第2-17章：你出名吗？ - Are You Famous?

hitchcock

Are You Famous?

      Throughout our career, we’ve always been ones to lie low; we let the music do the talking. I think it’s because both Russell and I are really quiet people. It comes naturally to both of us to just blend into the background. We used to see a lot celebs in the ‘80s, especially when we were at Le Dome on Sunset, but nobody ever said anything. It was usually a slight nod of salutation and respect, especially if it was Frank Sinatra or Sammy Davis Junior sitting next to you.

      I loved those days. We wore a suit every night for dinner with our then-manager, Don Arden, who everyone was convinced was a ruthless gangster. Don Always swore that the firearm he was carrying was never loaded, but boy, everyone paid him respect at all times as if it were. Don had a reputation that no one wanted to test. He had brass balls, and before us, steered the careers of E.L.O. and the Small Faces, who just happened to be two of my favorite bands. I must say that Don was one of the nicest people I have ever met. He used to laugh with us about how people were so frightened of him.

      But that is not the topic of this defining moment; it’s being in the vicinity of great people and realizing that they are just like you.

      It was 1996, and we had just performed on stage at the first-ever Channel[V] Viewer’s choice Awards held at the Cricket Stadium in Mumbai, India, where we won an award called “The Chosen One.”

      Backstage was like a harem tent with billowy, white silken clouds separating the dressing rooms. The names of the occupants deftly hung outside, serving as a quick reminder of the company that we were sharing; Jimmy Page and Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin, Roger Taylor from Queen, and Bryan Adams. Those were the artists in our section. It was overwhelming. The amazing thing was that they knew who we were. Before long, we were sitting down, drinking Indian tea and talking vegetable growing tips with Robert, exchanging boating tips with Roger and listening to how Bryan loves to ride his bicycle around London.

      The show was really good. We performed two songs with just my 12-string and our two voices---I always loved that. All the artists did a great job, and the next day we were all once again chatting about everything and anything as we sat in the first-class section of British always on the way home. In those days, first-class service was always exceptional. They even cooked your breakfast to order and served tea in a real teapot! (I’m dating myself now.)

      I opted to stay a night in London instead of going straight on to Los Angeles. I wanted to walk around the city for a few hours. It had been a while. I was cruising the West End looking for something in particular; an original 1964 Hofner Beatle bass, for obvious reasons. It was time I owned one, I thought. Plus no bass guitar on the planet has that low end; I don’t care what anyone says.

      I saw it hanging very splendidly on the wall of a high-end guitar shop. Without looking at the price, I knew it had to belong to me. I flashed back to Nottingham when I was 13 years old, looking in the window of Brentnalls music shop, dribbling at the Ludwig drum kits and the brand new glistening Hofmer bass. More than once, I thought I could smash the glass window, run off with it and disappear forever. Then I’d decide that it’s not a good idea. Now, I was about to get my own 1964 Hofner (thank you, God)! Even the Hofner case was original. I proudly carried the guitar back to my hotel knowing that everyone knew what was inside (no other case looked like this). The next day, I boarded my flight to Los Angeles, carefully placing the guitar in the overhead bin. I had the last row in first class, and a very tall gentleman sitting in the first row kept turning around rather nervously, I knew who it was, being the huge Monty Python fan that I was, but I wasn’t going to say anything. I wanted to respect his privacy.

      A few minutes after we took off, I received a note from the hostess who said, “The gentleman in the front row sent you this message.” On the small piece of paper in almost indecipherable English, it said, “What’s in the case?” That was my cue - I quickly went up to the Englishman who, like me, was extremely tall. We drank lots of tea and talked about the Beatles. The gentleman was John Cleese.

中文译文：
      贯穿于我们的整个职业生涯，其实多数时间我们都很低调；我们让音乐来替我们说话。我想大概是由于我和Russell都是属于话不多的人吧。我们两个就是那种很自然而然的会成为背景的人吧。80年代，我们曾经见过好多名人，特别是在日落大道的这家叫Le Dome的法式餐厅。大家都不会夸夸其谈。即便是遇到大咖如Frank Sinatra 亦或者是Sammy Davis Jr，我们也只是相互眼神交流点头示意以示尊敬。

      我超爱那些日子。我们每晚穿着西装与时任经理人Don Arden共进晚餐，有一种黑社会的既视感。尽管Don每每发誓他带的枪从来没上过膛，但是小伙子，我们还是像往常一样向他致敬。Don有他一言九鼎的声誉。他有着真材实料，在我们之前，他成功的推广了E.L.O和Small Face这两个乐队，碰巧也是我非常喜欢的两支乐队之一。我必须说Don是我遇见的最好的人之一。尽管别人怕他，但他却总是笑呵呵的。

      当然，这不是该文的主题，只是碰巧文中涉及到这些厉害的人，突然意识到他们也就像你一样。

      那是1996年，我们刚刚在孟买的露天体育场演出，并在第一届Channel [V]获得观众最爱选择奖。我们赢得的奖项叫做“天作之选”。

      后台漂亮的像后宫，白色的纱幔将更衣室一一隔开。更衣室主人的名牌被一一悬挂在帐外，倒是非常容易让我们快速分辨呢。Led Zeppelin的Jimmy Page和Robert Plant, Queen的Roger Taylor和Bryan Adams。 这些只是部分艺人，但足够大腕。令人惊异的是他们也认识我们。不久，我们坐下喝着印度茶，和Robert讨论种蔬菜的心得，和Roger交换划船的心得体会，听Bryan说他有多爱骑着脚踏车逛遍伦敦。

      这个节目真的太棒了。我仅用我的12弦吉他加上我们2个人的声音完成了2首歌的表演，我其实非常喜欢这样的形式。所有艺人的表演都非常棒。然后第二天我们大家伙儿坐在去英国航班的头等舱上继续在回家路上谈天说地。头等舱的服务总是那么与众不同。他们甚至会为你煮你喜欢的早餐，并提供真正用茶壶烧出来的茶！（我现在正在煮着茶呢）

      我决定在伦敦住一晚，而不是直飞洛杉矶。我想要花几小时逛逛这座城市。有一阵子，我一直在西区闲逛，寻找一些特别的东西。比如，初版Hofner披头士贝斯。我觉得是时候，我该拥有一只了。尽管，地球上再也找不到比它更低的贝斯了，但是我喜欢，我才不管别人怎么说呢。

      我看到它华丽的挂在高档的吉他店里。我不看价格，我知道它就该属于我。我记起13岁那年在诺丁汉，我透过Brentnalls的乐器商店橱窗，看到里面闪闪发光的Ludwig架子鼓和Hofner的贝斯。不止一次，我总想着要打破玻璃，带着它们永远消失。不过，我知道那可不是个好主意。现在，我终于能够如愿以偿的买下Hofner贝斯（感谢上帝）就连贝斯的盒子都是原版的。我非常自豪的提着我的琴回了酒店。我知道所有人都知道里头装的是什么（因为这是个与众不同的盒子）。第二天，我登机飞往洛杉矶，我小心翼翼的把琴盒放在头顶架子上，我坐在头等舱的最后一排，而有一个大个子绅士坐在第一排，他频频回头看我。我知道他是谁啦, 我可是Monty Python死忠粉。不过我还是尊重他的私人空间，不去跟他打招呼啦。

      起飞后没一会，我收到空姐给我递来的小纸条说：“第一排的男士给你的。”在这张小纸条上写着难以辨别的英语：“盒子里是什么？”我一看，那可是接近我偶像的机会。我马上起身走向那个和我一样高大的英国男人。我们喝了很多茶，谈了许多关于披头士的事儿。这个人就是John Cleese.


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