" borrowed much of Diddley's sound. At first, Bo Diddley said he was not happy about other musicians copying him. But then he said he realized he "must be doing something right."
In the early nineteen seventies, Bo Diddley moved to the state of New Mexico and became a law official in the town of Los Lunas. However, he continued to make records for Chess until nineteen seventy-four.
Later Bo Diddley appeared in the popular movie, "Trading Places." He also appeared in a well-known television advertising campaign for the Nike sportswear company. He was admitted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio in nineteen eighty-seven. He won a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement in nineteen ninety-eight.
Bo Diddley lived his final years on more than thirty hectares of land near Gainesville, Florida. He liked to fish. He also still performed at shows around the country. His last recording was "A Man Amongst Men," released in nineteen ninety-six. Here is the title song from that album.
重点解析
1.pick up捡起；学会
When you pick up a strawberry one, it may be the last one in the box.
当你拿到一块草莓味巧克力的时候，它也许就是盒子里最后的一块了。
2.make a difference有影响；有关系
I think we should all work for peace. Each of us can make a difference.
我认为我们都应该为和平而工作，我们每个人跟和平有关系。
3.clear up清理；解决
There should be someone to whom you can turn for any advice or to clear up any problems.
应该有你可以征求意见或为你解决问题的人。
4.end in以...告终
It opens a new chapter in Russian history—one that may well end in crisis.
它在俄罗斯历史上翻开新的一页，很有可能以危机结束的一页。
5.Shortly after不久之后
Shortly after the Spring Festival Holiday, he moved back to his hometown, Nanning, to find a better job.
在春节假期后不久，他搬回到他的家乡南宁市去寻找一份更好的工作。
6.be able to会；能够
Do what you can now or you might not be able to do them all.
去做你现在能做的，否则你可能永远也不会开始了。
参考译文
我是芭芭拉·克莱恩，我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。波·迪德利是美国最伟大的摇滚吉他手之一。他的影响实在是太广泛了，人们难以想象如果摇滚乐没有他的话将会是什么样子。今天我们讲述波·迪德利的生活和音乐。
这首是发行于1955年的歌曲《波·迪德利》。这是他的第一首热曲。它确立了后来被称为“波·迪德利节奏”的音乐。它与儿童拍手游戏《杂耍演员》有关。波·迪德利称，他第一次是在教堂听到这个节奏。但它也是非洲-加勒比音乐中的一种节奏。它也有一个南部布鲁斯基地。
这首同一年的热门歌曲是波·迪德利节拍的另一个很好的例子。它叫《漂亮的东西》。
2008年，波·迪德利在他佛罗里达的家中因心衰去世。享年79岁。
从早年起，音乐就是他生活的一部分。他于1928年在密西西比州的麦库姆出生，原名奥塔·艾拉斯·贝茨。他的母亲埃斯特威尔逊是一名未婚少女。她和她的儿子去和她的堂兄古西·麦克丹尼尔住在一起。波·迪德利后来说，格西·麦克丹尼尔抚养了他和他的母亲。奥塔被重新取名为艾拉斯·麦克丹尼尔。他们一家搬到了伊利诺斯州的芝加哥。
埃拉斯七岁时，开始向一位教会音乐老师学习古典小提琴。到15岁时，他继续学习小提琴。直到12岁，他才拿起一把吉他，并收到了姐姐送的礼物。但是是吉他让他非常感兴趣。这里，他解释了他是如何开发他的吉他声音。
“我把它带回家，学习如何在一个弦上弹奏，《圣人行进时》。另外的弦不起作用。然后我不小心把它调成我现在调的样子。我说我在倒着弹奏。我和一般的吉他手不一样，不像他们那样到处移动手指。我用和弦演奏，基本上做一样的事情。”
艾拉斯·麦克丹尼尔二十多岁的时候，组建了一个名为《兰利大街摇摆舞猫》的乐队。然而，他没有足够的钱养活自己。所以他找到了其他工作。他在一家食品店和一家相框厂工作。他做过电梯操作员和肉类包装工。他甚至还当过拳击手。最终，在1954年，乐队取得了它所想要的突破。《兰利大街摇摆舞猫》把他们的音乐录制下来送给切斯唱片公司。
伦纳德和菲尔·切斯对他们听到的歌曲很满意，并同意与乐队签订唱片合同。
有很多关于波·迪德利是如何得到他的名字的故事。一些报道称，乐队的一名成员在与切斯唱片公司签约后不久就建议他使用这个新名字。其他报道称，波·迪德利成为拳击手后就用了这个名字。还有人说这个名字来自一种自制的单弦乐器，叫做迪德利琴。很明显，波·迪德利没有解开这个谜团。他说了几个不同版本的名字来源。许多乐队多年来一直在唱波·迪德利的这首歌曲。1957年的这首歌曲名为《莫娜》（我需要你宝贝）。
波·迪德利的成功延续到了20世纪50年代。他出现在电视和舞台上。他在一个全国巡回演唱会上表演。有时和另外一位伟大的摇滚吉他手同台演出。
但是，他的爱情生活从不像他的音乐那样顺利。迪德利第一次结婚是在18岁，之后结了三次婚。他所有的婚姻都以离婚告终。
然而，波·迪德利和一些女性音乐家有很好的关系。他是第一批拥有女性吉他手的摇滚歌手之一。佩吉·琼斯在20世纪50年代末以“波女士”的身份加入了他的乐队。后来，她被艺名为“公爵夫人”的诺曼-吉恩·沃福德取代。
这是新兵乐队演唱的波·迪德利的歌《我是男人》。20世纪60年代，所谓的由新兵乐队和滚石乐队和其他的一些乐队带来的英国入侵帮助恢复了人们对波·迪德利音乐的兴趣。现在，其他人在录制他的歌曲或以他的方式表演。实际上，美国音乐家巴迪·霍利承认他的热门单曲《永不褪色》借用了迪德利的很多声音。起初，波·迪德利称，他并没有对其他音乐家抄袭他的事情感到不开心。但是后来，他表示，他意识到自己得《做一些正确的事情》。
在20世纪70年代早期，波·迪德利搬到了新墨西哥州，成为了一名洛斯卢纳斯镇的一名法律官员。然而，他继续为切斯唱片公司录制唱片，直到1974年。
波·迪德利参演了电影《颠倒乾坤》。他还出现在著名的耐克运动服装公司的电视广告活动中。1987年，他进入俄亥俄州克利夫兰的摇滚名人堂。1998年，他获得了格莱美终身成就奖。
波·迪德利在佛罗里达州盖恩斯维尔市附近的三十多公顷土地上度过了他的晚年。他喜欢钓鱼。他还在全国各地演出。他的最后一张唱片是在1996年发行的《人与人之间》。这是那张专辑的主题曲。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
