A LONG VACATION
转自Come Along Radio
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ALBUM REVIEW: A Long Vacation by Eiichi Ohtaki
March 11, 2020
A Long Vacation is an album by the late singer-songwriter, producer, and pioneer, Eiichi Ohtaki (大滝 詠一). Not only is it an important milestone in the evolution of City Pop, but it's also considered to be one of the greatest Japanese rock albums of all time.
《悠长假期》是已故创作歌手、制作人、先驱大泷咏一的专辑。它不仅是 City Pop 发展史上的一个重要里程碑，而且还被认为是有史以来最伟大的日本摇滚专辑之一。
THE HISTORY
A Long Vacation marks an important milestone in Ohtaki's career, it was this record where he perfected his signature "Wall of Sound" production formula inspired by American producer Phil Spector. The album was produced to sound like a live concert, to compliment the 60's Baroque pop-style arrangements.
A Long Vacation 标志着大泷咏一职业生涯中的一个重要里程碑，正是在这张唱片中，他完善了受美国制作人 Phil Spector 启发的标志性“Wall of Sound”制作公式。这张专辑的制作听起来像一场现场音乐会，以赞美 60 年代巴洛克流行风格的安排。
Because of the more orchestral feel, the album has a huge, noteworthy cast of musicians. First and foremost, all of Ohtaki's former Happy End band-mates have reunited for the first time on a record since their breakup in 1973; Takashi Matsumoto wrote the lyrics for every song except one, Shigeru Suzuki on guitar, and Haruomi Hosono played bass guitar. Other collaborators include Makoto Matsushita (松下誠) & ex-Sugar Babe Kunio Muramatsu (村松 邦男) on guitar, Akira Inoue (井上 鑑) on keyboards, Tin Pan Alley members Masataka Matsutoya (松任谷 正隆) & Tatsuo Hayashi ( 林 立夫), and Jake H Concepcion on flute as opposed to his trademark saxophone. Many other artists are featured as backup singers, such as Singer-songwriter Hiroaki Igarashi (五十嵐浩晃), vocal group The Channels, and female idols Hiromi Ōta (太田 裕美), Raije (ラジ), and The Singers Three.
由于更具管弦乐的感觉，这张专辑拥有庞大的、值得注意的音乐家阵容。首先，大泷所有前Happy End乐队成员自1973年分手后首次重聚。松本隆为每首歌写了歌词，除了一首歌，铃木茂：吉他手，细野晴臣 ：贝斯手。其他合作者包括吉他手松下诚和村松邦男，键盘手井上鉴，Tin Pan Alley 成员松任谷正隆和林立夫，Jake H Concepcion 吹奏长笛而不是他标志性的萨克斯管。歌手五十岚浩晃、声乐组合The Channels、女偶像太田裕美、Raije、等其他艺人也被选为后备歌手。
A Long Vacation was released on March 21, 1981. Initially, sales were sluggish, but as sales gradually increased, it reached 2nd place in the Oricon charts in the summer, only just behind Reflections by singer-actor Akira Terao (寺尾聡). It sold over a million copies and was named "Best Album" at the 23rd Japan Record Awards. A Long Vacation's success is nothing short of a miracle, considering that Ohtaki, and by extension Niagara Records, had been struggling in sales for the past 5 years. About a year and a half later on October 1, 1982, it was selected among the world's first 20 CD titles, making it the 1st Japanese album released ever on CD format.
1981 年 3 月 21 日释出的《A Long Vacation》，一开始销量低迷，但随着销量的逐渐攀升，在夏季的 Oricon 排行榜上排名第二，仅次于歌手兼演员寺尾聡的《Reflections》。它的销量超过一百万张，并在第 23 届日本唱片大奖中被评为“最佳专辑”。考虑到大泷咏一以及 Niagara Records 在过去 5 年中一直在苦苦挣扎的销售，A Long Vacation 的成功简直就是一个奇迹。大约一年半后的 1982 年 10 月 1 日，它被选为世界上首批 20 张 CD 专辑，成为有史以来以 CD 格式发行的第一张日本专辑。
The famous album cover was drawn by illustrator Hiroshi Nagai, who apparently claims that the musician was inspired by his pieces when composing the songs that became the album. After the album's release, Nagai's popularity skyrocketed as he was flooded with requests for similar work. The artist provided the cover for future albums by Ohtaki as well.
著名的专辑封面是由插画家永井博绘制的，他显然声称这位音乐家在创作成为专辑的歌曲时受到了他的作品的启发。专辑发行后永井博的人气飙升，因为他收到了类似作品的请求。这位艺术家还为 大泷咏一未来的专辑提供了封面。
THE MUSIC
1. You are Natural Color (君は天然色): The song sets the mood for the whole album as you hear an orchestra running their instruments just before the conductor ready the band. What's followed is a Summery beach arrangement that's equal parts British and California Sunshine pop that encapsulates what Ohtaki called "Japan's version of the Wall of Sound".
这首歌为整张专辑奠定了基调，因为在指挥准备乐队之前，您会听到管弦乐队正在演奏他们的乐器。紧随其后的是夏日海滩安排，相当于英国和加利福尼亚阳光流行音乐的一部分，其中包含了大泷所说的“日本版的声音之墙”。
2. Velvet Motel: A baroque style duet with Raije(?) about a couple's romantic stay at a Motel. What's unique about this song is that occasionally Ohtaki & Raije will playfully finish each other's lines in certain verses.
与 Raije(?) 的巴洛克风格二重唱，讲述一对情侣在汽车旅馆的浪漫住宿。这首歌的独特之处在于，大泷和Raije偶尔会在某些诗句中开玩笑地完成彼此的台词。
3. In the Canary Islands (カナリア諸島にて): Another relaxing resort pop song about vacationing in the Canary Islands, although lyricist Matsumoto hadn't actually visited them at this point and wrote the song based off of his imagination. When he finally did visit in 1999 for a Carlos Kleiber performance, he found it very different.
另一首关于在加那利群岛度假的轻松度假流行歌曲，尽管此时作词家松本并没有真正拜访他们，而是根据他的想象写下了这首歌。1999 年，当他终于到访卡洛斯·克莱伯 (Carlos Kleiber) 的表演时，他发现情况大不相同。
4. Pap-Pi-Doo-Bi-Doo-Ba Story (物語): A sunshine pop arrangement that's accompanied by goofy-sounding synths mimicking a doo-wop chorus.
一种sunshine pop的安排，伴随着模仿 doo-wop 合唱团的蠢蠢的合成器。
5. Pinball in My Heart (我が心のピンボール): A vintage sounding surf rock ballad about a fellow lamenting over the rejection from a woman he likes. As the title suggests, his heart is continuously banged off the bumpers of life and romance only to inevitably head down to the bottom hole. This is probably the hardest rock-sounding tack on the album, and Ohtaki sings the lyrics in a very comedic, but still heartfelt manner.
一首老式的冲浪摇滚民谣，讲述一个人为被他喜欢的女人拒绝而悲叹。正如标题所暗示的那样，他的心不断地从生活和浪漫的保险杠上摔下来，结果不可避免地陷入了深渊。这可能是专辑中最难听的摇滚风格，大泷以一种非常喜剧但仍然发自内心的方式演唱歌词。
6. Rainy Wednesday (雨のウエンズデイ): A smooth, Walker Bros. style ballad about a man fantasizing about the woman he loves (or once loved) while driving his Volkswagen on a rainy day at the beach. This happens to be the song that reunited the original Tin Pan Alley member together for the 1st time in a few years, which would explain the excellent piano work by Matsutoya.
一首流畅的 Walker Bros. 风格民谣，讲述一个男人在下雨天在海滩上驾驶大众汽车时，幻想着他所爱（或曾经爱过）的女人。这首歌恰好是几年来第一次将原来的Tin Pan Alley成员团聚在一起的歌曲，这也解释了松任谷正隆出色的钢琴作品。
7. Speech Balloon( スピーチ・バルーン ): A very basic but still soothing tropical soft rock ballad.
一首非常基本但仍然舒缓的热带软摇滚民谣。
8. Karen in Love (恋するカレン): Another chamber-pop ballad that accompanied by an amazing acoustic guitar awesome overdubbed backing chorus by Ohtaki himself. Ohtaki originally wrote the song for the comedy rock band, Slapstick, but remade it to be less comedic and much more romantic. This song is the only multi-synchronized track in the album.
另一首室内流行民谣，伴随着令人惊叹的原声吉他配音，由大泷本人精心配音。 大泷最初为喜剧摇滚乐队 Slapstick 写了这首歌，但对其进行了重新改编，使其不那么喜剧而更加浪漫。这首歌是专辑中唯一的多同步曲目。
9. Fun x 4: A classic "Boy Meets Girl" story told through a fun and bouncy homage to the Beach Boys 1964 classic "Fun, Fun, Fun", it even concludes with the iconic line "Fun, fun, fun now that daddy took the t-bird away." While the story in the song is very cliche, it's told in a very engaging way thanks to vocal cameo's by Ōta, who voices the girl who asks the boy out, and Igarashi as the wolf howling at the moon. (致敬沙滩男孩）
10. Farewell Trans-Siberian Railway (さらばシベリア鉄道): Composed as a tribute to English record producer, Joe Meek, this galloping surf rock tune sounds straight out of a Spaghetti Western, with lyrics about a lone wolf cowboy archetype and his adventures in the Soviet Union(?). Prior to this version, it was released as a single sung by Hiromi Ōta in November 1980.
作为对英国唱片制作人 Joe Meek 的致敬，这首疾驰的冲浪摇滚曲调听起来直接来自意大利西部片，歌词讲述了一个孤狼牛仔原型和他在苏联的冒险经历（？）。在此版本之前，它于 1980 年 11 月由 Hiromi Ōta 以单曲形式发行。
Overall though I can hear where all the hype is coming from. If Brian Wilson and Phil Spector ever came together and made a sequel to Pet Sounds, it would sound like A Long Vacation. It rightfully earned its place as one of the most important Japanese albums ever, especially since a lot of the production techniques used in this album, especially the vocal reverb, became staples in City Pop. Just listen to acts like Omega Tribe, Toshiki Kadomatsu (角松 敏生), Kaoru Sudo (須藤薫), and even Tatsuro Yamashita (山下 達郎), and they all have drawn inspiration from Eiichi Ohtaki in one way or another. Even though he has passed away in 2013, A Long Vacation is proof that Eiichi Ohtaki left behind one hell of a legacy that will be remembered for years to come. And to that, I hope he enjoys his long vacation.
总的来说，虽然我可以听到所有炒作的来源。如果Brian Wilson和Phil Spector走到一起，制作了《宠物之声》的续集，那听起来就像是一个漫长的假期。它理所当然地赢得了有史以来最重要的日本专辑之一的地位，特别是因为这张专辑中使用的许多制作技术，尤其是人声混响，成为了City Pop的主要内容。听听Omega Tribe、角松敏生、须藤薫，甚至山下达郎，他们都以某种方式从大泷咏一身上汲取了灵感。尽管他已于 2013 年去世，但 A Long Vacation证明大泷咏一留下了一份将在未来多年被人们铭记的地狱般的遗产。对此，我希望他享受他的长假。
（本人英文水平有限，以上基本都是机翻，因为俺太喜欢这张专辑了，够咩那塞)
大泷咏一是“吃苹果”去世的，像是一个凄美的童话故事。我希望那是个happy ending。感谢你创作出这么多优美的旋律，我们都很想你。 幸せな結末
幸せな結末
