Ros Sereysothea

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Ros Sereysothea
"Golden Voice of the Royal Capital."
"Golden Voice of the Royal Capital."
Background information
Birth name Ros Sothea
Born Battambang Province, Cambodia
Genre(s) Pop, Rock and roll
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s) Singer
Years active 1960s–1970s
Associated
acts		 Sinn Sisamouth

Ros Sereysothea was a Cambodian singer-songwriter in the 1960s and '70s. She was part of a thriving pop music scene in Cambodia, music that was influenced by rhythm and blues and rock and roll. She was a frequent singing partner with Sinn Sisamouth, Cambodia's top male singer of the era. She is thought to have died while imprisoned in a labor camp under the Khmer Rouge regime.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born Ros Sothea in Battambang Province, her family was poor and made a living by performing Khmer traditional music. Singing duets with her brother, Serey, the Serey-Sothea pair became quite well known and went to the capital Phnom Penh, where they found work performing in clubs. With her bell-like singing voice and diva-like qualities, Ros eclipsed her brother and became a solo artist, changing her name to Ros Sereysothea.

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.

And like the leader of the music scene, Sinn Sisamouth, Sothea would often take popular Western rock tunes, such as John Fogerty's "Proud Mary" for example, and refashion them with Khmer lyrics.

She was honored by King Norodom Sihanouk with the royal title, "Preah Rheich Teany Somlang Meas", the "Golden Voice of the Royal Capital."

This songbird's career was cut short with the takeover by the Khmer Rouge in April 1975. Forced out of Phnom Penh with all the other residents, she lived at a worksite in Kampong Speu. When her identity was learned by Khmer Rouge leaders, she was made to write and perform songs celebrating the regime. When she wasn't singing, she was required to work at digging irrigation ditches like everyone else in the camp.

She was forced by Pol Pot to marry one of his assistants in 1977. She disappeared under typically mysterious circumstances during the brutal regime of the Killing Fields and is believed to be dead.

[edit] Legacy

With the cultural upheaval by the Khmer Rouge, scant evidence of Ros Sereysothea's life and the Cambodian rock and roll scene remain. However, many recordings have survived and have started to gain exposure through reissues on cassette and CD.

Songs by Sothea, Sinn Sisamouth and other Cambodian singers of the era, Meas Samoun, Chan Chaya, Choun Malai and Pan Ron, are 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 Cambodian rock and roll scene.

[edit] Partial discography

[edit] Solo

  • "Bopha Akajiskol"
  • "Cry Loving Me"
  • "Don't Be Mad"
  • "Hair Cut, Hair Cut"
  • "Have You Seen My Love"
  • "I'm Sixteen"
  • "I'm So Shy"
  • "Jomno Pailin"
  • "Pink Night"
  • "Pka Reige Leu Maik"
  • "Since When You Knew Me"
  • "Wait Ten Months"
  • "Wicked Husband"

[edit] Duets with Sinn Sisamouth

  • "Chom Chait Pesaey"
  • "Have a Caramel"
  • "Jong ban pka avey?"("What flower do you want?"
  • "Konarb snaeha" ("Love poem")
  • "Konoch veyo"
  • "Oh! snaeha euy!" ("Oh! Love...")

[edit] Reference

[edit] External links

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