《外教社人物传记丛书》系列是上海外语教育出版社从美国乐勒出版集团引进的一套奉献给广大青少年朋友的优秀传记丛书，适合高中生和大学一二年级学生阅读，其语言原汁原味，采用英汉对照的形式，注释详尽，便于阅读和学习。

全套丛书共分13册，人物包括美国开国元勋本杰明·富兰克林，著名黑人民权运动领袖马丁·路德·金，文豪莎士比亚，意大利文艺复兴巨匠达·芬奇，极具个人魅力的体育明星泰格·伍兹、穆罕默德·阿里、魔术师约翰逊，影视音乐界的巨星卓别林、史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格、玛丽莲·梦露、甲壳虫乐队，商界奇才比尔·盖茨，以及深受世人爱戴的戴安娜王妃等。阅读这些著名人物的传奇人生，可以帮助青少年朋友们了解西方不同时代的社会历史背景，更能够激励他们树立远大理想，以积极的态度直面人生的风雨。

本册为《外教社人物传记丛书》之《甲壳虫乐队》。

2000年，甲壳虫乐队的唱片销量高达1400万张，荣登当年唱片销量榜首。对于一支已解散30年之久的乐队而言，这的确有点不可思议。从30多年前乐队成员们首次在埃德苏利文电视秀上露面开始，“甲壳虫狂热”席卷了整个世界，改变了摇滚乐的面貌。甲壳虫乐队的发展反映了其所处时代的特征，他们的影响超出了乐坛，深入到社会生活的方方面面。

本书讲述了其成员约翰、保罗、乔治和林戈如何组建甲壳虫乐队，如何在一起生活共事，后来乐队为何解散，以及他们单飞后各自的事业和约翰遇刺身亡等事件，为读者揭示了甲壳虫乐队这么多年来拥有经久不衰魅力的奥秘。

Prologue: First Encounters

1."A Taste of Honey"

2."Please Please Me"

3.Beatlemania

4.A Hard Day's Night

5.Magical Mystery Tour

6.Crash

7.The End of the Road.,

8.Afterlife

序：初次相遇

一．“初尝蜜的甜味”

二．“请愉悦我”

三．甲壳虫狂热

四．辛劳之夜

五．奇幻的神秘之旅

六．破裂

七．路之尽头

八．单飞后的岁月

那个炎炎夏日，当约翰·列依和保罗·麦卡特尼初次相遇时，除了他们的吉他之外，似乎没有多少共同之处。约翰生于1940年10月9日，比生于1942年6月18日的保罗大两岁。此外，约翰出生于一个中产阶级家庭，而保罗则出生于劳工阶层家庭。在当时的英国，出身的差异会导致极大的不同。不同阶层的人之间甚至不相往来。

当然，除此之外，他们之间还有很多别的差异。在学校，保罗是用心学习的好学生，而约翰则是个经常惹祸的捣蛋鬼，经常捣乱课堂，到处乱扔橡皮。按照现在的观点来看，约翰的这些行为不算很恶劣，然而在当时，这却是非常严重的，所以在当时人们的眼中，约翰是个十足的捣乱分子。

另一方面，约翰和保罗身上却有着关键性的共同点：他们都经历了家庭的困难和动荡。在他们相遇前几个月，保罗的母亲不幸去世；而约翰的父亲则在约翰刚出生不久就抛弃了他们母子俩。虽然母亲就住在附近，但约翰是由阿姨米迷和姨父乔治·史密斯抚养长大的。约翰与乔治叔叔非常的亲密，但不幸的是，在约翰13岁那年，乔治便过世了。

约翰和保罗都在今不如昔的家庭中长大，且都出生于利物浦——一座见证过繁华的城市。利物浦位于英格兰西北部默西河的人海口，拥有一个重要的海港和许多的工厂。二次世界大战期间，在德国军队的狂轰滥炸中，这座城市几乎毁于一旦。虽然战后利物浦得到重建，但是随着英国和世界经济的变化，这座城市的地位已经是今非昔比了。到了50年代，利物浦的许多工业挣扎于生死边缘，或者不得不搬迁至其他城市，导致大量的劳工面临失业威胁，为生计而发愁。

然而，利物浦作为重要港口的地位并没有受到特别大的影响，大量船只仍然往返于利物浦和美国之问。美国人也经常光顾这个城市，在带来美国货和美国音乐的同时，也带来了美国的思潮。由于利物浦是座工业和港口城市，因此在人们眼中是个强悍之地，更接近于美国的匹兹堡和底特律。于是，对列侬和麦卡特尼而言，美国的影响以及强悍的形象对他们音乐技能的培养起到至关重要的作用。

利物浦离伦敦相对较远，这也或多或少对列依和麦卡特尼的前途产生了影响。当时，英国主要的唱片公司全都在伦敦，因而许多人对于外地的乐团或音乐创作组织往往带有偏见，尤其是像他们这种从利物浦这种劳工镇上出来的蓝领阶层音乐创作人。这对这群年轻的音乐人而言，意味着更多的挑战。

事实上，约翰·列侬和保罗·麦卡特尼最大的共同点在于他们的创作天赋，以及非凡的智慧。他们如遇知音，相互激励，以求进一步提高音乐技能。就在1957年，在那家热烘烘的教堂里，诞生了音乐史上最有意义的一刻，之后又引发了一场令人恐怖的狂潮。“就是那一天，”列侬之后回忆道，“我遇到了保罗，于是这一切就这么开始了。”几天以后，约翰让一位朋友征求保罗意见，问他是否愿意加入“采石者”乐队。

史基佛音乐

“采石者”乐队的名称是由“采石河畔中学”而来的，该乐队最初的乐手全部毕业于这所中学。“采石者”乐队演奏史基佛音乐，这种音乐集美国的蓝调青草乐、乡村音乐、节奏布鲁斯音乐和早期的摇滚音乐于一身。史基佛音乐具有典型的英国音乐风格，融入了一种由班卓琴和洗衣板式敲击板奏出的原始声音元素。在洗衣机发明之前，每家每户都使用洗衣板清洗衣物。拿一件硬的物品刮过洗衣板表面就会产生拖顿的打击乐音。

最初，“采石者”乐队的小乐手们都不善于演奏。当保罗初次遇到约翰时，约翰甚至都不知如何给吉他调音。但是他们很好学，而且也乐于花时间聆听、练习摇滚乐。当然，学习本身也是一种探险。有一次，麦卡特尼和列依乘公共汽车长途跋涉穿过市区，去向一位吉他手求教如何弹奏B7，也就是摇滚乐中通用的吉他和弦。还有一次，他们为了得到一张难觅的美国唱片而对某人穷追不舍。

然而，他们周围的大部分人，包括他们的亲朋好友，都不认为音乐可以当成一项事业来经营。早在20年代，保罗的父亲曾经组创过自己的乐队，并担任钢琴手和小号手。但最终，父亲还是放弃了音乐转而从事棉花贸易这一稳定的职业，并在战后成为一名棉花销售人员。约翰的阿姨米迷·史密斯，也就是约翰的监护人，对约翰很疼爱也很严厉。虽然她本人对音乐并没有多大的热情，但还是给小约翰买了他的第一把吉他。她时常告诫约翰：“吉他不是坏东西，但不能靠它吃饭。”

EXCEPT FOR THEIR GUITARS, JOHN LENNON AND PAUL McCartney didn't seem to have much in common when theymet that hot summer day in Liverpool. For one thing, John was al-most two years older than Paul. He was born on October 9, 1940.Paul was born on June 18, 1942. John's family was middle class.Paul's was working class. In England at the time, these differencescould mean a lot. Some people would not associate with members ofa different class.

There were other differences as well. In school, Paul was a moreattentive student. John would cut class and toss erasers, getting introuble. By modem standards, these antics don't seem very bad. At thetime, however, they were serious enough to label John a troublemaker.

On the other hand, the boys had some important things incommon. Both had gone through difficult family trials. Paul's motherdied a few months before the pair met. John's father abandoned Johnand his mother soon after John was born. Though his mother livednearby, John was raised by his mother's sister and her husband, Mimiand George Smith. George, who was very close to John, died whenJohn was thirteen.

Both boys grew up in families and a city that had seen betterdays. Located at the mouth of the Mersey River in northwesternEngland, Liverpool had many factories as well as an importantseaport. The Germans had bombed much of the city during World War II. It was rebuilt after the war, but changes in the British and world economy made Liverpool less important than it had once been. By the 1950s, many of its industries were struggling or had moved away. The city's many working-class people often had a hard time finding jobs and paying for necessities .

Still, Liverpool was an important port for ships traveling to and from the United States. Americans often came to the city, bringing with them American goods, American music, and American ideas. Because it was an industrial city as well as a seaport, Liverpool had a reputation as a tough place, much as American cities such as Pittsburgh and Detroitdo. Both the American influence and the tough-guy image would beimportant to Lennon and McCartney as they honed their musical skills.

The fact that Liverpool was relatively far from London also playeda role in Lennon and McCartney's future. At the time, the importantEnglish recording companies were located in London. Many people therelooked down on musical groups from outside the city, especially thosefrom working-class towns like Liverpool. This attitude presented onemore barrier for the young musicians to overcome.

The most important things John Lennon and Patti McCattney had in com-mon were their creativity and intelligence. Once they met, they egged eachother on to improve their musical skills and learn more. Something sparked inthat hot church hall in 1957. It quickly grew into a raging inferno "That wasthe day," Lennon later said, "the day I met Paul, that it started moving."

A few days later, Lennon had a friend ask McCartney if he'd care tojoin the Quarry Men.

SKIFFLE

The Quarry Men were named after Quarry Bank School, the school the original members attended. The band played skiffle i41, a cross between American bluegrass, country, rhythm and blues , and early rock roll music. An English style, skiffie had a primitive sound that featured ban-jos and a washboard. Washboards were used to clean clothesin the days before families had home washing machines. Rub-bing a hard object across the surface of a washboard produced ashuffling kind of percussion sound.

The teenage Quarry Men weren't very good at first. JohnLennon didn't even know how to tune his guitar when Paul methim. But they were willing to learn, and they put in long hourspracticing and listening to rock 'n' roll music. Learning was anadventure. One day, McCartney and Lennon journeyed by busacross the city to meet a guitarist who could show them how toplay B7, a common guitar chord in rock music. Another day, theyhunted down someone with a hard-to-find American record.

Most people, including their relatives, didn't think much ofmusic as a career. Paul's father had played piano and trumpetwith his own band during the 1920s. But he gave up music for asteady job in the cotton trade, where he worked as a salesmanafter the war. John's aunt, Mimi Smith, was a strict though lov-ing guardian. She bought him his first guitar, but she wasn't en-thusiastic about music. "A guitar's all right," she used to tellhim. "But you'll never earn your living by it." P12-17

曾经有人做了一项调查，拥有最多读者的书籍是传记。阅读一本优秀的人物传记，往往可以使人振作精神，奋发图强，尤其对于青少年，阅读传记更可以使他们建立起正确的人生坐标，从而开拓美好的未来。

上海外语教育出版社从美国乐勒出版集团引进的“外教社人物传记丛书”就是这样一套奉献给广大青少年朋友的优秀传记丛书。全套书共13册，人物包括美国开国元勋本杰明·富兰克林，著名黑人民权运动领袖马丁·路德·金，文豪莎士比亚，意大利文艺复兴巨匠达·芬奇，极具个人魅力的体育明星泰格·伍兹、穆罕默德·阿里、魔术师约翰逊，影视音乐界的巨星卓别林、史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格、玛丽莲·梦露、甲壳虫乐队，商界奇才比尔·盖茨，以及深受世人爱戴的戴安娜王妃等。阅读这些著名人物的传奇人生，可以帮助青少年朋友们了解西方不同时代的社会历史背景，更能够激励他们树立远大理想，以积极的态度直面人生的风雨。

这套传记丛书均由专门从事青少年文学创作的美国资深作家撰写，语言生动活泼，故事性强，引人入胜。外教社特邀一批在翻译方面颇有建树的年轻学者对丛书进行翻译和注释，希望英汉对照加注释这—形式能更好地帮助读者学习英语，享受阅读。

这套丛书特别适合高中生和大学一二年级的学生阅读。我们相信它必将成为青少年朋友们学习英语、探求人生真谛的好伙伴!