By Jeph Duarte | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-12-30 20:00:00
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
这位前马刺球员一直对音乐充满热情，这不仅仅是他的爱好
正如之前提到的，特里·卡明斯(Terry Cummings)在1989年发布了他的节日歌曲《又到圣诞时节》(It’s That Christmas Time of Year)。今年，一支由忠实的马刺球迷组成的乐队——吉诺比利乐队，通过重新演绎、录制和发布这首拥有三十五年历史歌曲的新版本，向卡明斯致敬。
卡明斯和吉诺比利乐队的成员们——包括乔·雷耶斯(Joe Reyes)，他是唯一一位参与了两个版本歌曲录制的人——进行了一次线上讨论。
查克·埃尔南德斯(Chuck Hernandez)、乔·费尔南德斯(Joe Fernandez)、乔·雷耶斯和我与卡明斯谈论了他进入音乐领域的历程，特别是与大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)、肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)、约翰尼·摩尔(Johnny Moore)和威利·安德森(Willie Anderson)一起在M工作室录制这首节日歌曲的经历。
他的灵感直接来源于他小时候对圣诞节的热爱。
“我一直是一个讲故事的人，我想讲述一个故事……我选择这首歌的创作方向是因为我记得小时候在妈妈包装礼物的时候，我在圣诞树下睡着了。《又到圣诞时节》真正表达的就是这种感觉，”卡明斯分享道。
当谈到让他的圣安东尼奥队友参与进来时，他说这是为了“给整首歌带来一种家庭主题。这是我做的第一首圣诞歌曲，我真的很想做一首以家庭为主题的歌曲。这真的让人感觉很温暖……也让创作更容易。”
当时，马刺队正处于赛季的转折点。无论场上场下，这些年轻的球员都在建立一支更强大的队伍。
“我们当时作为一个团队正在磨合，”特里回忆道。“我认为你可以从那首歌中感受到我们当时的亲密程度。因为我们正在融合。这在职业体育中并不常见。你很少会看到一群人聚在一起，真正地融合，不仅在场上，在场下也是如此……我们当时正走到一起。那支球队是我效力过的最好的球队之一。我也效力过一些伟大的球队。唯一的问题是，那是一支年轻的球队，一支非常年轻的球队……我把他们中的很多人置于我的羽翼之下。不仅仅是音乐方面，还有宗教方面、教堂，以及享受篮球的乐趣。”
卡明斯的影响力延伸到了他们的个人生活中。他甚至主持了肖恩·埃利奥特的婚礼。
随着我们谈话的继续，吉诺比利乐队和我询问了他音乐的根源。
“我一生的大部分时间都是一个内向的人。我花了很长时间才走出来表演。但我发现从写作的角度来做更容易。我花了很长时间独处，所以我不必因为改变个性或改变演唱风格而感到尴尬。我可能想在一首歌里说唱……我可以在录音棚里做到，因为我可以摆脱角色的束缚。”
“我在十六岁时就是一个不折不扣的诗人，我所做的只是改变了它作为作家的平行方式。在十六岁到三十五岁之间，我写了成千上万首诗。除了押韵和结构之外，你只需要能够在很短的时间内讲述一个故事……随着时间的推移，我了解到作为诗人的最好之处之一是它让写歌变得简单。”
特别是创作《又到圣诞时节》时，卡明斯通过邀请他的队友加入，融合了他对篮球和音乐的两种热情。但这个项目的力量不仅仅局限于发行歌曲。他和马刺队确实把这首歌用到了实处。
“我们去和迪拉德百货公司(Dillards)坐下来，让他们买下了首批5000张唱片。然后我们拿着这些钱去了一个流浪者收容所……用这些钱建了一个游乐场。”
随着职业生涯的继续，他对音乐的热情越来越高，甚至模糊了两者之间的界限。在我们的采访中，卡明斯承认，如果他没有在NBA取得职业生涯的成功，他会把音乐作为自己的全职工作。
“我发现，在音乐方面……从我的角度来看，创作真正好音乐的最大挑战之一是让人们不要把我当成特里·卡明斯，而是把我当成一个作家、一个制作人、一个艺术家，一个对此有艺术感的人。”
卡明斯对音乐的热情从未减退。他甚至在密尔沃基雄鹿队效力期间演唱了国歌。
在他作为球员的时期，他在客场旅行时都会随身携带一个键盘，经常选择和他的灵感呆在酒店里，而不是外出冒险。他甚至为BET录制了音乐，并在他们的节目中播放。
“我喜欢音乐的合作部分。我发现我对音乐并非无所不知。无论我有多优秀……我都只能尽我所能地制作它。还有其他人……可以为它增添一些东西。我喜欢被其他歌手和音乐家所做的事情所震撼，把你的音乐带到一个你无法想象的地方。”
直到今天，卡明斯仍在继续创作和录制音乐。
“当我退役时，这是我真正想做的第一件事。我想把更多的时间投入到我的音乐中。”
自从退役后，他已经发行了两张完整的专辑。2005年的《Nothing Is What It Seems》和2007年的《Finally》。
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点击查看原文：Open Thread: Terry Cummings and The Ginobilis talk about “It’s That Christmas Time of Year”
Open Thread: Terry Cummings and The Ginobilis talk about “It’s That Christmas Time of Year”
The former Spur has always had a passion for music as it has been more than a hobby
As perviously mentioned, Terry Cummings released his holiday song “It’s That Christmas Time of Year” back in 1989. This year a band of devout Spurs fans, The Ginobilis, paid homage to Cummings by reimagining, recording, and releasing a new version of the thirty-five-year-old song.
Cummings and members of The Ginobilis — including Joe Reyes, the only person appearing on both recordings — sat down for a Zoom discussion.
Chuck Hernandez, Joe Fernandez, Joe Reyes, and I spoke with Cummings about his journey into music and specifically about going into Studio M with David Robinson, Sean Elliott, Johnny Moore, and Willie Anderson to record the holiday tune.
His inspiration came directly from his love of Christmas as a youngster.
“I’ve always been a storyteller and I wanted to tell a story…the reason I chose the path I did for the song, I remember falling asleep under the tree while my mom was wrapping presents. Christmastime is here is really about that feeling,” Cummings shared.
When it came to including his San Antonio teammates it was about “bringing a family theme to the whole picture. It was the first Christmas song I did I really wanted to do one that was family-oriented. It was really good a warm feeling to it…made it easier.”
At the time, the Spurs as a team were turning their season around. On and off the court, the young players were building what became a more formidable squad.
“We were just gelling as a team,” Terry reminisced. “I think one of things you can tell from that song is about how close we really were. Because we were gelling. And that’s not natural for pro sports. You very seldom have a group of guys get together and really gel, not just on the court but off the court…we were just coming together. That team was one of the best teams I played for, ever. I played for some great teams, too. The only thing was it was a young team, a really young team…I took a lot of them under my wing. Not just music. But to the environment of religious side of things, church, and just having fun with basketball.”
Cummings’ influence spread into their personal lives. He even officiated Sean Elliott’s wedding.
As our conversation continued, The Ginobilis and I inquired about his roots in music.
“Most of my life I was an introvert. It took me a long time to come out and play. But I found out it was easier to do it from the writing part. I spent a lot of time alone, so I didn’t have to be embarrassed by changing personalities or changing vocal styles. I might want to rap on a song…I could do it in the studio because I could come out of character.”
“I was a straight up poet at sixteen and all I did was change the nature of how it paralleled as a writer. Between sixteen and thirty-five I wrote thousands of poems. Outside rhymes and structure you kind of just have to be able to tell a story in a real short time…I learned over time one of the best things about being a poet was it made being a songwriter simple.”
When it came specifically to “It’s That Christmas Time of Year,” Cummings melded his two passions — basketball and music — by including his teammates. But the strength of the project was not just limited to releasing the song. He and the Spurs did put the track to good use.
“We went and sat down with Dillards and we got Dillards to buy the first 5,000 copies. And then we took that money that came in and we went to one of the homeless shelters…and we built a playground with the money.”
His passion for music grew as his career continued until he blurred the lines even more. During our interview, Cummings admitted that if he hadn’t made a career in the NBA, he would have made music his full-time job.
“I find that with music … one of the biggest challenges of writing really good music from my perspective is getting people not to look at me as Terry Cummings but to see me as a writer, as a producer as an artist as someone who has an art for this.”
Cummings’ passion for music never wavered. He even sang the national anthem while he was a member of the Milwaukee Bucks.
During his time as a player, he carried a keyboard with him on road trips, often opting to stay in his hotel with his muse rather than venturing out. He even recorded music for BET that was featured throughout their programming.
“I love the collaboration part of music. I found out that I don’t know everything about music. No matter how good I am…I only produce it to the best of my ability. There’s other people…that can add something to it. I love being blown away by other singers and musicians do to it, to bring your music to a place you couldn’t even imagine.”
Cummings has continued to pursue writing and recording to this day.
“When I retired, it was the first thing I really wanted to do. I wanted to give more time to my music.”
He has released two full albums since retiring from basketball. Nothing Is What It Seems in 2005 and 2007’s Finally.
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By Jeph Duarte, via Pounding The Rock