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雷.查尔斯(1930-2004)：歌唱家、词曲作家和杰出的音乐家

从今天开始，我们分两期向你介绍歌唱家、词曲作家和音乐家雷.查尔斯，他的作品对美国的音乐将产生永久的影响。

雷.查尔斯作为专业的音乐人奋斗了近六十年，全世界无数的人在享受着他的音乐作品。如果查尔斯仅仅只是弹奏钢琴，那么他将会被认为是世界最好的钢琴演奏家；如果他仅仅只是唱歌，他的声音将会使他闻名世界；如果他仅仅只是演奏爵士音乐，那么全世界的人都将成为他的听众。然而，雷.查尔斯拥有所有这一切，而且比这还要多。他演唱摇滚乐和节奏布鲁斯歌曲，他还发行了数百万张西部乡村音乐唱片。他的作品把各种音乐形式融合在一起，因而也融合了各种形式的音乐迷，他对美国流行音乐的影响将是无法估量的。

刚才你听到的就是雷.查尔斯演唱的< One Mint Julep>(一杯薄荷朱利酒>，这首歌是他在1961年录制的一张专辑< Genius Plus Soul Equals Jazz>（天才加上灵魂等于爵士）中的一首，这是他所录制数百张唱片中的一张。

雷.查尔斯于1930年出生在乔治亚州奥尔巴尼，在他六岁的时候，他患上了青光眼，这种病使他失明。他永远离开了明亮的世界，他由此转而进入了声音的世界。他学着去爱声音，特别是各种各样的音乐声音。雷.查尔斯自学弹奏管风琴、低音萨克斯管、黑管和小号，不过，他和钢琴之间还有一层特殊的关系。下面你听到的是< Worried Mind>(忧虑)的片段，这是一首西部乡村音乐的风格，还带有浓重的布鲁斯乐感。钢琴是他最爱的一种乐器，听他弹奏钢琴，你甚至可以感受到他在微笑。

雷.查尔斯十五岁的时候，他母亲去逝了，在这一年，他离开了学校去打工。他开始在佛罗里达州的一家黑人开的餐饮店里专门弹奏钢琴。一年后，他搬到美国的另一角华盛顿州的西雅图，在西雅图，他录制了四十张唱片，但没有一张取得成功。

当时，雷.查尔斯正努力模仿著名的演员纳塔.金.科尔那样弹奏钢琴和演唱歌曲，但他很快就了解到世界上只有一个纳塔.金.科尔，没有人愿意去听一个复制品，哪怕这个复制品很好也不行。所以，查尔斯开始寻求他自己的音乐声音。他开始尝试，他试着把布鲁斯音乐和爵士音乐结合在一起，他把爵士乐的风格加入到后来称为摇滚的音乐中。他的试验很快在黑人中流行，他在各个乡村的舞会上演奏，他还出售一些唱片，主要是卖给黑人。没有几个白人愿意听一个名叫雷.查尔斯的音乐盲人的歌曲。

到二十世纪五十年代，他有了他自己的乐队，这是一支在乡村最受欢迎的黑人乐队，有一群女歌手和这支乐队一起演出。

有一天晚上，查尔斯开始弹奏一支简单的歌曲，他让一位女歌手用一种相互呼应的方式演唱。这种相互呼应的方式就是让一个歌手问一个问题或者唱几个歌词，另一位歌手回答。这种演唱方式是美国黑人奴隶从非洲带来的，它在黑人宗教音乐中仍然非常流行。在一次晚舞会上雷.查尔斯把钢琴音乐、传统的相互呼应和摇滚乐结合在一起，其结果对美国音乐而言无异于一场革命。不久，雷录制了那首歌曲，这就是< What'd I Say>(我说什么？)。

< What'd I Say>的唱片卖出了数百万张。雷.查尔斯不再只是在专门针对黑人的小型舞会上演出，他在大剧院演出，为大量的、各种肤色的人演出。他发现了一种与他人不一样的声音，他的音乐风格是充满激情的，而且听众也与之分享这种激情。到二十世纪五十年代末，雷.查尔斯已经录制了许多成功的歌曲。他的绝大多数音乐是黑人节奏布鲁斯音乐或黑人音乐，然而，白人也在听他的音乐。查尔斯不想只演唱一种音乐，即使这种音乐非常受欢迎。他开始再次尝试，这次是爵士乐。有一张专辑< Black Coffee>(黑咖啡)被专家们认为是他最好的爵士唱片中的一个，这张专辑表明他的钢琴演奏能够表达许多不同的感觉。下面就是来自这张专辑的这首< Black Coffee>歌曲。

雷.查尔斯继续录制节奏布鲁斯音乐和爵士音乐唱片，但这并不能令他满足，他向来喜爱西部乡村音乐。所以，他决定录制一张乡村音乐专辑。音乐专家们说：他正在犯一个错误，他不能这么做，否则他将因此会失去许多音乐迷，音乐迷将不理解或不喜欢这种音乐。雷.查尔斯没有听这些的话，他抓住了一个机会，而且他是对的。公众喜欢他的乡村西部音乐。下周在我们向你介绍雷.查尔斯第二部分时，你能够听到他的一些乡村西部音乐。

简评：

好的音乐是没有类型限制，没有所谓的主流或是跨界之类的区分，只要是传达歌手灵魂深处的情感的歌声就是好的音乐，能做到这一境界的艺人并不多见，雷.查尔斯就是其中之一。

雷.查尔斯之所以能够达到这种境界，就是缘于他不断地创新，就在于他从来不满足。他虽然是一位盲人，但对于他而言，从来就没有什么界线，从来就没有什么禁止，从来就没有什么规矩，从来就没有什么樊篱，他没有听从所谓专家们的意见，他不在乎崇拜者的失去，他按自己的意愿，去寻找各种人世间最美妙的音乐。正如他所说，天才加上灵魂等于爵士。这就说明，美妙的音乐来自人的灵魂深处。

Ray Charles, 1930-2004: Singer, Songwriter and Musician Extraordinaire 

Today we begin a two-part report about singer, songwriter, and musician Ray Charles.  His work will continue to have a lasting influence on American music.

Ray Charles spent almost sixty years as a professional musician. Millions of people around the world enjoy his recordings. If Ray Charles only played the piano, he would have been considered one of the best. If he had only sung his music, his voice would have made him famous. If he had only played jazz music, the world would have listened. But Ray Charles did all these things and more.  He played and sang rock-and-roll and rhythm-and-blues songs. He sold millions of country and western records, too.  His work brought together different kinds of music and different kinds of music fans. His influence on much of America's popular music cannot be truly measured.

That was Ray Charles and "One Mint Julep." He recorded that song in nineteen sixty-one on an album called "Genius Plus Soul Equals Jazz." It is one of the many hundreds of records he recorded.

Ray Charles Robinson was born in nineteen thirty in Albany, Georgia. When he was six years old, he began to suffer from the eye disease glaucoma.  The disease made him blind. He left the world of sight forever and turned to the world of sound. He learned to love sounds, especially music of all kinds.  Ray Charles taught himself to play the organ, alto saxophone, clarinet and trumpet. Yet there was a special relationship between him and the piano.  Here is part of the song "Worried Mind." The style is country and western, with a heavy influence of blues. Listen to his work on the piano, an instrument he truly loved.  You can almost see him smiling.

Ray Charles was fifteen years old when his mother died.  Within a year, he had left school to work. He began playing piano professionally in African American eating and drinking places in the state of Florida. A year later, he moved to the opposite corner of America: Seattle, Washington. While in Seattle, he made forty records. But none was a success. 

At that time, Ray Charles was trying to play the piano and sing like the famous performer Nat King Cole. But he quickly learned there was only one Nat King Cole.  No one wanted to hear a copy, not even a good copy. So Charles started looking for his own musical sound. He began to experiment.  He tried mixing blues and jazz.  He used some jazz styles with the music that later was known as rock-and-roll. His experiments soon became popular with many black Americans.  He played at dances around the country. He also sold some records, mostly to black people. Few white Americans had heard of a blind musician named Ray Charles.

By the middle of the nineteen fifties, he had his own band. It was one of the most popular black dance bands in the country. A group of women sang with the band.  

One night, Charles began playing a simple song. He told the women to sing in a style known as call and response. In this style, the lead singer asks a question or sings some words. The other singers answer. This kind of singing was brought to America by black slaves from Africa. It has remained very popular in black church music.  At the dance that night, Ray Charles put together simple piano music, traditional call and response and rock-and-roll. The result was a revolution in American music.  Soon after, Ray recorded that song. It is called "What'd I Say?" 

"What'd I Say?" sold millions of copies. Ray Charles no longer just played at small dances for black people.  He performed in large theaters for big audiences of every color. He had found a sound like no other. His style of music was filled with excitement. And those who listened shared in that excitement. By the end of the nineteen fifties, Ray Charles had recorded many hit songs. Most of his music was black rhythm-and-blues or soul music. Yet white Americans were listening, too.  Charles did not want to play just one kind of music, even if it was extremely popular. He began experimenting again, this time with jazz. One album, "Black Coffee," is considered by experts to be one of his very best jazz recordings. It shows that his piano work can express many different feelings.  Here is the song "Black Coffee" from that album.  

Ray Charles continued to make rhythm-and-blues and jazz records. But that was still not enough for him. He had always loved country-and-western music. So he decided to record a country album.  Music industry experts said he was making a mistake. They told him not to do it. They said he would lose many fans. The fans, they said, would not understand or like this kind of music.  Ray Charles did not listen to the experts. He took a chance. And he was right. The public loved his country-and-western songs. You can hear some of these country-and-western songs next week, when we bring you the second part of our report about Ray Charles.

 http://www.wwenglish.com/m07/voa/spec/2008/06/wwenglish.com_pia080622.mp3