Elliott Smith / Steve Paul Smith
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節錄自wiki 網主親自亂咁翻譯，若文法、意思譯錯或詞句不通，請多多包涵 Early life Steven Paul Smith was born on August 6, 1969 at Clarkson Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Bunny Welch (nee Bunny Kay Berryman), was a music teacher, and his father, Gary Smith, was a University of Nebraska medical student at the time. His parents divorced about a year later. Gary was drafted into the Air Force and was sent to the Philippines as a physician. 1969 年8 月6 日，Steven Paul Smith 在內布拉斯加，阿馬哈市的Clarkson 醫院出生。 他的母親Bunny Welch 是位音樂老師；而他的父親Gary Smith 當時是個內布拉斯加大學的醫學系學生。 一年後他的父母離婚，而他的父親被空軍徵入伍，被派到菲律賓當內科醫生。 Smith endured a difficult childhood. Smith graphically chronicled the impact of this part of his life later in the lyrics of "Some Song": "Charlie beat you up week after week, and when you grow up you're going to be a freak." The name "Charlie" would recur in songs throughout the years, such as "Flowers For Charlie" and "No Confidence Man". In contrast, his biological parents' names were never mentioned specifically in any song. 史密夫忍受著一個難熬的童年。 The family was a part of the Community of Christ through much of Smith's childhood, but eventually began attending services at a local Methodist Church. Smith felt that going to church did little for him, except make him "really scared of hell," a fear that biographer Benjamin Nugent believes remained with him the rest of his life. Smith began learning guitar around the age of 10 on a small acoustic bought for him by his father. At this age he also composed an original piano piece, "Fantasy," which won him a prize at an arts festival. Many of the people on his mother's side of the family were non-professional musicians; his grandfather was a Dixieland drummer and his grandmother sang in a glee club. He cited his influences while growing up as Bob Dylan, KISS, The Clash, Elvis Costello, Hank Williams, but most importantly The Beatles. Smith continued to be a dedicated fan of The Beatles (as well as their solo projects) and once noted that he had been listening to them frequently since he was about "four years old." At 14, Smith moved from Texas to Portland, Oregon, to live with his father, who was then working as a psychiatrist. It was around this time that Smith first began trying drugs and alcohol with friends as well as experimenting with recording for the first time, borrowing a friend of a friend's four-track recorder. During high school, Smith was part of the band Stranger Than Fiction (with Garrick Duckler, Jason Hornick, and Tony Lash (and later Adam Koval)). He graduated from Lincoln High School on June 3, 1987 as a National Merit Scholarship finalist. After graduating from high school, Steven Smith began calling himself "Elliott", claiming he thought "Steve" sounded too much like a "jock" name. S. R. Shutt's biography of Smith speculates that it was either inspired by a street name in Portland, or it was suggested by his then-girlfriend (who had derived it from the last name of her ex-boyfriend). Public appearances, 2001–2002 The next two years were particularly dark for Smith, who had become addicted to heroin either towards the end of or just after the Figure 8 tour. Smith's live performances following this time were few and far between, typically in the Pacific Northwest or Los Angeles. A review of his December 20, 2001 show at Portland's Crystal Ballroom stated concern over his appearance and performance: his hair was uncharacteristically greasy and long; his face was bearded and gaunt; and during his songs he exhibited alarming signs of "memory-loss and butterfingers".Fans were shocked at his inability to remember songs he had been playing for close to a decade straight, and the crowd would often have to shout out the lyrics (and in some cases, guitar chords) when Smith could not think of them. At many shows he played from 2001 and on, he would often stumble through a few unclear sentences about how he had just gone through a rough period, but had now cleaned up. In the first of only three concerts he performed in 2002, Smith co-headlined Northwestern University's "A&O Ball" with Wilco on May 2 in Chicago. Due to lackluster on-campus ticket sales, the promoters opened ticket sales to the public on the day of the show. Smith's performance was described as "undoubtedly one of the worst performances ever by a musician"and an "excruciating...nightmare".A reporter for the online magazine Glorious Noise made the statement "...it would not surprise me at all if Elliott Smith ends up dead within a year." On November 25, 2002, Smith was involved in a brawl with the Los Angeles Police Department at a The Flaming Lips/Beck concert. Allegedly, Smith saw the officers harassing a young man, at which point the musician tried to step in and defend him. Assuming he was a homeless man, the officers supposedly beat and arrested him and his girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba. The two spent the night in jail. Smith's hand and back were injured in the incident, causing him to cancel a number of shows. Wayne Coyne, lead singer of The Flaming Lips and a friend of Smith's, stated concern over Smith's appearance and actions, saying that he "saw a guy who had lost control of himself. He was needy, he was grumpy, he was everything you wouldn't want in a person. It's not like when you think of Keith Richards being pleasantly blissed out in the corner." Final years Around the time he began recording his final album, Smith began to display signs of paranoia, often believing that a white van followed him wherever he went. He would have friends drop him off for recording sessions almost a mile away from the studio, and to reach the location he would trudge through hundreds of yards of brush and cliffs. He started telling people that DreamWorks was out to get him: "Not long ago my house was broken into, and songs were stolen off my computer which have wound up in the hands of certain people who work at a certain label. I've also been followed around for months at a time. I wouldn't even want to necessarily say it's the people from that label who are following me around, but it was probably them who broke into my house." During this period, Smith hardly ate, subsisting primarily on ice cream. He would go for several days without sleeping, and then sleep for an entire day. He attempted to go to rehab several times, but he said he "couldn't honestly do the first step [admit that he had a drug/alcohol problem]… I couldn't say what you were supposed to say and mean it." After several particularly dark years, things began to improve. Director Mike Mills had been working with Smith at the time on the soundtrack for his movie Thumbsucker. Mills said, "I gave the script to him, then he dropped off the face of the earth… He went through his whole crazy time, but by the time I was done with the film, he was making From a Basement on a Hill and I was shocked that he was actually making music." In fall of 2002, Smith went to the Neurotransmitter Restoration Center in Beverly Hills to start a course of treatment for his drug addiction. In one of his final interviews, he spoke about the center: "What they do is an IV treatment where they put a needle in your arm, and you're on a drip bag, but the only thing that's in the drip bag is amino acids and saline solution. I was coming off of a lot of psych meds and other things. I was even on an antipsychotic, although I'm not psychotic." After his 34th birthday on August 6, 2003, he gave up alcohol, caffeine, red meat, refined sugar and his longtime (sometimes abused) regimen of psychological medication. Rumors of Smith's improving condition spread on the Internet and throughout the independent music community (as apparent on Ben Folds' tribute song to Smith, "Late"). He began looking forward to the future and new projects; he experimented with noise music and worked on Jennifer's iMac with the intent of learning how to record with computers, noting that it was the only method with which he was still unfamiliar. He was in the process of recording songs for the Thumbsucker soundtrack, including Big Star's "Thirteen", and Cat Stevens' "Trouble".Director Steve Hanft described Smith's last six months of life as being "like the light at the end of the tunnel" and was convinced that Smith was clean and recovered. Death and reactions Elliott Smith died on October 21, 2003 at age 34 in his home in Echo Park, Los Angeles, California from two stab wounds to the chest. According to Jennifer Chiba, with whom he was living at the time, the two were arguing, and she locked herself in the bathroom. Chiba heard him scream, and upon opening the door, saw Smith standing there with a steak knife in his chest. She pulled the knife out of him, after which he collapsed and she called 911. Smith died at the hospital, with the time of death listed as 1:36 p.m. While Smith's death was originally reported as a suicide, the official autopsy report released in late December 2003 left the question of possible homicide open. According to the coroner's report, a possible suicide note, written on a Post-it, read, I'm so sorry—love, Elliot. God forgive me. The misspelling of "Elliott" was later acknowledged as a mistake on the part of the coroner. According to Pitchfork, producer Larry Crane reported on his Tape Op message board that he had planned to help Smith mix his album in mid-November. Crane wrote: "I hadn't talked to Elliott in over a year. His girlfriend, Jennifer, called me [last week] and asked if I'd like to come to L.A. and help mix and finish [Smith's album]. I said yes, of course, and chatted with Elliott for the first time in ages. It seems surreal that he would call me to finish an album and then a week later kill himself. I talked to Jennifer this morning, who was obviously shattered and in tears, and she said, 'I don't understand, he was so healthy.'"The coroner's report revealed that no traces of illegal substances or alcohol were found in his system at the time of his death. The coroner did find anti-depressant and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder medications in his system, but at prescribed levels. With his death not being officially declared a suicide, a journalist noted that some have suspected foul play, but also that the authorities do not seem to be investigating the case further. The memorial outside Solutions Audio in Los Angeles, California in August 2006. See also the frontal view. Soon after his death, a fan memorial was initiated outside of Solutions Audio (4334 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California), the site where the cover of the Figure 8 album was shot. Farewell messages to Smith were written on the wall, flowers were brought and photos, candles and empty bottles of alcohol mentioned in Smith's songs were left. The owner of Solutions has, for the time being, allowed the memorial to stand. Dozens of tribute albums were recorded, and memorial concerts were held in many cities in America, England, and Iceland. A petition was soon put forth with intent to make part of the Silver Lake area a memorial park in Smith's honor. It received over 10,000 signatures, but no plans to go forth with the park have been announced. Another memorial is located inside Smith's former high school, Lincoln High, and was erected in July 2006. Since Smith's death many musical acts have paid him tribute. Songs in tribute to, or about Smith have been released by Rilo Kiley ("Ripchord" and "It Just Is" on More Adventurous), Sparta ("Bombs and Us"), Third Eye Blind ("Elliott Smith" on Symphony of Decay), Ben Folds ("Late" on Songs for Silverman) and Rhett Miller ("The Believer" on The Believer). Several tribute albums have been released since his death: To: Elliott From: Portland, Home to Oblivion: Elliott Smith Tribute (piano) and A Tribute to Elliott Smith. Various other tributes and covers of Smith's music have been performed by Bright Eyes, Bayside, Bad Astronaut, Kevin Devine, the Dirtbombs, Joan as Police Woman, Madeleine Peyroux, Mason Jennings, Metric, Pete Yorn, Queens of the Stone Age and My Vitriol. |
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