Sinn Sisamouth
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Sinn Sisamouth; (c. 1932 – c. 1976) was a Cambodian singer-songwriter active from the 1950s to the 1970s. Widely considered the "King of Khmer Music", Sisamouth, along with
Ros Serey Sothea Ros Serey Sothea ( km, រស់ សេរីសុទ្ធា/ ; c. 1948 – c. 1977) was a Cambodian singer. She was active during the final years of the First Kingdom of Cambodia and into the Khmer Republic period. She sang in a variety of ...
,
Pen Ran Pen Ran ( km, ប៉ែន រ៉ន, ), (c. 1944 – c. 1979) also commonly known as Pan Ron in some Romanization of Khmer, Romanized sources intended for English-speaking audiences, was a Cambodian singer and songwriter who was at the height of ...
, Mao Sareth, and other Cambodian artists, was part of a thriving pop music scene in
Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...
that blended elements of Khmer traditional music with the sounds of
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
and
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
to develop a Cambodian rock sound. Sisamouth died during the
Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...
regime under circumstances that are unclear.


Biography


Early life

Sinn Sisamouth was born in Stung Treng Province, the son of Sinn Leang and mother Seb Bunlei. One or both of Sisamouth's parents were partially Lao.John Pirozzi and LinDa Saphan, liner notes, ''Don't Think I've Forgotten'', soundtrack, 2015.Jeff Cole, liner notes, ''Cambodia Rock Spectacular!'', 2011. Most sources list his year of birth as 1935, though some list 1932 or 1933. Sisamouth's father was a soldier during the
Colonial Cambodia The French protectorate of Cambodia ( km, ប្រទេសកម្ពុជាក្រោមអាណាព្យាបាលបារាំង; french: Protectorat français du Cambodge) refers to the Kingdom of Cambodia when it was a Fren ...
period and also served as prison warden in Battambang Province. His father died when he was a child and his mother then remarried. Sisamouth learned to play stringed instruments at the age of six or seven, and showed a natural singing talent. He was often invited to perform music at school functions. At about age 16 he graduated from primary school and moved to
Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...
to study medicine; this plan was apparently meant to please his parents when his true goal was to become a musician. He began composing his own songs around this time. Sisamouth graduated from medical school around the time that Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953. He initially worked in a Phnom Penh hospital as a nurse, but was soon hired by the Cambodian national radio station as a singer with its band. Around this time, Sisamouth married his cousin Keo Thorng Gnu in an
arranged marriage Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures a professional matchmaker may be us ...
, and they eventually had four children.


Music career

While performing with the Cambodian national radio station, Sisamouth became a protege of Queen
Sisowath Kossamak Sisowath Kossamak ( km, ស៊ីសុវត្ថិ កុសមៈ; 9 April 1904 – 27 April 1975) was the queen consort of King Norodom Suramarit of Cambodia, who reigned from 1955 to 1960. After her husband's death in 1960, her son Noro ...
, mother of Head of State
Norodom Sihanouk Norodom Sihanouk (; km, នរោត្តម សីហនុ, ; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a Cambodian statesman, Sangkum and FUNCINPEC politician, Norodom Sihanouk filmography, film director, and composer who led Cambodia in vari ...
. The Queen invited Sisamouth to join the Vong Phleng Preah Reach Troap (the classical ensemble of the Royal Treasury) with which he performed at royal receptions and state functions. He also achieved hit songs on national radio around this time, first writing and performing songs based on traditional Khmer music. In the mid-1950s, the romantic ballad "'' Violon Sneha''", composed by violinist Hass Salan, catapulted Sisamouth into stardom across Cambodia. Sisamouth became known for his
crooning Crooner is a term used to describe primarily male singers who performed using a smooth style made possible by better microphones which picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to access a more dynamic range ...
voice, which has been likened to that of
Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...
, while his stage presence has been compared to that of
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
. By the late 1950s, Sisamouth had established himself as the leading figure in an expanding Cambodian pop music scene.
Norodom Sihanouk Norodom Sihanouk (; km, នរោត្តម សីហនុ, ; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a Cambodian statesman, Sangkum and FUNCINPEC politician, Norodom Sihanouk filmography, film director, and composer who led Cambodia in vari ...
, a musician himself, encouraged the development of popular music in Cambodia. Initially, pop records from France and Latin America were imported into the country and became popular, inspiring a flourishing music scene based in Phnom Penh. The music produced by Sisamouth and his contemporaries had become popular throughout the country; in 1965, Sisamouth's song " Champa Battambang" was the first content played on Khmer Republic Television. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Cambodian music scene was further influenced by Western
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
and
soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...
via U.S. armed forces radio that had been broadcast into nearby
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
. This resulted in a unique sound in which Western pop and rock were combined with Khmer vocal techniques. Sisamouth was a leader of these trends, moving from traditional Khmer music and romantic ballads to
Latin jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, whic ...
, cha cha cha, agogo, and eventually
psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
in which he employed younger rock musicians. Sisamouth had become established as Cambodia's most popular singer and songwriter. Nevertheless, his popularity did not eclipse that of other recording artists such as Eum Song Seurm and Huoy Meas. He collaborated directly with Mao Sareth and Chounn Malay, among others. He also wrote songs for, and duetted with, other popular Cambodian singers to nurture their careers. For example, starting in the mid-1960s he recorded many popular duets with
Pen Ran Pen Ran ( km, ប៉ែន រ៉ន, ), (c. 1944 – c. 1979) also commonly known as Pan Ron in some Romanization of Khmer, Romanized sources intended for English-speaking audiences, was a Cambodian singer and songwriter who was at the height of ...
. Sisamouth is credited with launching the career of
Ros Serey Sothea Ros Serey Sothea ( km, រស់ សេរីសុទ្ធា/ ; c. 1948 – c. 1977) was a Cambodian singer. She was active during the final years of the First Kingdom of Cambodia and into the Khmer Republic period. She sang in a variety of ...
, who had been singing at weddings and later became the leading female singer in the Cambodian rock scene. Sisamouth and Sothea recorded many very popular duets from the mid-1960s into the early 1970s. In later years, Sisamouth contributed songs to the soundtracks for a number of popular Cambodian films, such as '' Orn Euy Srey Orn'', ''
Tep Sodachan Tep Sodachan ( km, ទិព្វសូដាច័ន្ទ, ) is a widely acclaimed Cambodian film released in 1968 by Van Chan Pheap Yun. It was directed by Lay Nguon Heng and stars Kong Sam Oeurn, Vichara Dany, and Saksi Sbong Saksi ...
'', and '' Thavory Meas Bong''. Sisamouth's highly prolific songwriting became well known during this period; he is confirmed to have written more than one thousand songs for himself and others (see
Sinn Sisamouth discography More than 1,200 songs are listed below. Some of the songs are songs that Sinn Sisamouth Sinn Sisamouth; (c. 1932 – c. 1976) was a Cambodian singer-songwriter active from the 1950s to the 1970s. Widely considered the "King of Khmer Music" ...
), and the true total may be considerably higher. His son Sinn Chanchhaya believed that Sisamouth wrote roughly one song for every day that he was a professional musician, a period of nearly 20 years. In 1973 the music publisher Kruorch Bunlyhe issued ''A Collection of Sentimental Songs'', which contained 500 of Sinn Sisamouth's songs. He was also known to adapt popular Western pop and rock songs with new Khmer lyrics, such as a song based on
Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...
's "
Black Magic Woman "Black Magic Woman" is a song written by British musician Peter Green, which first appeared as a single for his band Fleetwood Mac in 1968. Subsequently, the song appeared on the 1969 Fleetwood Mac compilation albums '' English Rose'' (US) and ...
" called "Srolanh Srey Touch" (translated as "I Love Petite Girls" in English-language compilations); plus covers of "
Hey Jude "Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in August 1968. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single was the Beatles' first release o ...
" by
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
(titled "Always Will Hope"), "
A Whiter Shade of Pale "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is a song by the English rock band Procol Harum that was issued as their debut record on 12 May 1967. The single reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, i ...
" by
Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have List of best-selling singles, sold over ...
(titled "Apart from Love"), and " Love Potion No. 9" by
The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John Wa ...
(titled "Other Than You"). By the 1970s he was working regularly with lyricist Voy Ho, and had adapted some traditional and popular Thai songs into his repertoire (for example, "Promden Jet" with Ros Serey Sothea). During the
Cambodian Civil War The Cambodian Civil War ( km, សង្គ្រាមស៊ីវិលកម្ពុជា, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) was a civil war in Cambodia fought between the forces of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (known as the Khme ...
in the early 1970s, Sisamouth was a supporter of the
Khmer Republic The Khmer Republic ( km, សាធារណរដ្ឋខ្មែរ, ; french: République khmère) was a pro-United States military-led republican government of Cambodia that was formally declared on 9 October 1970. The Khmer Republic wa ...
military and recorded patriotic songs supporting the Republic's stance against the
Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...
insurgents. His career would continue until the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh in April 1975.


Disappearance and death

Sinn Sisamouth disappeared during the
Khmer Rouge genocide The Cambodian genocide ( km, របបប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍នៅកម្ពុជា) was the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Communist Party of Kampuchea genera ...
and his exact fate has never been confirmed, with multiple sources making contradictory claims. Due to his ongoing popularity with the Cambodian people, there has been a great amount of speculation about his whereabouts after the Khmer Rouge forced the evacuation of all residents from Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, and his apparent death at the hands of the new regime. In the film ''
Don't Think I've Forgotten ''Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll'' is a 2014 documentary film, directed by John Pirozzi, about Cambodian rock music in the 1960s and 1970s, before the Khmer Rouge regime and Cambodian genocide. Production The idea fo ...
'', an interview subject speculates that Sisamouth was originally evacuated to a small village but was then ordered to return to the city to work for the Khmer Rouge in some capacity, but it is unknown if he in fact followed this plan. Also in ''
Don't Think I've Forgotten ''Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll'' is a 2014 documentary film, directed by John Pirozzi, about Cambodian rock music in the 1960s and 1970s, before the Khmer Rouge regime and Cambodian genocide. Production The idea fo ...
'', Sisamouth's son states that many different people have given him contradictory stories of his father's death. Like many of his contemporaries, as a popular musician with Western influences, qualities widely known to be disdained by the Khmer Rouge, Sisamouth was likely to have been targeted for imprisonment or execution immediately. A popular but apocryphal story claims that Sisamouth was about to be executed by a Khmer Rouge firing squad but requested the opportunity to sing one last song in an attempt to appeal to the soldiers' emotions, but they executed him anyhow. In 2006, ''Khmer Apsara'' magazine granted a long interview to a man named Keo Chamnab who claims to have seen Sisamouth's execution at a jail in Prek Ta Duong village in 1976. In 2009, Sisamouth's son claimed to know the name of his father's executioner and that the person was still alive. Whatever the cause, Sisamouth almost certainly died during the Khmer Rouge regime but his remains have never been discovered.


Legacy

Many of Sinn Sisamouth's master recordings were either destroyed by the Khmer Rouge regime in its efforts to eliminate foreign influences from Cambodian society, or were lost due to decay. However, collectors and entrepreneurs located and reproduced copies of some of his recordings after the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979. Some of his songs have been covered by modern Cambodian singers, such as "Srey Sros Khmeng" by Suong Chantha in 2002. Western listeners were introduced to his work starting in the late 1990s with the release of the ''
Cambodian Rocks ''Cambodian Rocks'' is a compilation of 22 uncredited, untitled Cambodian psychedelic and garage rock songs from the late 1960s and early 1970s. When the tracks were recorded, musicians in the thriving music scene were combining Western rock and ...
'' bootleg album, followed by the soundtrack to the film ''
City of Ghosts City of Ghosts may refer to: * City of Ghosts (2002 film), an American crime thriller film * City of Ghosts (2017 film), an Arabic-language American documentary film * City of Ghosts (TV series) ''City of Ghosts'' is a hybrid French-American an ...
''. Because his influence on Cambodian music was so great, Sisamouth is still a household name in Cambodia and remains popular to this day. He is extensively profiled in the 2015 documentary film on the history of Cambodian popular music, ''
Don't Think I've Forgotten ''Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll'' is a 2014 documentary film, directed by John Pirozzi, about Cambodian rock music in the 1960s and 1970s, before the Khmer Rouge regime and Cambodian genocide. Production The idea fo ...
'', in which several interview subjects describe Sisamouth as the most important Cambodian musician of all time. The film takes its title from a Sisamouth song. Often called the "King of Khmer music," "the Cambodian
Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
," or the "golden voice," his lasting cultural impact is difficult to overstate. While Sisamouth is believed to have written well over one thousand songs, most have been lost while others that survived were copied and sold without any benefits going to his family. Cambodia passed its first copyright law in 2003, allowing families to claim the artists' intellectual property for the first time. In 2014, Sisamouth's family provided proof of composition and was awarded copyright ownership for over 180 songs. The event was commemorated with a celebration and tribute concert. However, the nation of Cambodia has also claimed Sisamouth's songs as state property, in another indication of his popularity and influence. Sisamouth's son Sinn Chanchhaya became a singer for the Cambodian Radio, though he admitted he could not be compared to his father. Chanchhaya died in 2015. A tribute concert titled "It's Time to Give Back: A Tribute to the Golden Voice of Cambodia," promoting Sisamouth's music and the need for intellectual property benefits for his family and the families of his contemporaries, was held in Phnom Penh in November 2015. Documentary filmmakers Chris G. Parkhurst and Stephanie Vincenti are currently in post-production on a feature-length documentary about Sinn Sisamouth called ''Elvis of Cambodia''. The film will make use of rare archival footage and interviews with Sisamouth's surviving contemporaries, while exploring his continuing popularity with the people of Cambodia. As of 2019, the filmmakers are seeking funding to complete the production.


See also

*
Sinn Sisamouth discography More than 1,200 songs are listed below. Some of the songs are songs that Sinn Sisamouth Sinn Sisamouth; (c. 1932 – c. 1976) was a Cambodian singer-songwriter active from the 1950s to the 1970s. Widely considered the "King of Khmer Music" ...


Notes


References


External links


Don't Think I've Forgotten
– A documentary about the Khmer rock and roll scene.
Sinn Sisamouth Documentary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinn, Sisamouth 20th-century Cambodian male singers Cambodian people of Laotian descent Male singer-songwriters Khmer people People from Stung Treng province People who died in the Cambodian genocide