Tim Hardin

小简介
发生于60年代的民谣浪潮,更像是千万民众参与的盛大集会,为了重现昔日的人生价值观,为了表达自己的政治信仰,他们拨动琴弦,用发自肺腑的歌声,感染着所有愿意正视这能触及心灵的歌声的听众.这期间涌现出多少令人满怀敬意的名字,他们的精神力量与人格感染力赋予民谣音乐无与伦比的人性光芒.
本文的主角便是这股旧日风潮中的一员.但他与Bob Dvlan和Joan Baez这些旗手相比更像是茫茫大海中的一叶孤舟,彼岸遥遥不可及,自黯然沉没.1980年12月29日,这位名叫Tim Hardin 的民谣歌手在洛杉矶好莱坞的家中死去,终年39岁.他的死没有引起任何的波澜,就像羽毛轻飘于地,没有悼念,没有哭泣,更没有烛光守灵.
但这位才华横溢的民谣歌手却不应该被人们从此遗忘.像所有英年早逝的音乐天才一样,他留下的音乐财富在今日仍然闪耀着夺目的光芒,低调忧伤的嗓音更是永远存留在歌迷的心中.1941年Tim出生在美国俄勒冈州的Eugene市,父母都有着音乐背景,母亲更是一名专业的古典音乐乐手.自小他对音乐便显现出过人的热情,同时又能养成了叛逆不驯的性格.18岁那年,认为家是监狱学校是牢房的他却选择了比家和学校更像牢房的军队---他参了军.1961年退伍后, 正好赶上格林威治镇和波士顿地区的民谣风潮,于是经过几年的摸爬滚打后,1966年他在Verve公司麾下发表自己的第一张大碟《Tim Hardin 1》(其实在此之前Tim还为Columbia公司做了一张demo,即是拖到1967年才发行的带有浓烈Blue味道的《This is Tim Hardin》).尽管还是处女作,他惊世的作曲才华却已经展露无遗.这张混合了Jazz,Blue和Rock等多种无素的民谣作品周身散发着低调惆怅,把闷在心头的种种哀愁升华到一种诗意美,甚至是自我陶醉的境界.专辑中的"Reason To believe","Mistv Roses"和"It's Never Happen Again"等曲让听者无法不为之动容,特别是专辑最后一曲"How Can We Hang On To A Dream",将Tim敏感脆弱的内心世界作了最完美,也最唯美的诠释:"我依然爱她,但我无力挽回,这一切都只是梦......"
总有人说,"性格决定命运",不管这句话正确与否,在Tim身上,它确确认认应验了.悲观暧昧的性格不光不能使他成为大众偶像,更使他始终无法认清自己. 在服完兵役初入民谣界时,他的兴趣始终是作为一句白人Blues歌手,并说过"我比Ray Charles更出色"这样的大话,可是Blues并不是他的长处.即便在发表《Tim Hardin 1》这张真正属于他自己的声音的伟大唱片后,他还对唱片中的弦乐耿耿于怀.其实平心而论,弦乐在他作品中的表现力对《Tim Hardin 1》只会是有利无弊.
即便如此,紧接着,Tim的作曲天才在1967年的《Tim Hardin2》得到了最充实的是释放.摆脱了对Blues的纠结(尽管我们并不知道这是否出于他的本意),呈给听者的是十首纯粹的民谣.唯一不变的是那份能够侵蚀人心的伤感与孤独.Tim 总是不自觉地把自己放置于被动消极的地位,从碟中便能体味到Tim 柔弱甚至自卑的内心世界.正如他最著名的歌曲"If I Were A Carpenter"歌词中的种种假设和追问,他总是对自己缺乏自信,而另一方面又对名利地位过于向往,两种极端的相互倾轧使Tim的歌声中都流露出他内心的不堪重负;"Black Sheep Boy"刚更像是他悲剧人生的一个缩影;"黑绵羊(害群之马)也能披上金色的羊毛,抓住成功的手".一个将自已定义成害群之马的悲观者能够抓住成功的手吗?
更为可悲的是,命运总是毫不留情地打击着这个脆弱的人.对他最大的打击来自于录制《Tim Hardin 2》的前夕.当他在车中听到电台播放Bobby Dain演唱的"If I Were A Carpenter"---在他不知道的的情况下Bobby Darin先于他发表了他最钟爱的作品.他停下车,走出来发狂地对地面发泄怨气.对他的打击并未结束,因为随后"If I Were A Carpenter"的Bobby Darin版得到了巨大的成功,爬上了Billboard榜第八名.这件事给Tim造成了常年的心理阴影,他此后甚至一度对自己钟爱的舞台都产生了怯场情绪.
尽管出现了种种不顺,《Tim Hardin2》仍然成为他音乐生涯的巅峰之作.随后他转投Columbia,并发表了他第三张创作专辑,也是他最富传奇色彩的作品 《Suite for Susan Moore and Damion;We Are One ,One,All in One》.全部心血,他把所有的录音器材放在他住房的各个角落,只要出现灵感,无论白天晚上,他都会在第一时间将之录下,随后一两天内,再在酒精和毒品制造的幻觉中将其录制成型.这样特殊的录制方式却得到了意想不到的效果,《Suite for Susan Moore...》成了Tim商业上最成功的专辑,爬到了Billboard榜第129名.但这部充满爱情深情的Damon而与他分居生活.这无疑又给Tim一个沉重的打击.很快,Tim的音乐事业出现了颓势,1971年《Bird On A Wire》后发表的专辑多半都是翻唱曲目,出版《Homecoming Concert》后,Tim终止了自己的音乐生涯.尽管毒品酒精给他的精神和肉体上都造成了严重的创伤,终而未及不惑之年便孤独死去,遗下世上无限感伤.
讽刺的是,歌曲被长久流传下来的同时,歌曲的作者却迅速地被人遗忘,与歌曲一起扬名的自然是众多的翻唱者们.如果用google搜索一下Tim这些作品的歌词,你就会发现Marianne Faithfull版的"How Can we Hang On To A Dream"，Bobby Darin,Johnny Cash版的"If I Were A Carpenter",Paul Weller版的"Black Sheep Boy",Peter,Paul&Mary,Rod Stewart和Bruce SpringSteen版的"Reason To Believe".但无论如何,Tim的这些心血之作能得到大众的认可和喜爱,它们的存在便是Tim音乐才华的最完美体现.就连Bob Dylan都承认,"Tim Hardin是六七十年代最出色的民谣音乐家之一".
斯人已逝,空余歌声萦耳久久不绝.愿这位永远紧锁双眉的忧愁灵魂能在天堂得到安息与幸福.
A gentle, soulful singer who owed as much to blues and jazz as folk, Tim Hardin produced an impressive body of work in the late 60s without ever approaching either mass success or the artistic heights of the best singer/songwriters. When future Lovin Spoonful producer Erik Jacobsen arranged for Hardins first recordings in the mid-60s, Hardin was no more than an above-average white blues singer, in the mold of many fellow folkys working the East Coast circuit. By the time of his 1966 debut, however, he was writing confessional folk-rock songs of considerable grace and emotion. The first albums impact was slightly diluted by incompatible string overdubs (against Hardins wishes), but by the time of his second and best LP, hed achieved a satisfactory balance between acoustic guitar-based arrangements and subtle string accompaniment. It was the lot of Hardins work to achieve greater recognition through covers from other singers, such as Rod Stewart (who did Reason to Believe), Nico (who covered Eulogy to Lenny Bruce on her first album), Scott Walker (who sang Lady Came From Baltimore), Fred Neil (Green Rocky Road has been credited to both him and Hardin), and especially Bobby Darin, who took If I Were a Carpenter into the Top Ten in 1966. Beleaguered by a heroin habit since early in his career, Hardins drug problems became grave in the late 60s; his commercial prospects grew dimmer, and his albums more erratic, although he did manage to appear at Woodstock. His end was not a pretty one: due to accumulated drug and health problems, as well as a scarcity of new material, he didnt complete any albums after 1973, dying of a drug overdose in 1980.