A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night by Ruby Liang 1976年11月 號外
鄧小宇按﹕曾經有過一個很恐怖的年代﹐當時「講英語」是最時髦、最高級的玩意﹐所以一般在較有名望的英文學府就讀的學生都以懂得講美式 / 英式英語為榮﹐有幾間女校甚至規定﹐如果一不小心講起粵語就要罰錢﹗那時候我們都互相以英文名字稱呼﹐看電影就一定要看西片﹐聽歌永遠是歐西流行曲﹐即使講廣東話也要儘量加插英文在句中﹐多可怕﹗
幸好那個恐怖年代終於過去了﹐跟著代之而起的是個可以稱為「中文時期」﹐那時﹐年輕的一代開始明白到我們本身是中國人﹐我們要有中國人的尊嚴﹐我們不應該忽視中文﹐於是一連串的「中文運動」就應運而生﹐自此之後﹐我們時常都要十分小心﹐要儘量忘記大家的英文名字﹐儘量避免從口中漏出英文句語。如果有朋友同學用英文寫信給我們﹐我們可以憤慨激昂地去責罵他﹐有時如果我們在些文化場合一時大意講起英文﹐四周的人就會投來鄙視的眼光﹐令我們感到無限羞愧﹐所以一時間﹐大家都變得又拘謹﹐又中國。
幸好那個 so self-consciously 中國的年代又過去了。現在中文已得到它應得的地位﹐許冠傑 (很久以前他曾叫做 Samuel Hui) 也改行唱粵語流行曲﹐所以我們也沒有甚麼理由去不屑第一個年代的遺毒。
Ruby 是第一個年代的遺毒﹐英文在她心中已 freudianly 根深蒂固﹐沒有法子改正。再說﹐她實在十分好人﹐寫的英文又如此刁鑽﹐如此 untranslatable﹐而且她介紹的唱片都是很值得傳開去的 (希望以後還有很多)﹐那麼就讓我們不要歧視她的文章﹐讓我們容忍它﹐不﹐享受它吧。
RCA APL 1— 0097
The album cover —front and back —ought to be an attraction in itself already. Nilsson (1941 - 1994) with the Sherlock Holmes look. And the 12 picture-rendition of the 12 tracks; so funny, intuitive and reminiscent, plus the indispensable captions beneath each picture (even the inner record envelope is something of a novelty - it's black and it talks).
Yes, this is more of a remember-those-Iovely-old-tunes album. Nilsson sang each of those 12 selections so beautifully lulling and the good old lyrics so cleverly put yet with a bit of humour notes flashed / splashed in here and there. Much of the success of this production, however, has to owe to the musical director, conductor and arranger, Mr. Gordon Jenkins. Besides having written one of those unforgettable songs ("This Is All I Ask"), his arrangement for the instrumental inter-links between numbers is simply indisputable. I mean, who could've made such good use of old-time tunes like "As Time Goes By", "Over the Rainbow", "For Me and My Gal", tunes written by Herman Hupfeld, Irvin Berlin, Gus Kahn - all those famous tunes — as harmonising intros and interludes? Only Mr. Gordon Jenkins. And who could've come in on just the right note and at the right tempo and tone? Only Harry Nilsson.
You can find all the credits of the musicians, engineers, the 39-man orchestra, the tape engineer, the producer (Derek Taylor), and album designer (Acy Lehman) in the sleevenotes and the fold-out. They've really given this project - "A Little Schmilsson in the Night"- the excellence unsurpassed. They couldn't have produced this "loveliness" piece of art, no, not together again for a second time. It's perfect. So get hold of the album and appreciate it well. Try it, just this once and only venture: "A Nilsson House Production"
LAZY MOON/FOR ME AND MY GAL/
IT HAD TO BE YOU/ALWAYS/ MAKIN' WHOOPEE﹗/
YOU MADE ME LOVE YOU (I DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT)﹗
LULLABY IN RAGTIME/I WONDER WHO'S KISSING HER
NOW/WHAT'LL I DO/NEVERTHELESS (I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU)/
THIS IS ALL I ASK/AS TIME GOES BY ……
Yes﹐ AS TIME GOES BY, you'd grow to love this production, if not falling in love with it at first listening.
