ប្រវត្តិ ស៊ីន ស៊ីសាមុត Sin Sisamouth's Biography
Sinn Sisamouth (Khmer: ស៊ីន ស៊ីសាមុត [sɨn siːsaːmut]; 23 August 1932 – 18 June 1976) was a famous and highly prolific Cambodian singer-songwriter from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Widely considered the "King of Khmer music," Sin Sisamouth, along with Ros Sereysothea, Pan Ron, Mao Sareth and other Khmer artists, was part of a thriving pop music scene in Phnom Penh that blended elements of Khmer traditional music with the sounds of rhythm and blues and rock and roll to make a Westernized sound akin to psychedelic or garage rock. Sisamouth died during the Khmer Rouge regime under circumstances that are unclear.
Biography
Early life
Sinn Sisamouth was born in August 23, 1932, in Stung Treng Province, the son of Sinn Leang and mother Seb Bunlei.[1]
He was the youngest of four siblings, with one brother and two sisters. His father was a prison warden in Battambang Province and was then a soldier during the Colonial Cambodia period. His father died of disease, and his mother remarried, and the union resulted in two more children.
Sisamouth attended Central Province of Stung Treng Elementary School
when he was five. At the age of six or seven, he started to show
interest in the guitar, and he would be asked to perform at school
functions. He was also interested in Buddhist scripture and other books, as well as playing soccer and flying kites.
Around 1951, he passed elementary school and intended to study
medicine in Phnom Penh, but continued working at becoming a singer and
writing songs. Just as he had in elementary school, he became well known
in his school for his music, and was asked to sing at school
ceremonies.
By the time Cambodia was granted independence from France
in 1953, Sisamouth's fine singing voice landed him a spot on national
radio as a regular singer. He also continued his studies, working at
Preah Ketomealea Hospital.
Music career
After completing medical school, Sisamouth became a nurse and married his cousin, Keo Thorng Gnut, in an arranged marriage.
The couple had four children, but he was also a very famous singing
star in Cambodia, and his life as a celebrity eclipsed his family life.
He possessed a clear crooning
voice which, combined with his own compositions about the pleasures and
pains of romance, made him an idol. He sang many ballads, as well
uptempo rock numbers that featured prominent, distortion-laden guitar,
pumping organ and loud, driving drums. Other arrangements were more Latin jazz-sounding, featuring woodwinds, brass, and auxiliary percussion.
In the early 1950s he became a protégé of Queen Nearyrath. He was
selected into the Vong Phleng Preah Reach Troap (classical ensemble of
the Royal Treasury) where together with Sos Matt, he performed at royal
receptions and state functions. A number of songs he wrote subsequently
bore the unmistakable melancholic melodies of the traditional Khmer
music he performed in those formative years. In the mid-1950s, a
romantic ballad "Violon Sneha", composed by violinist Hass Salan,
catapulted Sisamouth into stardom.
Most of Sisamouth's tape recordings from this period did not survive
the years of social upheaval, however, although now and then some of
Sisamouth's 1950s and early 1960s hits are rerecorded successfully. One
such hit, "Srey Sros Khmeng", re-emerged from oblivion with Suong
Chantha's 2002 faithful rendition. Sisamouth's other hits of the same
period include "Anussavry Phnom Kravanh", "(Chett Srey doch) Chong
Srol", "Thngay Dob Pee Thnou", "Thngay Muoy Kakkda", "Teuk Keb", "Stung
Pursat", and "Prek Eng Oss Sangkhim".
Around 1963, Sisamouth started recording on the Vat Phnom label. His
"Champa Batdambang" won immediate acclaim across the country. In a 1971
Phnom Penh television show, Sisamouth's interviewer recalled that
"Champa Batdambang" was the first song sung on the inauguration of the
station in 1965.
What captured Sisamouth's audience was the use of a four-piece, rock
and roll band instrumentation with guitars and percussion, a departure
from a backing band of wind instruments. He also experimented with Latin
music, an infatuation that may have started with Prince Norodom
Sihanouk's compositions, such as "Reatry Del Ban Chuop Pheak" and "Phnom
Penh".
Sisamouth's popularity nevertheless did not eclipse the work of other
recording artists, notably those who sang at the National Radio such as
Eum Song Seurm and Huoy Meas. Meas Hok Seng, a voice artist at the
Phnom Penh University of Arts ("Sala Rachna") also achieved celebrity
status in 1966 with "Lolok Nhi Chmaul". Hits by these artists often came
from the pen of lyricist Ma Lao Pi, a talented poet and broadcaster now
living in California, whose masterpieces include "Day Samot Trapaing
Roung" and "Lolok Nhi Chmaul". Despite occasional hits such as
"Akassyean", Sos Matt on the other hand appeared to have been unfairly
sidelined in the commercialisation of music that took place with the
arrival of recording productions such as Vat Phnom and Chan Chaya.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Sisamouth sang the soundtrack songs to a number of popular films, such as Orn Euy Srey Orn, Tep Sodachan, and Thavory Meas Bong.
In "Peou Chhouk Sar", a 1967 success directed by Tea Lim Kun, Sisamouth
captured the poignant breakup of lead actors Dy Saveth and Chea Yuthan
with his "Neavea Chivit". Over his long career, Samuth recorded many
duets with female singing partners, including, in the early 1960s, Mao Sareth, Keo Settha, Chhunn Vanna, Huoy Meas, Ros Sereysothea, and Pan Ron.
The latter began recording with Sisamouth in 1966. Ros Sereysothea
started her career in around 1967 with the hit "Stung Khieu". Her high,
crisp voice nicely balanced the deeper-toned voice of Sisamouth.
Nevertheless, the quality of Sisamouth's songs deteriorated rapidly in
the 1970s, save for a few notable examples written by lyricist Voy Ho
who had been a long-standing colleague. Over that same period, Sisamouth
adapted a number of Thai songs into his repertoire.
From 1972 to 1973, music publisher Kruorch Bunlyhe issued A Collection of Sentimental Songs,
which contained 500 of Sinn Sisamouth's songs. It is estimated that he
wrote thousands of songs, possibly at least one for each day he was
famous, his son Sinn Chaya has said.
Along with his original works, Sisamouth also introduced many Western pop tunes to Cambodia, simply writing new verses in Khmer language. Examples include "The House of the Rising Sun"
as "I'm Still Waiting for You" (a particularly good showcase of his
sustained phrasing and baritone voice), "Black Magic Woman" (drawing
influence from the Santana version) under the title "I Love Petite Women", "Sugar Sugar" and "Quando My Love"
The Killing Fields
In the aftermath of the coup d'état by the Lon Nol
government on March 18, 1970, which saw the overthrow of the rule of
Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Sisamouth started to sing propaganda songs in
support of the fledgling Khmer Republic. One such song that became an
enduring classic was "Mae Owy Ao Yoann", telling the story of a mother
giving a mantra-covered magic vest to her soldier son on his way to
battle. Referring to communist troop movements over Cambodian territory
during the Vietnam War, a verse in the same song said that the deposed king had sold out Cambodian land to the Viet Cong.
Such criticisms of the royal family were unprecedented, not least given
that Sisamouth had been a protégé of Queen Kossomak Nirirath, mother of
Prince Sihanouk. The Khmer Rouge takeover of Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, saw Sisamouth forced out of the city, along with millions of other residents.
By this time he had remarried, to a dancer in the royal ballet, who was pregnant with the couple's second child.
The circumstances of his death in the Killing Fields
are unknown, but he had connections with the old government, was highly
educated, and was an artist – all trappings of a society that Pol Pot
sought to eradicate. One apocryphal story is that before he was to be
executed, Sisamouth asked that he be allowed to sing a song for the
cadre; but the soldiers were unmoved and after he finished singing,
killed him anyhow.
Legacy
Because his presence and influence on Cambodian music was so great,
he is still a household name and remains popular to this day in
Cambodia. Three children from Sisamouth's first marriage survived the
Khmer Rouge and one son, Sinn Chanchhaya, became a singer for the
Cambodian Radio, though he himself has admitted he could not be compared
to his father.
Although all the master tapes of his studio recordings are thought to
have been destroyed by the Khmer Rouge, his work lives on in recordings
created from cassettes and LPs that have subsequently been transferred
to CD, and are often heard on Cambodian radio stations.
The soundtrack to the film City of Ghosts features tracks by Sisamouth and contemporaries like Ros Sereysothea and Pan Ron. While filming in Cambodia, filmmaker John Pirozzi was given a copy of Cambodian Rocks,
a collection of 22 untitled, uncredited tracks by the musicians,
compiled from cassettes purchased by an American tourist. It inspired
the City of Ghosts soundtrack as well as his 2015 documentary about pre-Khmer Rouge music, Don't Think I've Forgotten, in which Sisamouth is profiled.[2]
Documentary filmmakers Chris G. Parkhurst and Stephanie Vincenti are
currently in production on a feature length documentary about Sinn
Sisamouth called Elvis of Cambodia.
Through the inspiring stories of a select number of individuals, this
film examines the enduring legacy of Sinn Sisamouth's music to millions
of Cambodians worldwide, decades after his execution at the hands of the
Khmer Rouge during the Cambodian Genocide. This Barang Films production is set for a mid-2017 release.
ប្រវត្តិ រស់ សេរីសុទ្ធា Ros Sereysothea's Biography
Early life
Ros Sothea was born in 1948[2] to Ros Sabun and Nath Samean in Battambang Province. Growing up relatively poor, Ros Sothea was the second youngest of five children, included her older sister, activist Ros Saboeut.[3] She displayed vocal talent as a toddler and grew up listening to early Cambodian singers such as Mao Sareth and Chunn Malai which doubtlessly had a profound influence.
Sothea's talent would remain relatively hidden until friends
persuaded her to join a regional singing contest in 1963. After winning
the contest she gained the attention and praise of the province and was
invited to join Lomhea Yothea (a musical troupe) which regularly
performed at Stung Khiev Restaurant in Battambang. It is believed that Im Song Seurm, a singer from the National Radio, heard of Sothea's talents and invited her to the capital, Phnom Penh, in 1967.
Music career
In Phnom Penh, she adopted the alias Ros Sereysothea and became a singer for the National Radio performing duets with Im Song Seurm. Her first hit, Stung Khieu (Blue River)
debuted the same year and she quickly attracted fans with her clear and
high pitch voice. Eventually she became a regular partner with Sinn Sisamouth,
the lead singer of the era, and they were a smashing success. She also
performed with other prominent singers of the era such as Pan Ron, Houy Meas, and Sos Mat.
The style of her early career is characterized by traditional
Cambodian ballads and duets. She would eventually shift to a more
contemporary style by combining romantic ballads drenched in loss,
betrayal, and death with Western instruments. This change of style can
most likely be attributed to her traumatic marriage with fellow singer, Sos Mat.
By the 1970s, American influence from neighboring South Vietnam
had reached Cambodia and Sothea, along with her contemporaries, began
experimenting in Western genres. Her high, clear voice, coupled with the
rock backing bands featuring prominent, distortion-laden lead guitars,
pumping organ and loud, driving drums, made for an intense, sometimes
haunting sound that is best described today as psychedelic or garage rock. Like the leader of the music scene, Sinn Sisamouth, Sothea would often take popular Western rock tunes, such as John Fogerty's "Proud Mary" and refashion them with Khmer lyrics.
Yet romantic ballads would remain her most endearing work amongst the
more conservative populace. She was often sought out by film directors
to perform the duet and/or solo in their movies. Sothea's collaboration
with the Cambodian film industry is invaluable in identifying over 250
films lost during the communist regime.
Sothea never sang under any one record label and made a modest living
as a musician. She is recognized as a national treasure and was honored
by King Norodom Sihanouk with the royal title of "Preah Reich Theany Somlang Meas", the "Golden Voice of the Royal Capital".
From her brief relationship with a Khmer Republic parachutist and
General Srey Ya, Sothea increasingly became involved in the military. As
the Khmer Republic struggled in the civil war, Sothea and Sisamouth and
their contemporaries published patriotic songs for the fledgling
republic. Her career would continue until the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh in April 1975.
Personal life
Sothea's personality is invariably described as modest and reserved.
She is known to have been involved in a few relationships throughout her
life. When she arrived in Phnom Penh, she was courted by fellow singer
Sos Mat and eventually married. Unfortunately Mat was already legally
married to two other wives. As her career moved forward, Sos Mat became
insanely jealous of her success and of the men who came to watch her
perform. Traumatized by the emotional abuse from the constant envy of
his other wives and the domestic violence from Sos Mat, they separated
within six months of marriage. With her name ruined as a result of the
divorce, her only option was to return to her family in Battambang. It
would only be with intervention and help from Sinn Sisamouth that she
resumed her career in Phnom Penh.
Despite the high profile divorce with Sos Mat, Sothea's popularity
resurged and she met the son of the famous Van Chan film company as part
of her contract recording film songs. Their marriage resulted in a son
but for undocumented reasons they separated. She is also noted to have
had a relationship with a parachutist of the Khmer Republic. General
Srey Ya of Lon Nol's government, who was extremely infatuated with her,
ended up holding her against her will in one incident. Sothea's unsteady
relationships may have been the inspiration behind her most depressing
ballads.
Fall of Phnom Penh
It is believed that Sothea had traveled to Pailin Province
for the Buddhist New Year in 1975. Some of her final recordings are
those celebrating the New Year in Pailin. Many are skeptical of this
claim as it had been increasingly dangerous to travel outside Phnom Penh
due to the encirclement of Khmer Rouge forces. When Phnom Penh fell,
there were apparently attempts by military personnel to evacuate Sothea
out of the country. Like everyone else when the Khmer Rouge took over, she was forced to leave Phnom Penh. There are many speculations regarding her fate from a variety of witnesses.
Sothea was initially able to hide her identity well as she was from
the Cambodian countryside and adjusted well, contrary to most of the
"New People". The survivors from her camp didn't even know she was
amongst them until she secretly confided with them. Eventually she was
discovered and was forced by Pol Pot
to marry one of his assistants in 1977. As a prolific singer, Sothea
was forced to exclusively perform songs for the new regime.
Her new marriage was an unhappy one marred by physical abuses.
Eventually the disputes got out of hand and the Khmer Rouge cadre of her
village decided she was more trouble alive. She was told that she and
her family would be moved to another village and she was last seen by
survivors departing by ox cart. She then disappeared under typically
mysterious circumstances and is almost certainly dead.
Other accounts believe that she died from being overworked in a Khmer
Rouge agricultural camp. Another account even says that she was still
alive when the Vietnamese invading forces arrived in Phnom Penh in 1979
but died of malnutrition shortly after in a hospital.
As a high profile individual and a musician, she was a prime
candidate for extermination during Pol Pot’s regime. Her two surviving
sisters insist that Sothea, along with their mother and children, were
taken to Kampong Som province and executed immediately following the Fall of Phnom Penh. Her remains have yet to be discovered.
Legacy
With the cultural upheaval by the Khmer Rouge, scant evidence of Ros
Serey Sothea's life remains. Her master recordings were either destroyed
by the regime or deteriorated rapidly in the tropical environment due
to lack of preservation. However, many vinyl recordings have survived
and have gained reissues initially on tape cassettes and later on
compact discs. Unfortunately many of these reissues are also remixed
with extra beats usually overriding the original score. The releases
from the master sources are thereby highly sought out by
preservationists and collectors.
Sothea's older sister, Ros Saboeut, is widely credited with reuniting Cambodia's surviving musicians and bands in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge era.[3] Surviving musicians had initially contacted Ros Saboeut to inquire about Sothea's fate.[3] Ros Saboeut used the opportunity, and her contacts, to reunite the country's rock bands and musicians.[3] According to Youk Chhang, the executive director
of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, Ros Saboeut sought to restore
Cambodian music as a tribute to her sister, "I think she was bound by
the legacy of her sister to help."[3] Her efforts were widely credited with rebuilding the country's rock genre.[3]
Nonetheless Sothea remained extremely popular posthumously in
Cambodia and Cambodian communities scattered throughout the United
States, France, Australia, and Canada. Western interest in Sothea would
not dawn until songs by Sothea, Sinn Sisamouth and other Cambodian
singers of the era such as Meas Samoun, Choun Malai and Pan Ron, were featured on the soundtrack to Matt Dillon's film City of Ghosts. Tracks by Sothea are "Have You Seen My Love", "I'm Sixteen" and "Wait Ten Months".
The Los Angeles band Dengue Fever,
which features Cambodian lead singer Chhom Nimol, covers a number of
songs by Sothea and other singers from the short-lived but rich
Cambodian rock and roll scene. The advent of the internet, undoubtedly
saved what was left of her discography while spreading and garnering
interest in her music even after almost half a century later.
Partial discography
Rock
- "Chnam Oun Dap Pram Muoy" (I'm 16)
- "Cry Loving Me"
- "Don't Be Mad"
- "Hair Cut, Hair Cut"
- "Have You Seen My Love"
- "I'm So Shy"
- "Phey! Phey!" (Scared! Scared!)
- "Since When You Knew Me"
- "Wait Ten Months"
- "Wicked Husband"
- "Mdech ka dar tam knyom?" (Why do you follow me?)
- "Khlin joep nersa" (The fragrant that lasts with me)
- "Rom Woolly Bully"
- "Bong Srolań Oun Ponman Dae" (Tell Me How Much You Love Me)
- "Po Preuk Po Lngeach"
- "Penh Chet Tae Bong Muoy"
Romvong
- "Kaduk Dol Heuy"
- "Komping Puoy"
- "Rolum Saen Kraw"
- "Sarika Keo Kauch"
- "Tha Cho Chok"
- "Or! Champey Euy"
- "Leour So Skol Thoun"
- "Kae Rognea Heuy Me"
- "Pkah Lmeath"
- "Chong Ban Chea Kou Veasna"
Saravann
- "Sra Muy Keo" (One Shot)
Slow
- "Bopha Akasajal"
- "Jomno Pailin"
- "Kom Plich Oun Na"
- "New Year's Eve"
- "Pink Night"
- "Pga Reige Leu Maik"
- "Pruos Reing Awej?"
- "Lort sene duong chan"
- "Chross O'yadao"
- "Somnerng Bopha prey phnom" (Songs of the jungle girl)
- "Sralmall sene khyum" (Shadow of my love)
- "Chmreing sene khyum" (Story of my love)
- "Alay bong cher net" (Always misses you)
- "Teurk hoe teu" (River flow)
- "Bong ban sonyah" (You've promise)
- "Soum ros khbere bong"
- "Oun soum angvall" (I beg of you)
- "Oun neul tharl rong jum" (I will still wait)
- "Complete men ban" (Can't forget)
- "Oun smak bong smoss"
- "Oun sralnane bong nas" (I love you so much)
- "San nuk alay"
- "Men gor sralane bong" (I shouldn't love you)
- "Chup sralane men ban" (Can't stop loving you)
- "Jum neu tharl jum"
- "Oun jum bong cher neth"
- "Phnom Kong'rei" (Phnom Kong Rei)
- "Pros bondoll chiet"
- "Kum keng oun na bong"
- "Rom cha cha cha"
- "Jum loss sone"
- "Bong tvere eouy oun yume" (You made me cry)
- "Yume samrapp thngay ness"
- "Sall anosaovary"
- "Lane khume teu" (Let me go)
- "Bondam stung keiv"
- "Reastrei buth sene" (Missing lover of the night)
- "Pkah orchid"
- "Auh! seneha khyume"
- "Verjah boross" (The word of men)
- "Popol gomah"
- "Prote svamei"
- "Oun soum phneu chheung"
- "San klotpsa"
- "Chhba mon reing khyum"
- "Norok lokei" (The sin of man)
- "Ahso kasalmerlerr"
- "Rolok songka therm svamei"
- "Thmnorng leakina"
- "Thgnay lett oun sralnoss" (When sunset, I miss u)
- "Tropeang Peay"
- "San chok chem"
- "Pathchere sralnoss"
- "Gonsan nisei"
- "Machass sene oun"
- "Chmreing avasane"
- Konsaeng Krohom" (Red Scarf)
- Pros Del Ka'bor Chet" (Man who betrays)
- Veal Srey Sronoh"
Duets with Sinn Sisamouth
- "Ae Na Promajarey"
- "Bong Ban Khernh Sre"
- "Bos Choong"
- "Chom Chait Pesaey"
- "Chao Luoch Jet"
- "Have a Caramel"
- "Jang ban pka avey?" (What flower do you want?)
- "Kay Tha Knyom Jass"
- "Kamnap snaeha" (Love poem)
- "Komnoch veyo"
- "Pneik Kamhuoch"
- "Niw Tae Srolanh"
- "Oh! snaeha euy!" (Oh! Love...)
- "Oun Rom Som Te?"
- "Sranah Ou chrow"
- "Soniya 3 Tngai" (A Promise for 3 Days)
- "Tehsepheap Prolim"
- "Tiev Euy Srey Tiev"
- "Tmor Kol Sromol Snae"
- "Tok Bong Om Skat"
- "Yaop Yun Thun Trojeak"
- "Yerng Kom Plich Khnea"
Duets with Other Artists
- "Khmao Euy Khmao" (Em Song Seum-1972)
- "Kamloh Kramom Heu Ha" (Em Song Seum-1972)
- "Kamloh Kramom Srok Srae"
- "Hann Pnal Da Ey" (Eng Nary)
- "Soll Tae Card"
- "Pka Sarai"
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