Forever George
George Harrison was never the world’s greatest guitarist,vocalist or songwriter.But he was as essential to the Fab Four formula as John Lennon’s rebellious smile or Paul McCartney’s great cow eyes.He was“the quiet one”,the serious musician who held the beat together while John and Paul were skylarking1) at the mike.Beatles fans who screamed for George were a curious but dedicated minority.
Harrison’s grievances2) began from the moment he joined the Quarrymen,the skiffle group that was to metamorphose3) into the Beatles,as15-year-old school friend of McCartney’s in1958.The story goes that they let him in only because,unlike the others,he knew how to tune guitars and he happened to know how to play a then popular instrumental number.
Harrison was lead guitarist,traditionally a starring or costarring role.But in his case it would be neither.From the very first the band was dominated by Lennon and McCartney,by their energy,their rival sex appeal and their increasingly prolific and brilliant songwriting.Harrison’s main role was painfully mastering the guitar riffs to the Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly numbers that padded out their early albums.Shy,self-conscious and undemonstrative,he found himself relegated to an inner“second division”with Starr.
Although Harrison,too,soon began writing songs they were always doomed to be eclipsed by Lennon and McCartney’s torrential output.
His greatest influence within the Beatles came during their“Indian”period of 1966~1968.Harrison took up the sitar,became a pupil of the instrument‘s greatest living maestro4),Ravi Shankar,and brought a twangy Indian feel to Beatles tracks such as Within You Without You and Norwegian Wood.As Martin later remembered,it gave him an authority in the studio that he’d never had before.
The band’s break-up,an unofficial fact by1969although not officially ratified until 1971,had little to do with Harrison,being predominantly a fight to the finish between Lennon and McCartney over money,leadership and their respective new wives,Yoko and Linda.
The band’ s break-up seemed to plunge Harrison into depression.Ironically,in the immediate post-break-up period Harrison’s solo career seemed to leap ahead of both Lennon’s and McCartney’s.His triple album,All Things Must Pass,released in late 1970,was a massive British and American hit.With it came an international number one single,the mantra-like My Sweet Lord.A year later he conceived the two charity Concerts for Bangladesh at New York’s Madison Square Garden,persuading superstar friends such as Clapton,Bob Dylan and Leon Russell to perform gratis5) for the famine-stricken6) mill ions of former East Pakistan.
One tribute7) once called him“a great humanitarian”;if that was putting it rather strong,the Concert for Bangladesh undoubtedly gave rock its first inkling of social conscience,paving the way for Live Aid and similar events in the 1980s.
In the early 1980s a wholly unexpected new career beckoned thanks to Harrison’s friendship with Michael Palin and other members of the Monty Python team.The Pythons were in the midst of making their hilariously8) sacrilegious9) Life of Brian film,but suddenly had the plug pulled on them by their backers.Harrison stepped in,mortgaging Friar Park to raise enough for the film to be completed.
It was the basis of a production company,HandMade,part-owned by Harrison,which led the British film renaissance of the 1980s with memorable productions such as Mona Lisa and The Long Good Friday.
With HandMade prospering,he also enjoyed a minor musical renaissance with a surprise hit single,Got My Mind Set on You.
Harrison’s death is a tragedy for his family and many friends.He was no giant.But he was the indispensable limb of a giant――the most powerful engine for creating human happiness that the entertainment world has ever seen.
□by Philip Norman
永 遠(yuǎn) 的 喬 治
喬治·哈里森絕非世界上最偉大的吉他手、歌手或是歌曲作者,但他在甲殼蟲樂(lè)隊(duì)絕佳的四人組合中卻是必不可少的,就像約翰·列儂富于反叛精神的微笑或是保羅·麥卡特尼的一雙大眼睛一樣。他是一個(gè)“沉默寡言”的人,一個(gè)表情嚴(yán)肅的樂(lè)師,當(dāng)約翰和保羅面對(duì)麥克風(fēng)激情演唱的時(shí)候,他用和諧的樂(lè)曲予以伴奏。為喬治喝彩的甲殼蟲歌迷雖然不多,卻是好奇而忠實(shí)的一族。
1958年,15歲的哈里森作為麥卡特尼的同學(xué),加入了后來(lái)成為甲殼蟲樂(lè)隊(duì)的噪音爵士樂(lè)組合“采石工”。從這時(shí)起,他對(duì)樂(lè)隊(duì)就有所不滿。據(jù)說(shuō)他們吸收他加入只是因?yàn)?,不同于他人,他?huì)給吉他調(diào)弦,而且他恰巧還會(huì)演奏一種后來(lái)十分流行的器樂(lè)。哈里森是首席吉他手,按慣例在樂(lè)隊(duì)中應(yīng)處于核心或是同屬核心的位置。但他的情況并非如此。列儂和麥卡特尼以充沛的精力、無(wú)以匹敵的吸引力及其富于創(chuàng)造力且才華橫溢的詞曲創(chuàng)作,在樂(lè)隊(duì)中一開始就占據(jù)了顯著的位置。哈里森的主要職責(zé)是努力掌握如何用吉他演奏爵士樂(lè)中的連復(fù)段,來(lái)拉長(zhǎng)他們?cè)缙诔兄T如《擲草莓》和《老友冬青》之類的歌曲。靦腆羞澀,拘謹(jǐn)矜持,哈里森發(fā)現(xiàn)自己實(shí)際上和斯塔爾一起被置于“乙級(jí)隊(duì)”的行列。
盡管哈里森很快也開始創(chuàng)作歌曲,但是這些作品在列儂和麥卡特尼如激流般奔涌的創(chuàng)作面前,總是注定要黯然失色。
在1966到1968年這段被稱為“印度時(shí)期”的時(shí)間里,哈里森對(duì)甲殼蟲樂(lè)隊(duì)的影響最大。哈里森對(duì)錫塔爾琴發(fā)生了濃厚的興趣,他拜依然健在的錫塔爾琴演奏大師拉維·申卡爾為師,把有撥弦聲的印度樂(lè)感帶入了甲殼蟲樂(lè)隊(duì)的作品,如《與你相依卻無(wú)你相伴》和《挪威的樹林》等。后來(lái)馬丁回憶,這件事使哈里森在錄音棚里擁有了他以前從未有過(guò)的權(quán)威。
樂(lè)隊(duì)的解散在1971年才得到官方的批準(zhǔn),但在1969年已是名存實(shí)亡。這與哈里森沒(méi)有任何關(guān)系,主要是列儂和麥卡特尼之間由于金錢、對(duì)樂(lè)隊(duì)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)權(quán)以及他們各自的新任妻子大野洋子和琳達(dá)等問(wèn)題的爭(zhēng)執(zhí)不休的結(jié)果。
樂(lè)隊(duì)的分崩離析使哈里森極度消沉。具有諷刺意味的是,樂(lè)隊(duì)解散后的一段時(shí)間內(nèi),哈里森的獨(dú)唱生涯似乎超過(guò)了列儂和麥卡特尼。他在1970年末期發(fā)行的3張名為《一切必成過(guò)去》的唱片在英國(guó)和美國(guó)引起了巨大的轟動(dòng)。與此同時(shí),他具有曼特羅風(fēng)格的歌曲《我甜蜜的夫君》成了世界排名第一的熱門歌曲。一年后他在紐約麥迪遜廣場(chǎng)花園為孟加拉國(guó)舉行了兩場(chǎng)慈善音樂(lè)會(huì)。他說(shuō)服好友克拉普頓、鮑勃·迪倫及利昂·拉塞爾等超級(jí)巨星為數(shù)百萬(wàn)飽受饑荒之苦的前東巴基斯坦人民舉行義演。
有人贊譽(yù)他是“偉大的人道主義者”。如果這樣說(shuō)有點(diǎn)言過(guò)其實(shí)的話,那么為孟加拉國(guó)舉行義演無(wú)疑使搖滾樂(lè)首次與社會(huì)良知有了些許聯(lián)系,也為他們?cè)冢玻笆兰o(jì)80年代舉行“實(shí)際援助”等一系列類似的活動(dòng)作了準(zhǔn)備。
80年代初,一項(xiàng)完全出乎意料的嶄新的事業(yè)開始吸引哈里森,這起因于他和邁克爾·巴林及其他巨蟒組合成員的友誼。巨蟒組合正在制作《布萊恩的一生》,一部滑稽的有褻瀆神圣之嫌的電影,他們的贊助人突然取消了贊助費(fèi)。哈里森介入了電影的制作,他抵押了弗拉爾莊園,籌集到了足夠的資金把電影拍完。
這就是制片公司“手工制作”的開始階段,哈里森擁有部分股權(quán)。這家公司制作了許多讓人記憶猶新的電影,如《蒙娜·麗莎》、《漫長(zhǎng)美好的星期五》等。這些電影在20世紀(jì)80年代英國(guó)電影的復(fù)興中起到了引領(lǐng)潮流的作用。
隨著“手工制作”的興旺發(fā)展,哈里森在音樂(lè)方面又小有成就,一首《讓我的心屬于你》讓人吃驚地火了起來(lái)。
哈里森的去世無(wú)論對(duì)他的家庭,還是對(duì)他許許多多的朋友來(lái)說(shuō),都是巨大的不幸。他不是巨人,但他卻是巨人不可或缺的一只臂膀,而這個(gè)巨人就是娛樂(lè)界所曾見(jiàn)識(shí)過(guò)的創(chuàng)造人類歡樂(lè)的最為強(qiáng)大有力的發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)。
NOTE 注釋:
skylarking [5skaIlB:kiN] n. 嬉戲, 歡笑
grievance [5^ri:vEns] n. 委屈, 不平
metamorphose [7metE5mC:fEuz] v. 使變成
maestro [mB:5estrEu] n. 藝術(shù)大師, 名作曲家
gratis [5^reitis] adv. 免費(fèi), 白送
famine-stricken [5fAmin 5strikEn] adj. 遭受饑荒的
tribute [5tribju:t] n. 頌詞,贊譽(yù)
hilariously [hi5lZEriEsli] adv. 滑稽地
sacrilegious [sAkri5lidVEs] adj. 冒瀆的, 該受天譴的