2007年VOA标准英语-Singer Ben Taylor Releases New CD 'Another Run

By Larry London and Gary Jaffe
Washington
02 February 2007
 
watch Ben Taylor report

It is hard to imagine that a child growing up in the same house with two music superstar parents would not immediately be drawn¹ to that world.  Such was the case with singer-songwriter Ben Taylor, who initially² dreamed of being a farmer.  Taylor stopped by VOA on his recent tour to talk about his new CD, "Another Run Around The Sun". Larry London has his unique and interesting story.

Ben Taylor

The son of James Taylor and Carly Simon, singer-songwriter Ben Taylor has lived with both the advantages and the pressures of having two hugely successful musicians as parents.  Now he is working to establish his own credentials³ in a very competitive business.

"It's hard to say how much of an influence they [had] indirectly,” says Ben. “I mean they were always bringing home music that I would listen to, but they tried to stay out of it.  I think they were sensitive to the fact that they were unusually successful, examples of what can happen when everything goes right."

Taylor credits his mother (Carly Simon) with teaching him the craft of songwriting.  He talks of his rather unique approach to writing a song for her.

"I was always trying to write a song for my mom because she helps so much with my process, she's such a great songwriter herself, and she's such a great mom.  It's one of those songs that ring a little bit too sweet.  They always tickled⁴ me the wrong way, so I was always trying to find the right way of saying it.  Your parents are great … your parents are almost like luggage … it's like you go to the airport and your bag comes out on that carousel⁵, and maybe you're a little bit embarrassed about it because its such an ugly bag or too big and cumbersome⁶ or whatever it is, but it's yours, and there's nothing you can do but grab it.  Otherwise somebody else might.  I feel the same way about my parents.  Nothing I can do but (they) belong to you, there's nothing I'd rather do."

He adds, "I've only really been involved in music a little while.  Like you said, it was a while getting into it where I felt comfortable as something I wanted to do as a career.  I spent pretty much my whole scholastic⁷ life just traveling around, and learning things and studying with people abroad, and writing about it for accreditation⁸."

With the musical heritage Taylor has, it is hard to imagine he once entertained thoughts of becoming a farmer.

"I'm still thinking about it.  I think it looks pretty good from where I'm sitting.  Actually it's nice to be in here this morning.  People always think that, yeah, you would think that it would be pretty obvious, but I have two parents who had made it [been successful], and they were always having [marital] trouble.  It didn't seem terribly glamorous⁹ from my point of view coming home from school, sitting there watching cartoons listening to them tear out their A and R [artist and repertoire¹⁰ -- a recording¹¹ executive who selects their songs] man.  I don't know.  It took a while and a little bit of convincing to make me want to do it, but I seem to."

1 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

2 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

3 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

4 tickled   

（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐

参考例句：

• We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。
• I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。

5 carousel   

n.旋转式行李输送带

参考例句：

• Riding on a carousel makes you feel dizzy.乘旋转木马使你头晕。
• We looked like a bunch of awkward kids riding a slow-moving carousel.我们看起来就像一群骑在旋转木马上的笨拙的孩子。

6 cumbersome   

adj.笨重的，不便携带的

参考例句：

• Although the machine looks cumbersome,it is actually easy to use.尽管这台机器看上去很笨重，操作起来却很容易。
• The furniture is too cumbersome to move.家具太笨，搬起来很不方便。

7 scholastic   

adj.学校的，学院的，学术上的

参考例句：

• There was a careful avoidance of the sensitive topic in the scholastic circles.学术界小心地避开那个敏感的话题。
• This would do harm to students' scholastic performance in the long run.这将对学生未来的学习成绩有害。

8 accreditation   

n.委派，信赖，鉴定合格

参考例句：

• a letter of accreditation 一份合格证明书
• This paper gives an overview of the Verification, Validation and Accreditation (VV&A) in High Level Architecture(HLA). 对基于高层体系结构(High Level Architecture,简称HLA)的仿真系统的校核、验证与确认(Verification, Validation and Accreditation,简称VV&A)问题进行了详细的介绍及分析。 来自互联网

9 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

10 repertoire   

n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表

参考例句：

• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
• He has added considerably to his piano repertoire.他的钢琴演奏曲目大大增加了。

11 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。