(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
This is Faith Lapidus. And this is Doug Johnson with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we begin a two-part report about singer, songwriter, and musician Ray Charles. His work will continue to have a lasting influence on American music.
Ray Charles spent almost sixty years as a professional musician. Millions of people around the world enjoy his recordings. If Ray Charles only played the piano, he would have been considered one of the best. If he had only sung his music, his voice would have made him famous. If he had only played jazz music, the world would have listened. But Ray Charles did all these things and more.
He played and sang rock-and-roll and rhythm-and-blues songs. He sold millions of country and western records, too. His work brought together different kinds of music and different kinds of music fans. His influence on much of America's popular music cannot be truly measured.
That was Ray Charles and "One Mint Julep." He recorded that song in nineteen sixty-one on an album called "Genius Plus Soul Equals Jazz." It is one of the many hundreds of records he recorded.
Ray Charles Robinson was born in nineteen thirty in Albany, Georgia. When he was six years old, he began to suffer from the eye disease glaucoma. The disease made him blind. He left the world of sight forever and turned to the world of sound. He learned to love sounds, especially music of all kinds.
Ray Charles taught himself to play the organ, alto saxophone, clarinet and trumpet. Yet there was a special relationship between him and the piano. Here is part of the song "Worried Mind." The style is country and western, with a heavy influence of blues. Listen to his work on the piano, an instrument he truly loved. You can almost see him smiling.
Ray Charles was fifteen years old when his mother died. Within a year, he had left school to work. He began playing piano professionally in African American eating and drinking places in the state of Florida.
A year later, he moved to the opposite corner of America: Seattle, Washington. While in Seattle, he made forty records. But none was a success.
At that time, Ray Charles was trying to play the piano and sing like the famous performer Nat King Cole. But he quickly learned there was only one Nat King Cole. No one wanted to hear a copy, not even a good copy.
So Charles started looking for his own musical sound. He began to experiment. He tried mixing blues and jazz. He used some jazz styles with the music that later was known as rock-and-roll. His experiments soon became popular with many black Americans.
He played at dances around the country. He also sold some records, mostly to black people. Few white Americans had heard of a blind musician named Ray Charles.
By the middle of the nineteen fifties, he had his own band. It was one of the most popular black dance bands in the country. A group of women sang with the band.
One night, Charles began playing a simple song. He told the women to sing in a style known as call and response. In this style, the lead singer asks a question or sings some words. The other singers answer. This kind of singing was brought to America by black slaves from Africa. It has remained very popular in black church music.
At the dance that night, Ray Charles put together simple piano music, traditional call and response and rock-and-roll. The result was a revolution in American music. Soon after, Ray recorded that song. It is called "What'd I Say?"
"What'd I Say?" sold millions of copies. Ray Charles no longer just played at small dances for black people. He performed in large theaters for big audiences of every color. He had found a sound like no other. His style of music was filled with excitement. And those who listened shared in that excitement.
By the end of the nineteen fifties, Ray Charles had recorded many hit songs. Most of his music was black rhythm-and-blues or soul music. Yet white Americans were listening, too.
Charles did not want to play just one kind of music, even if it was extremely popular. He began experimenting again, this time with jazz. One album, "Black Coffee," is considered by experts to be one of his very best jazz recordings. It shows that his piano work can express many different feelings. Here is the song "Black Coffee" from that album.
Ray Charles continued to make rhythm-and-blues and jazz records. But that was still not enough for him. He had always loved country-and-western music. So he decided to record a country album.
Music industry experts said he was making a mistake. They told him not to do it. They said he would lose many fans. The fans, they said, would not understand or like this kind of music. Ray Charles did not listen to the experts. He took a chance. And he was right. The public loved his country-and-western songs. You can hear some of these country-and-western songs next week, when we bring you the second part of our report about Ray Charles.
重点解析
1.suffer from忍受；遭受
There are other people who suffer from panic attacks and heavy doses of anxiety.
当然也有其他一些人是因为忍受疼痛的侵袭和严重的焦虑。
2.bring together聚集；团结
Any decent answer will need a coordinated effort to bring together individuals, employers and providers of education.
任何得体的回答都需要协调一致的努力，使个人、雇主和教育提供者聚集在一起。
3.turn to转向；求助
In this case we have no choice, but to turn to others.
在这种情况下，我们别无选择，只能向他人求助。
4.popular with受...欢迎
They feel that this is important to be popular with their friends.
他们觉得这是能让他们在朋友中变得受欢迎的很重要的方式。
5.put together组合；聚集
The team should be put together before the project starts.
在项目启动之前，要将这支队伍聚集在一起。
6.filled with充满
We were filled with hope, with passion, with dreams for the future.
我们浑身上下都是希望和激情，对未来充满了梦想。
参考译文
我是菲丝·拉伯蒂斯，我是道格·约翰逊，这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们讲述歌手、作曲家、音乐家雷·查尔斯的故事的第一部分。他的作品将继续对美国音乐产生长久的影响。
雷·查尔斯作为一名职业音乐家度过了近60年的时间。全世界数以百万计的人喜欢他的唱片。如果雷·查尔斯只弹钢琴，他会被认为是最好的之一。如果他只歌唱，那么他的声音会使他出名。如果他只演奏爵士乐，世人也会听他的音乐。但是雷·查尔斯做了上述所有事情，还有更多。
他演奏和歌唱摇滚和节奏布鲁斯音乐。他的乡村和西部唱片也销售了数百万张。他的作品汇集了不同类型的音乐和不同类型的音乐爱好者。他对美国流行音乐的影响是无法估量的。
那是雷·查尔斯和《一杯薄荷酒》。他于1961年在一张名为《天才加灵魂等于爵士乐》的专辑中录制了这首歌。这是他录制的数百张唱片之一。
雷查尔斯罗宾逊于1930年出生在佐治亚州奥尔巴尼。当他六岁的时候，他开始患青光眼。疾病使他失明。他永远离开了视觉的世界，转向了声音的世界。他学会了热爱声音，尤其是各种各样的音乐。
雷·查尔斯自学了管风琴、中音萨克斯管、单簧管和小号。然而，他和钢琴之间有一种特殊的关系。这是歌曲《忧心忡忡》的一部分。这种风格是乡村风格和西部风格，深受布鲁斯的影响。听听他弹奏的钢琴作品，这是一种他真正热爱的乐器。你几乎可以看到他在笑。
雷·查尔斯的母亲去世时，他只有15岁。不到一年，他就离开学校去工作了。他开始在佛罗里达州的非裔美国人饮食场所从事专业钢琴演奏。
一年后，他搬到了美国的另一面：西雅图，华盛顿。在西雅图时，他录制了40张唱片。但是没有一张是成功的。
那时，雷·查尔斯尝试弹奏钢琴，像著名的表演者纳·京·高尔那样演奏。但他很快就知道只有一个纳·京·高尔。没有人想听复制品，即使是一个好的复制品。
所以查尔斯开始寻找他自己的音乐声音。他开始做实验。他试着把蓝调和爵士乐混在一起。他在后来被称为摇滚乐的音乐中使用了一些爵士风格。他的实验很快受到许多美国黑人的欢迎。
他在全国的舞会上演出。他也售出了一些唱片，大多售给了黑人。很少有美国白人听说过盲人音乐家雷·查尔斯。
到了20世纪50年代中期，他有了自己的乐队。这是美国最受欢迎的黑人舞蹈乐队之一。一群女性和乐队一起唱歌。
一天晚上，查尔斯开始演奏一首简单的歌曲。他让这些女性用一种叫做“呼唤与回应”的方式唱歌。在这种风格中，领唱歌手会问一个问题或者唱一些词，其他的歌手来回答。这种演唱的方式由非洲的黑奴带来美国。他在黑人宗教音乐中非常受欢迎。
在那晚的舞会中，雷·查尔斯将简单的钢琴曲和传统的“呼唤与回应”风格音乐和摇滚乐结合在了一起。这在美国音乐中引起了一场革命。很快，雷·查尔斯录制了这首歌曲。歌曲名为《我该说什么？》。
《我该说什么？》售出了数百万张。从此雷·查尔斯不再只是在黑人的小型舞会上演奏。他在大型剧院为各种肤色的观众表演。他发现了一种与众不同的声音。他的音乐风格充满了激情。而那些倾听的人也分享了这种兴奋。
到20世纪50年代末，雷·查尔斯已经录制了很多热门歌曲。他的大多数音乐是黑人节奏布鲁斯或灵魂乐。然而美国白人也听他的歌曲。
查尔斯不想只演奏一种类型的音乐，即使它非常的受欢迎。于是他又开始了实验，这次是爵士。《黑咖啡》被专家认为是他最好的爵士唱片之一。它展现了他的钢琴作品可以表达很多不同的感觉。这是那个唱片中的歌曲《黑咖啡》。
雷·查尔斯继续创作节奏布鲁斯和爵士乐唱片。但这对他来说还不够。他一直热爱乡村和西部音乐。所以他决定录制一张乡村专辑。
音乐行业专家表示，他犯了一个错误。他们告诉他不要做这件事。他们说他会失去很多歌迷。他们说，歌迷们不会理解或喜欢这种音乐。雷·查尔斯没有听从专家的建议。他冒了个险，他是对的。公众喜爱他的乡村和西部歌曲。下周我们将为您带来关于雷·查尔斯故事的第二部分，到时您将听到一些乡村和西部歌曲。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
