Ros Sereysothea
I’ve been digging deeper into the story of Cambodian rock in the 60’s and early 70’s, following on from my Dengue Fever obsession. I should have realised it’d have a tragic end…
Sinn Sisamouth, the ‘Emperor of Khmer music’, was jailed and murdered by the Khmer Rouge; similarly, Ros Sereysothea, the “Golden Voice of the Royal Capital”, was forced by Pol Pot to marry one of his assistants, and similarly is believed to have been murdered during the Killing Fields years. This amazing site provides lots of detail on her life story.
‘The Golden Voice’, a movie about her final days, has just been selected for the 2007 Beverly Hills Film Festival — must keep an eye out for that.
In the meantime, there are a few MP3s around, in particular on that life-story site. Here’s one to enjoy:
Ros Sereysothea - Chnam Oun 16 (I’m Sixteen)
(btw I’m not certain this is her — the original MP3 (from the ‘Cambodian Rocks’ compilation) was untitled. But as far as this non-Khmer-speaker can tell, I’m pretty sure it is…)
And a Dengue Fever cover:
Dengue Fever - Chnam Oun 16 (I’m Sixteen)
Update: forgot about this one! Here’s a great sample of Sereysothea’s voice by Plastic Little last year:
Plastic Little - Crambodia (ft Ghostface, Amanda Blank, Bahamadia)
ripping the riff and chorus hook from:
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