VOA标准英语2012--American Folk Legend Doc Watson Dies

 

American Folk Legend Doc Watson Dies

For more than five decades, Watson entertained audiences around the world with an eclectic repertoire¹ that included elements of folk, blues², Country, bluegrass, rockabilly, and even jazz. A master of the contemporary flat-pick guitar style, the eight-time Grammy Award winner influenced generations of musicians in rock, country and folk.

Born Arthel Lane Watson in Deep Gap, North Carolina, his first love was the traditional music of the Blue Ridge³ Mountain region. In his early childhood, he contracted an illness which caused permanent blindness, a handicap that directed his interests toward music. Watson was also inspired by his father, a multi-instrumentalist, who bought his first harmonica and taught him to play the banjo. He got his first lessons on the guitar while attending the School For The Blind in Raleigh, North Carolina. Watson loved to tell the story of how that experience earned him his own guitar.

"My father was sitting at the breakfast table drinking his last cup of coffee before he went to work and I was fooling with a borrowed guitar that one of my brothers had there," Watson recalled. "And he said, 'Son, if you learn a song on that by the time I get back this evening from work, we'll buy you one on Saturday.' Well, what he didn't know was a friend of mine at the school I was going to over in Raleigh had taught me a few chords and I could pick and sing that thing when he got back. And he said, 'I guess I'll have to keep my word.'"

At age 17, Doc Watson made his performing debut⁴ at a fiddler's convention in Boone, North Carolina. That led to appearances at other local functions and on various radio programs. Doc's concerts were often called "short courses in the history of American music." His popularity grew in the early 1960's, and in 1964, reached a national level following a performance at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. That same year, he was signed to Vanguard Records. He once said his ultimate goal was to be a recording⁵ artist.

"I always wanted to be professional enough to do some records," he explained. " I never thought about having any sort of countrywide or worldwide recognition in the music world. My dad put me to work when I was 13 instead of letting me sit in the corner on the other end of the saw and that started me. And my sweet little wife Rosalee took my hand and helped me with enough courage to get out and make a living."

In 1965, Doc Watson added his 15-year-old son Merle to his act. For the next two decades, Merle's slide and acoustic⁶ guitar accompaniment were featured on several albums and at nearly all of his live shows. At age 36, Merle died in a farming accident, a tragedy that led to his semi-retirement in the late-1980's. In 1988, Watson honored his son’s memory by founding the annual roots music festival MerleFest.

Although he chose to spend less time on the road, Doc continued to record in the 1990's. The bond he felt with his audience transcended⁷ into the recording studio.

"You think about 'Well, if I do this well, a lot of people of going to buy this record and they're going to listen to it.' You've got an audience there though you don't see them and you can't reach out and shake hands with them. They're there in the future as you will. You know if you do the record well, once people begin to hear it, they'll buy it and that's your audience," he said.

In 1995, Doc returned to his musical roots with the album, Docabilly. Some of the artists he influenced, including Marty Stuart, Duane Eddy⁸ and guit-steel player Junior Brown, were featured on the critically-acclaimed collection of 1950's rockabilly tunes⁹. Two of Doc’s albums crossed over to the Billboard¹⁰ 200 chart, including his 2003 Grammy-nominated release, The Three Pickers. The album also featured Earl Scruggs and Ricky Skaggs.

Doc Watson was awarded the National Medal of Arts from President Bill Clinton in 1997. In 2004, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

1 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。

2 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。

3 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

4 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。

5 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。

6 acoustic   

adj.听觉的，声音的；(乐器)原声的

参考例句：

• The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
• Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。

7 transcended   

超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的过去式和过去分词 )； 优于或胜过…

参考例句：

• He wanted assurance that he had transcended what was inherently ambiguous. 他要证明，他已经超越了本来就是混淆不清的事情。
• It transcended site to speak to universal human concerns. 它超越了场所的局限，表达了人类共同的心声。

8 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。

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。