Sinn Sisamouth

Sinn Sisamouth was born in Stung Treng Province, he was born to Seb Bunlei (mother) and Sinn Leang (father). He was the youngest of four siblings (one older brother, two older sisters).^[1][2][3] One source claims his father was of Khmer-Chinese descent while his mother was of Lao-Chinese descent.^[3] However, general consensus accepts Sisamouth was Khmer with partial Lao descent.^[1][2][3] Most sources list his year of birth as either 1935,^[4][5] 1932, or 1933.^[6][7] However, 1933 is likely the correct year according to a short biography on original liner notes of his album លាហើយហុងកុង.^[8] Furthermore, people that had been alive during Sisamouth's era state that he was born during the year of the Rooster which would translate to 1933 in the Gregorian calendar.^[9] Sisamouth's father was a soldier during the French Protectorate period and also served as prison warden in Battambang Province. His father died when he was a child and his mother then remarried.^[4]

After moving to Battambang at the age of 7 or 8 he learned to play stringed instruments such as the guitar and showed a natural singing talent. He also enjoyed playing soccer (football) and flying kites for recreation. He was often invited to perform music at school functions and became well-known throughout his school for his talents.^[10][3] At about age 16 he graduated from secondary school and moved to Phnom Penh for post-secondary studies in medicine; this was meant to please his parents when his true goal was to become a musician.^[4] He began composing his own songs around this time.^[4]

Sisamouth graduated from medical school around the time that Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953. He became a nurse at a Preah Ket Mealea Hospital in Phnom Penh,^[11][3] and was hired by ថាសចម្រៀងរាជសីហ៍ [Lion Records]—which operated within the National Radio of Cambodia—around that time.^[4] Sisamouth began regularly performing at the ក្បាលថ្នល់ [Kbal Thnal Nightclub], the very first nightclub in Cambodia.^[12] According to a prominent Khmer statesman of that time, he had hired Sisamouth along with a band to perform at his wedding in 1953 indicating that Sisamouth’s earliest public performance was possibly around the age of 20.^[3] Around this time, Sisamouth married Keo Thorng Gnu in an arranged marriage, and they eventually had four children.^[1][2]

While performing with the National Radio of Cambodia, Sisamouth became a protégé of Queen Sisowath Kossamak, mother to the Head of State, Norodom Sihanouk. Sometime in his early career while he was performing at the Kbal Thnal, Sisamouth’s lyrical content had offended an influential patron of Preah Ket Mealea hospital leading to a demotion. However Queen Kossamak, aware of his demotion, arranged an immediate transfer to Preah Ang Duong hospital so that he could work in general nursing again. He continued working for a short time before he quit to focus on his singing career.^[12] The Queen invited Sisamouth to join the Vong Phleng Preah Reach Troap [Classical Orchestra of the Royal Treasury] with which he would perform at royal and state functions.^[13] He first gained popularity around this time by writing and performing songs in traditional Khmer styles. Around the mid-1950s, the romantic ballad Violon Sneha, one of Sisamouth’s earliest songs, composed by musician Has Salan, put Sisamouth into fame across Cambodia. ^[2]

Sisamouth became known for his crooning voice, which has been compared to that of Nat King Cole,^[14] while his stage presence has been compared to that of Frank Sinatra.^[15] Sisamouth was a polygot, he could speak in Khmer, French, Lao, Chinese, Thai, and some English which helped with his versatility in genre.^[12] By the late 1950s, Sisamouth had established himself as the leading figure in an expanding Cambodian popular music scene. King Norodom Sihanouk, 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.^[16][17] His music from the 1950s was mainly pressed on 78 RPM shellac records under Nippon Columbia. Sisamouth’s oldest song is believed to be, ឱ! សែនឆ្ងាយ [Oh! So Distant]—released around 1958—due to the presence of his northeastern accent.^[18] As for his first song, it was either never pressed on a record or was lost during the Cambodian genocide. In 1962, Sisamouth began recording singles under the record label Wat-Phnom Disques.^[19][20] His debut album under Wat-Phnom titled លាហើយហុងកុង [Goodbye Hong Kong]^[21]—produced in Hong Kong—was released the same year and features soulful melancholic balladry, bossa nova, and other styles.^[1][22] During the early 1960s, Sisamouth toured and visited various places such as China, Hong Kong, India, France, Japan, Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia—whilst accompanying Norodom Sihanouk on state visits—each dedicating songs to them.^[12]

Music by Sisamouth and his contemporaries had become popular throughout the country. According to an interview in 1971, Sisamouth's song, Champa Battambang, released in 1962,^[23] was the first piece of content aired during the inauguration of the Royal Khmer Television in 1966.^[2][3] By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Cambodian music scene was further influenced by Western rock and roll and soul music via U.S. armed forces radio that had been broadcast into nearby South Vietnam.^[24] This resulted in a unique sound in which Western pop and rock were combined with Khmer vocal techniques and instruments.^[14] Sisamouth was considered a pioneer of these trends,^[13] moving from traditional Khmer music and romantic ballads to Latin jazz, cha cha cha, a go go, and eventually psychedelic rock in which he employed younger rock musicians.^[25] Sisamouth also made use of bossa nova and doo-wop influences.^[26] Sisamouth had become established as Cambodia's most popular singer and songwriter. Nevertheless, his popularity did not eclipse that of other singers such as Im Song Soeum and Huoy Meas. He collaborated directly with Mao Sareth and Chhuon 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.^[27]

Sisamouth’s most notable duet partner was Ros Serey Sothea, and he is credited with launching her career. Sothea had been singing at weddings and other functions, later becoming the leading female singer in the Cambodian rock scene.^[13][14][28] Sisamouth and Sothea recorded many popular duets from the mid-1960s into the early 1970s.^[29] In later years, Sisamouth contributed songs to the soundtracks for a number of popular Cambodian films, such as Orn Euy Srey Orn, Tep Sodachan, and Thavory Meas Bong.

Sisamouth's highly prolific songwriting became well known during this period; he is confirmed to have sung and written more than one thousand songs for himself and others (see Sinn Sisamouth discography). The true total may be considerably higher. His son, Sinn Chanchhaya, believed that Sisamouth sung/wrote roughly one song every day during his career as a professional musician, a period of nearly 20 years.^[1][2] In 1973, his music publisher Krouch Polin issued A Collection of Sentimental Songs, which contained 500 of Sinn Sisamouth's songs.^[5]

He was also known to adapt popular Western pop and rock songs with Khmer lyrics, such as a song based on Santana's "Black Magic Woman" titled “សុំរាំជាមួយផង” [May I Dance With You?] more commonly known as “Srolanh Srey Touch” [I Love Petite Girls];^[30] plus covers of "Hey Jude" by The Beatles (titled “នៅតែសង្ឃឹម” [Still Hoping]), "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum (titled “ព្រាត់ស្នេហ៍សំណព្វចិត្ត” [Away From My Lover]), and "Love Potion No. 9" by The Searchers (titled “ក្រៅពីអូនបងមិនស្ម័គ្រ” [Only You]). By the 1970s, Sisamouth’s fame reduced the time he had available for writing, so he began to work regularly with lyricist and composer Voy Ho. Most of his discography between 1970-1975 was written by Voy Ho.^[31][3] Sisamouth’s sphere of listeners had extended into neighboring Thailand. For example, the song “ព្រំដែនចិត្ត” [Border of My Heart]—sung by Sisamouth and Ros Serey Sothea—was a part of the soundtrack for the 1971 Thai-Cambodian co-produced film “ជីវិតផ្សងព្រេង” [Life of Adventuring]. The song was released to audiences with Sisamouth singing in both Khmer and Thai.^[32] Reportedly, King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand admired Sisamouth’s works ever since he adapted a Thai song in the late 1950s. It’s also claimed he received an award from Bhumibol as well but that remains unverified. In addition, during major escalations of the Cambodian Civil War in 1973, it is said that Bhumibol had offered Sisamouth and his family refuge in Thailand but Sisamouth denied.^[12]

After the establishment of the Khmer Republic in 1970, Sisamouth, along with other artists, was required to record patriotic songs supporting the Republic's stance against the Khmer Rouge insurgents.^[35] For a year Sinn Sisamouth worked for the Ministry of National Defense’s Fifth Bureau, and then joined its orchestra where he became a second lieutenant.^[19] Like many artists across the world at that time, his salary was average, not poor nor elite level earnings because of low royalties. Due to this, he discouraged his children from pursuing careers in the arts. However, his earnings were enough to own a Mercedes-Benz 220D and build a villa in Tuol Tompoung which he named Villa Socrates (named after the Greek philosopher Socrates).^[7][19] His career would continue until the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975.

Sinn Sisamouth – Srolanh Srey Touch (officially titled “សុំរាំជាមួយផង”)

Sample of Sinn Sisamouth's "Srolanh Srey Touch" from the Cambodian Rocks compilation.

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Practically all studio master recordings by Sinn Sisamouth were either destroyed by the Khmer Rouge regime in its efforts to eliminate foreign influences from Cambodian society,^[15] or were lost due to decay. Thus, the original dynamics, fidelity, and clarity of his recordings remain unknown. Upon Cambodia’s fall to the Khmer Rouge, soldiers immediately disposed of many archives from the past era, including master recordings, reel-to-reels, vinyl records, and cassettes they could find upon looting studios, libraries, and houses.^[39] However, collectors and entrepreneurs located, reproduced copies, and archived his recordings after the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979. The largest archival database of original Cambodian songs from that era, including nearly the entirety of Sisamouth’s surviving discography, is known as the Cambodian Vintage Music Archive.^[22] Some of his songs have been covered by modern Cambodian singers, such as "Srey Sros Khmeng" by Suong Chantha in 2002.^[40] Western listeners were introduced to his work starting in the late 1990s with the release of the Cambodian Rocks bootleg album, followed by the soundtrack to the film City of Ghosts.

Sisamouth’s son recalls a profound statement by his father about his love for music that couldn’t be far from the truth. It was that if the country didn’t survive, he believed his music and name would still live on because of music’s impact one one’s soul.^[12] Due to his influence on Cambodian music being so great, Sisamouth is still a household name in Cambodia and remains popular to this day.^[41] He is extensively profiled in the 2015 documentary film on the history of Cambodian popular music, Don't Think I've Forgotten, in which several interview subjects describe Sisamouth as the most important Cambodian musician of all time.^[16] The film takes its title from a Sisamouth song.^[17][42] Often called the "King of Khmer music" or "the Cambodian Elvis," his lasting cultural impact is difficult to overstate.^{[43][44][45][46]}

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.^[43][44] The Cambodian Vintage Music Archive has also gained copyright over much of Sisamouth’s discography and has allowed for the preservation of his original records while also contributing royalties to Sisamouth’s family.^[22] Much of his surviving recordings exist on vinyl and cassette, sometimes reel-to-reel tapes, but nonetheless the existence of any master tapes by Sisamouth have never been confirmed.^[19][1] The nation of Cambodia has claimed Sisamouth's songs as state property, another indication of his popularity and influence.^[47]

Sisamouth's son Sinn Chanchhaya became a singer for the Cambodian Radio station, though he admitted he could not be compared to his father. Chanchhaya died in 2015.^[48] 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.^[49] In 2023, former Kun Khmer boxer Bout Samrech claimed he is Sisamouth's son. According to Samrech, Sisamouth had taken his mother as a secret mistress, and he learned that Sisamouth was his "father" at the age of 14 when informed about it by his foster mother.^[50]

Singer-songwriter Sin Setsochhata, a granddaughter of Sinn Sisamouth, has gained international notice for combining Cambodian rock influences with modern pop sounds.^[51] Documentary filmmakers Chris G. Parkhurst and Stephanie Vincenti have produced a documentary about Sinn Sisamouth called Elvis of Cambodia.^[52] The film is 74 minutes long and is available in Khmer and English.^[53]

• Sinn Sisamouth discography