VOA标准英语2008年-Country Singer Eddy Arnold Dies at 89

By Mary Morningstar
Washington
08 May 2008

Singer and songwriter Eddy¹ Arnold, known as the "ambassador of Country music," died Thursday in Nashville. He was 89. At the height of his career, Arnold was among the top recording² artists of all time, with record sales of more than 85 million. VOA's Mary Morningstar tells us more about singer Eddy Arnold's 60-year career.

Known primarily as a Country music star, Eddy Arnold considered himself an all-around performer. He touched the hearts of his Country fans, while proving himself as a smooth, pop balladeer.

Born Richard Edward Arnold near Henderson, Tennessee, the son of sharecroppers, he had to leave school to help on the family farm. As Arnold grew up listening to blues³ and mountain music, his mother taught him to play guitar and sing. He soon became an entertainer at local dances and gatherings⁴ near his home. After making his Jackson, Tennessee radio debut⁵ in 1936, Arnold performed in Memphis, and played in nightclubs in St. Louis.

His big break came in 1940, when he landed a job as vocalist with "Pee Wee" King and His Golden West Cowboys. Arnold joined the Grand Ole Opry's Camel Caravan⁷ in 1941 and 1942, where he entertained servicemen, and was made a full-fledged member of the Opry in 1943.

As a tribute to his rural heritage, he was billed as the "Tennessee Plowboy." Eddy Arnold was offered a recording contract with RCA Records in 1944, and had his first hit in 1945 with a yodeling tune⁸ titled "Cattle Call."

Over the years, Eddy Arnold had 91 tunes⁹ in Billboard¹⁰ magazine's Top 10. Twenty-eight of those reached Number One on the Country chart.

When guitarist Chet Atkins became president of RCA's Country division, he guided Arnold toward the "Nashville Sound" of lush, polished orchestral arrangements. His smooth, vocal⁶ style seemed a perfect match for the softer Country approach. Arnold once said he wanted his music to be as acceptable to the public as Frank Sinatra's or Tony Bennett's, but he also thought of himself as an artist who helped Country music reach a broader audience.

"I'm a country boy who sings everything," he said. "I'm an entertainer, as opposed to just singing. When you do that kind of performing, you have to sing all kinds of songs. I love Country songs, but I love pretty, popular songs, too. I just like a pretty song. I don't look at a song and say, 'Hey, that's Country, I'm going to sing it because it's Country.' I sing it because I like it."

In 1965, Eddy Arnold's Number One Country hit "Make The World Go Away," crossed over to the pop charts, where it landed in the Top 10. One year later, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the 1970s, Eddy Arnold became the first Country star to have his own network television show. Twice in his career, he brought Country music to New York City's famed Carnegie Hall and often performed with symphony orchestras. He explained that playing with a symphony wasn't much different than his usual stage show.

"I do the same thing with them that I do anywhere else," Arnold said. "I don't change my songs or my performance one iota¹¹ [one bit]. We expand the arrangements so that the symphony can perform with me. And I take in my conductor, my drummer - I make the symphony swing - my guitar player, and we add them to the symphony and we go [swing]."

Eddy Arnold had some chart success in the 1980s, and continued his career after heart surgery in 1990. In 1993, RCA Records released Last Of The Love Song Singers, a double album of classic hits and new material. His 100th album, After All This Time, was released in 2005.

Over the years, Eddy Arnold became a respected businessman, investing in real estate, an auto¹² dealership¹³ and a music publishing company. He gave one of the reasons why he had been able to maintain his popularity for more than 60 years.

"Being a record artist, being a performer, I have treated it as a business," he said. "I've never walked on a stage drunk in my life. I've never missed a performance. I try never to be late. I've always wanted to give them [the audience] everything I had when I arrived to perform. I've just treated my business as a business, and I think that has helped me to live."

Although both major political parties tried to encourage Eddy Arnold to run for governor of Tennessee, he once remarked that if he won the election, he wouldn't have time to sing anymore.

Sally Arnold, Eddy's wife of 66 years, died on March 11. 

1 eddy   

n.漩涡，涡流

参考例句：

• The motor car disappeared in eddy of dust.汽车在一片扬尘的涡流中不见了。
• In Taylor's picture,the eddy is the basic element of turbulence.在泰勒的描述里，旋涡是湍流的基本要素。

2 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。

3 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。

4 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

5 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

6 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。

7 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

8 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

9 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

11 iota   

n.些微，一点儿

参考例句：

• There is not an iota of truth in his story.他的故事没有一点是真的。
• He's never shown an iota of interest in any kind of work.他从来没有对任何工作表现出一点儿兴趣。

12 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

13 dealership   

n.商品特许经销处

参考例句：

• The car dealership has a large inventory of used cars. 这家汽车经销商拥有数量庞大的二手车。
• A key to this effort is the experience in the dealership. 达到这个成果的关键是销售的体验。