十分喜愛的音樂人 David Lindley，本月 3 日上了天堂。他過世後我的臉書照例被音樂界的悼文洗版，唯獨最想看的——來自跟他合作最久最密最知名的 Jackson Browne——卻始終沒出現隻字片語。
早上總算看到 Jackson 貼文，說他打擊太大，想要寫些什麼都很難。渾噩度了兩星期後總算擠出一些字，簡述與 David 相識緣起，並讚崇他在各種不同音樂領域上的探索和融合。
長於經營文字的他，歌詞素來寫得極好，果然這篇悼文也是真摯動人。其中有一句是這麼描繪 David：Incapable of uttering a dishonest word, or playing a dishonest note.
不善發違心之言，奏違心之音
正是如此，即使一個小小樂迷如我，多年來仍對 David Lindley 有著這番真誠靈動的印象。這篇文四小時內吸引了 1.5 萬個讚，兩千多人留言，讀到最後也酸了我一鼻頭。感動之餘，容我嘗試翻譯一下以表敬重。
David Lindley, the guitarist, lap steel and fiddle player who gave his personality and his inspiration to so many of my songs, passed away on March 3rd. The outpouring of love, and the widespread recognition of his mastery has been very moving. I want to join in the resounding chorus of appreciation for his gifts, but nothing I write seems quite good enough. Words have never been enough to describe what David Lindley brought to a song.
David Lindley，吉他手、膝上鋼弦（滑棒吉他）和小提琴演奏家，曾為我的許多歌曲帶來豐沛的個性與靈感，已於 3 月 3 日離開世界。他最受人稱頌的是滿盈著愛的品格和高超的音樂技藝，在在動人之至。我當然也試圖在無數感念他的頌讚聲中留下隻字片語，但似乎怎麼寫都不對，三言兩語實道不盡 David Lindley 運進歌裡的質素。
I played with David for the first time in a dressing room at the Troubadour in 1969. My friend Jimmy Fadden of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had brought him to say hello, and pointed out that David had his fiddle with him, saying he would probably sit in if I asked him to. I already knew him from the band Kaleidoscope, whose first album, Side Trips, was one of my favorite records.
我最早和 David 一起玩音樂是 1969 年在 Troubadour 後台，那時我朋友 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band 的 Jimmy Fadden 把他找來跟我打招呼，說 David 正好帶著小提琴，如果我願意的話他也很樂意加入一起玩玩。其實我之前就從 Kaleidoscope 這團中認識他了，他們首張專輯《Side Trips》是我的愛碟之一。
We started to play my song These Days, and my world changed. His playing was so emotional, and immediate - it cast a spell over me and everyone there. It didn’t matter that he had never heard the song before. What he was playing made it more emotional and more real than it had ever sounded in the years I had played it alone.
那天我們試著彈奏我的歌〈These Days〉，豈知我的世界從此丕變。他手下蘊含強大的情感能量，瞬間就讓在場所有人彷彿置身一股魔法氛圍中，而且他原本甚至還沒聽過這首歌呢。他的演奏賦予歌曲情緒張力與生命力，亦更勝我幾年來獨唱獨奏。
David was in England playing with Terry Reid when I made my first album. When he came back, I tried putting together a touring band with him, but it wasn’t as good as with just the two of us. I decided we would tour that way, as a duo, despite having a single on the charts that required drums, bass, and congas to play properly. We didn’t even play it. We played a lot of songs I had written up until then, some old songs we both knew, and songs friends had written. Eventually I did have a band with him, and it was a rich and varied musical environment. We co-headlined a national tour with Bonnie Raitt. That was the band on my third album, Late For The Sky.
回想在我製作第一張專輯的時候，David 跑去英國加入 Terry Reid 的團。他回來後我邀請他加入我的巡迴樂團，但演出效果似乎不如只有我倆合奏時出色。雖說要把歌曲推上榜難免得精心安插鼓、貝斯或康加鼓這些元素，但我還是決定先維持雙人陣容。那陣子我們表演了許多我的歌，還有彼此都熟悉的老歌，其中也有些朋友作品。後來我總算順利組建了一支包含他在內的樂團，那時我們已打磨出一個富麗而多變的音樂景象，然後就上路和 Bonnie Raitt 一起巡迴全國。就是那個樂團支撐了我的第三張專輯：《Late For The Sky》。
David is a very large part of me - who I became, and who I remain. No one ever played like him. In my later bands, after David left to form El Rayo - X, we would play the songs’ structure, more or less based on what he had played, but it was, and still is today, up to the players to summon their own Lindley nature. Good luck! It's a very good thing to go for. He didn’t play the same thing each time. He was always exploring, always hearing something new. Always in the moment.
David 在我生命中所佔份量太深太重，他形塑了我，也延續了我。沒有人能夠像他那般演奏，所以即使他離開後去組了 El Rayo-X，我們也只能沿用他在籍時所留下的歌曲結構來表演，縱有出入亦不大；大夥兒似乎都想讓 David 附上己身，至今依然。何其有幸我們沒有搞砸！他從來不彈照本宣科的旋律，從來都在嘗試探索，從來都在接收新聲音，也從來都活在當前。
David’s musical interests were so far ranging, and his genius so evident, he attracted and played with many of the great artists of our day. Ry Cooder, Linda Ronstadt, Graham Nash and David Crosby, Warren Zevon, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen. But it was his band, El Rayo - X, that became the rich and fertile environment that gave him free rein to develop and mix his influences, and create the unique synthesis that will now and forever be known as David Lindley.
David 的音樂嗜好非常廣泛，超群技藝更進而吸引眾多當代好手與之合作，譬如 Ry Cooder、Linda Ronstadt、Graham Nash 與 David Crosby、Warren Zevon、Bonnie Raitt、James Taylor 以及 Bruce Springsteen。不過一切仍得歸功於他自己的樂團 El Rayo-X，始得以質量兼備地盡展跨域音樂融合之才，成就出我們永難忘懷的一派 David Lindley。
With Henry Kaiser, David continued the exploration of world music that he had begun in Kaleidoscope. I’m grateful to Henry for posting his Requiem For David Lindley, and for all the other posts and clips on the internet that attest to the many different cultures David navigated, weaving them into one world.
後來 David 與 Henry Kaiser 搭擋，持續探索他在 Kaleidoscope 時期就在做的世界音樂實驗。非常感謝 Henry 的影片〈Requiem For David Lindley〉，還有那些來自世界各地的貼文和短片，都足以證明 David 涉足的多元文化終於交織成為一個世界。
My own world is shattered by David’s passing. He was my friend and my teacher. It was with great pleasure and certainty that I revisited our special connection over the years. I guess I thought that he would always be around.
但我自己的世界卻因 David 驟然離世而破碎崩解。他是吾友吾師，每每思及那些年連結了他的歡樂回憶，都讓我更確信他將會永遠陪在我身邊。
I've been struggling to write something and post it for the past two weeks. It was hard to begin, and it’s hard to conclude, I guess, because I don’t want to let him go. David was kind to everyone, and so funny. Incapable of uttering a dishonest word, or playing a dishonest note. There will be tribute concerts, and a documentary about him, for sure. There will be ways for us to continue to celebrate his life. And we all know there will never be another David Lindley.
過去兩個星期來無論寫什麼對我都很艱難，既不知道怎麼開始，也不曉得如何結束，我想我實在太不捨得放他走吧。David 待人總是那麼友善風趣，卻不善發違心之言，奏違心之音。致敬演唱會肯定是會有的，紀錄片也不會缺席。也許我們不致忘卻其人其生，但世上已再沒有第二個 David Lindley 了。
啊，翻一翻我又覺得快掉淚了。且讓我們再次回味 Jackson 和 David 這對老好搭擋的經典的合作片段：《The Load Out + Stay》組曲，那是專輯《Runnung On Empty》的收場時刻。歌中感謝巡迴路上的工作人員（roadie）不辭辛勞扮演好綠葉角色，也感謝樂迷支持讓樂團心甘情願在台上多待久一點。先是 7:20 David 暫放下吉他擠眉弄眼地用讓人驚艷的假音唱著副歌後引來觀眾一陣歡呼，接著 Jackson 高歌「既然主辦單位不介意、工會不介意、工作人員也不介意，就讓我們多花點時間，管他三七二十一，再來一首歌吧！」那是多美多和諧的一種情懷，在音樂裡我們都將讓靈性翩翩翱翔，正如 Jackson 另一首我最愛的歌〈Before the Deluge〉——就在 Jackson 悼文中提到的第三張專輯《Late For The Sky》中——所唱：
Let the music keep our spirits high
Let the buildings keep our children dry
Let creation reveal its secrets by and by
