陶醉的六七十年代情懷: I Love You

People，這支上世紀六十年代來自美國加洲 San Jose的樂隊名字，或許對於不少的昔日資深港澳流行樂迷們而言，印象中可能已感到頗為陌生；惟若把話題轉了為該樂隊於1968年一首曾風靡世界眾多國家地區的經典歌曲"I Love You"，樂迷們的心情又豈能不頓時變得恍然大悟似的呢.....

記憶中，首次接觸"I Love You"這歌是在唸小學高班期間，某天下午下課後，正如常地在校門前等待校巴接載回家之際，從毗鄰校舍的民居收音機中傳出，那自此成了筆者迄今仍認為是"妙到毫巔"難忘的一曲。

I Love You"本是英國搖滾樂隊The Zombies低音結他手Chris White於1965年的作品，但其組合灌唱的原版本面世時，受落程度僅是一般。1968年初，隸屬Capitol唱片公司的People樂隊把這歌重編，並加添了一段富迷幻搖滾(Psychedelic Rock)格調色彩的Instrumental作為前奏。灌成的單曲唱片於同年2月出版及經多番推廣宣傳攻勢後，迅即暢銷全球廣泛區域，總銷量超越百多萬張。時至7月，他們首張的長壽唱片《People！- I Love You》專集亦面世了。

People – I Love You (Capitol Records – 1968/ST 2924)

Side 1

1000 Years B.C. (Robb Levin/Larry Norman)
Nothing Can Stop The Elephants (Denny Fridkin/Albert Ribisi)
Ashes Of Me (Albert Ribisi)
Crying Shoes (Denny Fridkin)
I Love You (Chris White)
What We Need Is A Lot More Jesus And A Lot Less Rock & Roll (Wayne Raney)

Side 2

The Epic (Denny Fridkin/Larry Norman)

Vocals/Guitar： Larry Norman
Vocals： Gene Mason
Band Leader/Vocals/Lead Guitar： Geoff Levin
Bass Guitar： Robb Levin
Keyboards： Albert Ribisi
Drums： Denny Fridkin

經歷了連串的成員變動及繼後並不理想的灌唱成果下，People最終於1971年解體。環顧歐西流行樂壇史上，他們雖然只是一支典型的One-Hit Wonder組合，惟卻能成功掌握了當年潮流的趨勢契機，以一些嶄新的音樂意境效果，來配合演譯了一首別人先前未能唱紅的歌曲，也足以令他們的名字能片刻揚名於世及登進San Jose市的搖滾樂名人殿堂內。

1994年， EMI Capitol公司，曾把《People！- I Love You》這長壽唱片專集，轉檔為CD格式作限量出版。

I Love You, I Love You, I Love You.
Yes I Do, But The Words Won't Come.
And I Don't Know What To Say.

I Should Tell You, I Love You, I Do.
The Words Should Explain, But The Words Won't Come.
I Shouldn't Hide My Love Deep Inside.
The Words Should Explain, But The Words Won't Come.
I Should Tell You Just How I Feel, And I Keep Tryin'.
But Something Holds Me Back When I Try To Tell you,

I Love You, I Love You, I Love You.
Yes I Do.
I Love You, I Love You, I Love You.
Yes I Do, But The Words Won't Come.
And I Don't Know What To Say.

I Shouldn't Hide My Love Deep Inside.
The Words Should Explain, But The Words Won't Come.
If You Can See What You Mean To Me.
The Words Should Explain, But The Words Won't Come.
Oh How Hard I Try To Tell You I Love You.
But Something Holds Me Back When I Try To Tell you,

I Love You, I Love You, I Love You.
Yes I Do.
I Love You, I Love You, I Love You.
Yes I Do, But The Words Won't Come.
And I Don't Know What To Say.

I Shouldn't Hide My Love Deep Inside.
The Words Should Explain, But The Words Won't Come.
If You Can See What You Mean To Me.
The Words Should Explain, But The Words Won't Come.
Oh How Hard I Try To Tell You I Love You.
But Something Holds Me Back When I Try To Tell you,

I Love You, I Love You, I Love You.
Yes I Do.
I Love You, I Love You, I Love You.
Yes I Do, But The Words Won't Come.
And I Don't Know What To Say.

I Love You.

Youtube網站內的"I Love You"歌曲短片：

People的灌唱版本：