VOA慢速英语2015 蓝调之王B.B. King去世享年89岁

AS IT IS 2015-05-18 Blues¹ Music Great B.B. King Dead at 89 蓝调之王B.B. King去世享年89岁

A great master of blues guitar, B.B. King, is dead.  King died Thursday night at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was 89 years old.

B.B. King was in the music business for almost 70 years. He influenced generations of musicians during his career.

His millions of fans around the world recognize his singular² sound immediately. The so-called³ King of Blues never seemed to lose the thrill of performing. He spent most of each year traveling and playing his music for audiences all over the world.

"I've always felt that to be an entertainer, you've got to entertain. So I've tried to pull all my energies together if I'm singing, to put it all right there. I'm trying to remember that the people that come to see me are fans that are expecting the best that I have." 

Wherever B.B. King traveled, at least one of his black Gibson guitars came along. He named each "Lucille." He told fans he first named his guitar after a performance at a club in Arkansas. He said two men began to fight and started a fire in the process.

"And everybody started to run for the front door, including B.B. King. But when I got on the outside, then I realized I'd left my guitar. And in '49, believe me, keeping a good guitar was a hard job."

He went back into the burning building. He said it was collapsing⁴ around him. He got his guitar but almost lost his life, he said.

Later, King discovered the two men in the club had been fighting over a woman named Lucille.

Riley B. King was born on a farm in Mississippi on September 16, 1925.  As a boy, he sang with gospel groups.  But by the age of 16, he was performing on the street, singing and playing guitar.  He found that blues music was more profitable⁶ than gospel.

The name B.B. is short for "Blues Boy," the name he used at work as a disc⁵ jockey in Memphis, Tennessee.

B.B. King made his first record in 1949, at the age of 24.  Three years later, his recording⁷ of Lowell Fulsom's "Three O'Clock Blues" became a number one R&B hit.  

B.B. King’s only pop hit was "The Thrill Is Gone," from 1969. But the musician had a huge influence on many rock and rollers, including Britons Eric Clapton and George Harrison and the Irish band U2.

B.B. King won 15 Grammy awards. He was named to the Blues Foundation⁸ Hall of Fame, as well as the Rock and Roll and R&B halls of fame. He was awarded honorary doctorates⁹ from several universities and was honored¹⁰ by presidents.

B.B. King is gone, but the thrill of his music remains¹¹.

Words in This Story

fan – n. a person who likes and admires someone (such as a famous person) or something (such as a sport or a sports team) in a very enthusiastic way

thrill – n. a feeling of great excitement or happiness

audience – n. a group of people who gather together to listen to something or watch something: the people who attend a performance

gospel – n. a type of Christian¹² music that was created by African-Americans in the southern United States

disc jockey – n. a person who plays recorded music on the radio or at a party or nightclub

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 singular   

adj.个人的，单数的，独一的，唯一的，非凡的；n.单数

参考例句：

• The young man has a singular ear for music.这个年轻人对音乐有非凡的欣赏力。
• The noun is in the singular.这个名词是单数形式。

3 so-called   

adj.所谓的，号称的

参考例句：

• These were the so-called mainframe machines.它们被称为主机。
• Let's see what this so-called button does.让我们来看看为什么这个按钮叫这个名字。

4 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

5 disc   

n.圆盘；唱片，磁盘；adj.圆盘形

参考例句：

• He hands a metal disc to me.他把一个金属圆盘给我。
• The disc went spinning away into the sky.圆盘旋转着飞入空中。

6 profitable   

adj.有益的，能带来利益的，有利可图的

参考例句：

• That business became profitable last year.那项生意去年变得很赚钱。
• The convention business is very profitable for the hotel industry.承办会议业务能给旅馆业带来很高的利润。

7 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。

8 foundation   

n.[pl.]地基；基础；基金会；建立，创办

参考例句：

• The foundation of the university took place 600 years ago.这所大学是600年前创办的。
• The Foundation gives money to help artists.那家基金会捐款帮助艺术家。

9 doctorates   

n.博士学位( doctorate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nearly 1,000 specialized personnel with doctorates have settled in Shenzhen. 现已引进博士学位的专门人才近千名。 来自互联网
• John played the field academically, obtaining doctorates from several universities. 约翰的学术广博，他从几所大学拿到了博士学位。 来自互联网

10 honored   

adj.光荣的：荣幸的v.尊敬，给以荣誉( honor的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I hope to be honored with further orders. 如蒙惠顾，不胜荣幸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is a time-honored custom. 这是一个古老的习俗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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。

12 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。