"To be a musician, it's like fulfilling a part of your life that's irreplaceable. It's something that I enjoy and I love to do and I get a satisfaction from it."
“成为一个音乐家，这就像完成你生命中不可替代的一部分。音乐是让我感到享受的东西，我爱音乐，从音乐中我能得到满足。”That is Renald Richard. Born in 1925 in Thibodaux, Louisiana, just west of New Orleans, Richard's memories of childhood are filled with music. His father played piano by ear. His uncles and cousins all played instruments and sang. So at the age of six, Richard started piano lessons at home.这句话出自雷纳德·理查德之口。理查德于1925年出生于新奥尔良以西的路易斯安那州帝博多市，他的童年的记忆里充满了音乐。他的父亲不看乐谱就能弹奏钢琴，他的叔叔们和表兄妹们都会唱歌、弹奏乐器。所以理查德在6岁的时候，开始在家学钢琴。"I played partially by ear and I learned pieces on the piano like the boogie woogie and that kind of stuff, so I guess music was in my system."“我有一部分曲子是不看乐谱弹奏的，我在也学过像布吉伍吉爵士乐之类的一些钢琴曲，所以我天生就与音乐相连。”Jam sessions were usual events at Richard's house when family stopped by. And that was more than fine with Richard.当理查德的家人来访时，即兴演奏会是他们的家常便饭。这对理查德来说再好不过了。"I just wanted to play music."“我就是想演奏音乐。”At the age of 13, Renald Richard went to see a band perform at a church dance. He noticed two young trumpet players in the band. He says they were dressed "clean and sharp." All the girls -- including his girlfriend -- fell for the trumpet players.在13岁的时候，雷纳德·理查德去一个教堂舞会看了一次乐队表演。他注意到了这个乐队的两个年轻的小号手。他说他们的穿着“干净利落”。所有的女孩子，包括自己的女朋友都爱上了这两个小号手。Richard knew he had to take action.理查德知道自己一定要采取行动。"I got to do something about this, so..." I asked my Dad if I could play the trumpet. And he said ‘why do you want to play the trumpet'? I said ‘I think I like the trumpet'. And he said ‘I'll get a trumpet for you but, you cannot stop the piano. You have to continue the piano'. And I got the trumpet. And I started lessons on the trumpet. I continued lessons on the piano and trumpet. And it went on like that for a while. And I got my girl back."“我一定得做些什么，所以...”我问我父亲可不可以演奏小号。然后他说“为什么你想演奏小号呢”？我说“我觉得我喜欢小号”。然后父亲说“我会给你买一个小号，但是你还得继续学习钢琴，你得继续弹奏钢琴。”“然后我得到了小号。我就开始了学习小号的课程。后来我继续学习着钢琴和小号。这样持续了一阵子，我的女朋友就又重回了我的怀抱。”Renald Richard played the trumpet in the high school band. After high school, the government sent him into military service. He played his trumpet during his time in the United States Navy Band. Later, he performed while touring in a USO variety show.雷纳德·理查德在高中乐队里吹小号。高中毕业后，政府送他去服兵役。他在美国海军乐队服役期间吹小号。后来，他在劳军联合组织的一个综艺节目中表演。Richard thought he had learned enough from his time in the band and the USO show.理查德认为他已经从乐队和劳军联合组织的演出中学到了足够的东西。"I got an experience from that (which) lasted me a lifetime and I almost made a bad mistake because when I came out of the Navy I figured I knew it all. That was my education."“我从中学到了一些经验，这些经验伴随了我一生。当时我几乎犯了一个严重的错误，因为当我从海军出来的时候，我觉得我知道了一切。这就是我所受的教育。”But, Richard ended up studying music at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. He played clubs on the city's famous Bourbon Street. He also toured with many bands including his family band, the Johnson Brothers, as well as Guitar Slim and Ivory Joe Hunter.但是，理查德最终在新奥尔良的路易斯安那大学学习音乐。他在该市著名的波旁街上的俱乐部中演奏。他还与许多乐队巡回演出，包括他的家庭乐队，约翰逊兄弟，以及吉他斯利姆和象牙乔亨特。While playing in Houston, Texas in 1954, Richard was approached by Jeff Brown, the manager of musician Ray Charles.1954年，理查德在德克萨斯州休斯顿演出时，音乐家雷·查尔斯的经纪人杰夫·布朗找到了他。"Ray Charles is forming a new band. He just got a hit record out and he would be interested in you playing trumpet in the band. Would you like to do that? Of course. Ray Charles. I said ‘yes'!"“雷·查尔斯正在组建一支新乐队。他刚出了一张热门唱片，他会对你在乐队里吹小号感兴趣的。你想这么做吗?当然。这可是雷·查尔斯。我说是的!”Renald Richard soon was playing his trumpet for Ray Charles' band.雷纳德·理查德很快就为雷·查尔斯乐队的小号手。"First of all, to be selected by Ray Charles was an honor to me. I was honored by that and a little nervous."“首先，能被雷·查尔斯选中是我的荣幸。我为此感到荣幸，也有点紧张。”In time, Richard became Charles' bandleader.后来，理查德成了查尔斯的乐队指挥。理查德说，雷·查尔斯对自己很苛刻，他对乐队成员也有同样的要求。Ray Charles was exacting, says Richard, and he demanded the same from band members.“他是个完美主义者，对音乐要求相当严格。”"He was a perfectionist and he was rather strict about his music."理查德说，经过多年的相处，他逐渐认识到雷·查尔斯的天赋。Richard says over their years together he came to realize the genius of Ray Charles.这就像和雷·查尔斯上大学一样。我学会了发声和分辨音符。"It was like going to college with Ray Charles. I learned voicing and resolving notes. He would start with the baritone sax and then he would dictate every note like he's not using anything from memory like his Braille. He say alright, let's take the saxophone, let's take the trumpet or whatever. Everything is in his mind. So it really was educational."他会从低音萨克斯管开始，然后他会口述每个音符，就像他没有使用任何记忆中的东西，这就像是他的布莱叶盲文。他说，好吧，我们拿萨克斯管，拿小号什么的。他什么都会考虑。所以这真的很有教育意义。toured all over the South and West with Ray Charles. Sitting in the back seat of the car on the way to a gig, Richard wrote the song "I Got a Woman" for Charles.雷纳德·理查德和雷·查尔斯一起在南部和西部巡回演出。在去演唱会的路上，理查德坐在车的后座上，为查尔斯写了一首歌《我有一个女人》。It became Ray Charles' first number one radio hit. The song put Ray Charles on the map.这首歌成为了雷·查尔斯的第一首热门电台歌曲。这首歌使雷·查尔斯出名了。In 1954, Renald Richard left Ray Charles band. He was upset by the drug problems among band members.1954年，雷纳德·理查德离开了雷·查尔斯乐队。乐队成员之间的毒品问题使他心烦意乱。"I knew that it would not be long before they would be what we call busted. And it did happen. And I wasn't quite ready for that."“我知道不久他们就会成为我们所说的失败的人。这确实发生了。我还没准备好。”Richard stayed friendly with Ray Charles over the years. He went back to his hometown and became the high school's band director until 1962. Four years later, he moved again, this time to New York City.理查德一直和雷·查尔斯保持着友好关系。他回到了家乡，一直到1962年他都是当地高中的乐队指挥。四年后，他又搬到了纽约。Over the years, Richard has written many other songs that have been recorded by artists including Joe Turner, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley to name a few.多年以来，理查德还创作了许多其他的歌曲，这些歌曲都是由艺术家们录制的，如乔·特纳、披头士乐队、滚石乐队和猫王等等。I was thrilled when music artist Kanye West used "I Got a Woman" as the basis for his hit song "Gold Digger", Richard says.理查德表示，当音乐艺术家坎耶·韦斯特以《我有一个女人》为基础创作他的热门歌曲《掘金者》时，我非常激动。The song was number one on the Billboard Charts for 16 consecutive weeks.这首歌连续16周蝉联公告牌排行榜榜首。"It was a big, big hit," says Richard.理查德说：“这是一首非常、非常成功的歌曲。”Renald Richard retired from teaching in 1991.雷纳德·理查德于1991年退休。Living now in Southern Florida, Richard is still active at the age of 92.理查德现在住在佛罗里达州南部，92岁高龄的他仍然很活跃。"I'm playing music mainly with the Marco Island Strummers and I'm playing with the Jazz Masters in Naples, so I do a lot of playing and I enjoy that ."“我主要和马尔科岛的弹奏者一起演奏音乐，也和那不勒斯的爵士大师一起演奏，所以我经常演奏，我很享受。”As you can see Renald Richard's musical days are by no means near an end.正如你看到的，雷纳德·理查德的音乐生涯还远未结束。
