VOA常速英语2007年-Charlie Daniels Celebrates 71st Birthday with N

By Larry London
Washington, D.C.
19 November 2007
 

Charlie Daniels started his music career in the 1950s as a studio session musician playing fiddle¹.  Charlie also wrote music, which has been recorded by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and many others.  Daniels' 1979 hit, "The Devil Went Down To Georgia," won the 1979 Grammy for Best Country Vocal² Performance.  Charlie Daniels has also written several books, and is now on a tour that included a stop in Iraq.  Daniels recently spoke³ with VOA's Larry London to discuss his life in music.

Although Charlie Daniels is an award-winning musician, songwriter, producer and performer who has spent 50 years in the music business, there is one label that gives him the most pride.

"I am not the most gifted musician around,” he says. “I am not a natural musician.  I have to work a little harder at it.  I found out a long time ago musicians get out of work but entertainers never do, so I have always tried to be an entertainer."

Daniels' music defies classification.  He grew up listening to gospel, bluegrass, rhythm and blues⁴, and country.  Daniels talks about listening to the rural radio stations that helped to shape his musical taste.

"During the course of the day they played some of all kinds of music.  They would start off the day with country music, and then in the afternoon, when the kids came home from school and whatever the popular music would be, they would have a spasm⁵ of playing that.  If you are from the Southeast, you are always exposed to blues and gospel music.  I was exposed to so many different kids of music.  I went through the big band era, the early rock era, the Elvis [Presley] era, all of these different kinds of eras.  I was exposed to so many different kinds of music, and when I sit down to write original music it all just came into my subconscious⁶ or whatever, and leaped out in the form of different songs and different band arrangements because we do play a big variety of music."

Daniels is proud of his heritage, growing up in the southern United States.  He fiercely defends the culture and the rural way of life.

Daniels recently edited a collection of essays on what it was like to “grow up country.”  The book includes chapters by people in many different professions including a former U.S. President.

"I got a response from a NASCAR (auto racing) champion, a rodeo champion, an ex-President, many, many music people … about three generations of people,” he tells us. “The interesting part about the book is, from my point of view and [former U.S. President] Jimmy Carter's point of view who wrote a piece in the book, growing up country at the time we grew up was totally different from, like a Carrie Underwood, who’s a new artist that grew up in Oklahoma a couple generations later.  There are some common things that run through it.  There is a big emphasis on family and the people in the music business.  There is a big emphasis on that they (musicians) really wanted to make it in the music business." 

As a struggling musician, Daniels managed to talk his way into playing on a recording⁷ session for legendary⁸ songwriter Bob Dylan.  As Daniels was packing up to leave for another job, Dylan asked him where he was going and then demanded that Daniels stay to play on the rest of the album.  "He [Dylan] will never understand what those nine words meant to me career-wise, certainly because he was always kind enough to put the studio musicians' names on his albums, and that was a very special memory.  I went on to do three albums with Bob [Dylan].

Deuces is the latest Charlie Daniels CD release. He has paired himself with vocalists from a variety of musical styles.  Charlie wouldn't have it any other way.

1 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

2 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 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。

5 spasm   

n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作

参考例句：

• When the spasm passed,it left him weak and sweating.一阵痉挛之后，他虚弱无力，一直冒汗。
• He kicked the chair in a spasm of impatience.他突然变得不耐烦，一脚踢向椅子。

6 subconscious   

n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的)

参考例句：

• Nail biting is often a subconscious reaction to tension.咬指甲通常是紧张时的下意识反映。
• My answer seemed to come from the subconscious.我的回答似乎出自下意识。

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 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。