Trinh Cong Son (1939-2001) was one of the most prolific Vietnamese songwriters of all time. He along with Pham Duy are considered two of the most influential songwriters in the history of modern Vietnamese music. Trinh Cong Son, throughout his lifelong career span as a songwriter and composer, had written over 600 songs altogether. Many of the songs he had written and composed during the Vietnam War years carried out his antiwar sentiments. A number of Trinh Cong Son's antiwar songs during this period were deemed too controversial and were banned by both governments; the Republic of Vietnam in the South and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the North. Acclaimed Vietnamese author and diplomat Tran Van Dinh had dubbed Trinh Cong Son as the Bob Dylan of Vietnam during the 1960s and 1970s for his antiwar written songs. Trinh Cong Son's music has launched the careers of several major Vietnamese recording artists, beginning with his most celebrated muse Khanh Ly, followed by others including Lan Ngoc, Cam Van, Hong Nhung and Quang Dung.
Although he was born in Ban Me Thuot, Vietnam, Trinh Cong Son had grown up mostly in the imperial city of Hue in Central Vietnam. While in Hue, he had studied at Lycée Francais and Providence School. When he relocated to Saigon, Trinh Cong Son studied Western philosophy at Lycée Jean-Jacques Rousseau and graduated as baccalaureate. He returned to Central Vietnam in 1961 and later completed his studies at Quy Nhon University with a major in child psychology. Immediately after his college graduation, Trinh Cong Son became an elementary school teacher in Lam Dong Province in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam.
At the age of 17, Trinh Cong Son had his first self-written and composed song published, Suong Dem (Night Fog). This would be followed by another published song, Sao Chieu (Evening Star), that same year. Although he was proud that he was now a published songwriter, both of the songs were overlooked and did not give Trinh Cong Son any visibility causing him to still remain as a virtual unknown composer/songwriter of Vietnam. Three years later, his luck would change when he scored his first big hit with a song entitled Uot Mi (Tear Drenched Eyelashes) recorded by popular singer Thanh Thuy. Undoubtedly, with vocals recorded by an artist of Thanh Thuy's caliber played a significant role in the song becoming a major hit. Trinh Cong Son was overjoyed that Thanh Thuy had selected Uot Mi to record as a single and also include in her repertoire of signature songs at live performances. At the time, Thanh Thuy was one of the brightest and fastest rising new stars in Vietnamese popular music. Trinh Cong Son had become one of her most devoted fans. He immediately followed up the success of Uot Mi with his next song also written and composed especially for her, Thuong Mot Nguoi (To Love Someone). These two songs that Thanh Thuy had made popular with her recorded original versions would also turn Trinh Cong Son into a prominent songwriter/composer in Vietnam. Singer Ha Thanh, like Thanh Thuy, was another artist who had helped introduce Trinh Cong Son's music to audiences all over South Vietnam.
Throughout his career as a songwriter and composer, Trinh Cong Son's name has been linked with the name of Vietnamese songstress Khanh Ly. Their first meeting took place in 1964 while Khanh Ly was still living in Da Lat and singing for a local nightclub there. Trinh Cong Son was instantly taken by her singing voice and tried to persuade her to relocate to Saigon and perform his music. Unwilling to give up the comforts of her stable life in Da Lat, Khanh Ly turned down the composer's invitation. As fate would have it, three years later Khanh Ly and Trinh Cong Son would meet again while Khanh Ly was visiting Saigon. Their second chance meeting would result in a professional collaboration that would take both of their careers to unimaginable heights. Beginning with Khanh Ly's live performance at Quan Van, an outdoor venue located in the grass fields next to the University of Saigon, School of Literature. Khanh Ly's interpretations of Trinh Cong Son's music massively appealed to university students of Vietnam. In the years that followed, Khanh Ly would perform Trinh Cong Son's music at live shows for communities of Vietnamese college students studying abroad in the United States, Canada and various European countries. In 1970, Khanh Ly introduced many of Trinh Cong Son's songs to Japanese audiences when she performed on several successful live concerts in Tokyo sponsored by NHK-TV of Japan. Khanh Ly had also recorded a collection of Trinh Coing Son songs for Nippon Columbia in both the original Vietnamese and Japanese translated lyrics. Among the songs she recorded in Japan written and composed by Trinh Cong Son included Diem Xua, Ca Dao Me and Ngu Di Con, which had sold a total of more than two million copies.
Trinh Cong Son had also acted in the 1974 Vietnamese film, Dat Kho, which was narrated by singer Hong Van and starred legendary Vietnamese stage and film actress Kim Cuong.
After the Fall of Saigon, Trinh Cong Son's muse, Khanh Ly, left Vietnam for the United States while he remained behind. Khanh Ly continued to perform Trinh Cong Son's songs for overseas Vietnamese audiences after 1975 keeping his music popular outside of Vietnam. Meanwhile in Vietnam, Trinh Cong Son was sentenced to four years at a labor camp, similar to that of reeducation camps for former ARVN personnel, by the new Vietnamese communist regime. Finally, in the early 1980s Trinh Cong Son would find himself a new muse with singer Cam Van in Ho Chi Minh City. He would eventually become one of the most well respected songwriters and composers in Vietnam and was even honored by the post-'75 Vietnamese communist government. In the 1980s and 1990s, Trinh Cong Son continued to flourish as a songwriter and composer in Vietnam. In 1992, Trinh Cong Son met singer Hong Nhung in Ho Chi Minh City. The two would began a professional, as well as an intimate relationship that lasted for several years. With Hong Nhung's fresh new style of singing and unique sound, her interpretaions of Trinh Cong Son's songs were reintroduced to a younger generation of new fans.
A lifelong bachelor, Trinh Cong Son had been engaged twice but had never walked down the aisle during his life. For many years up until his death, Trinh Cong Son had owned a popular cabaret in Ho Chi Minh City called Club Trinh. A heavy drinker and smoker through his entire adult life, he spent his last years in failing health. On April 1, 2001, Trinh Cong Son died as a result of a combination of diabetes, kidney failure and liver failure. In his will-and-testament, he had left the rights of his written and composed songs to both his older brother who now lives in the Unites States and younger sister who lives in Vietnam, Trinh Xuan Tinh and singer Trinh Vinh Trinh, respectively.
Link(s):
Trinh Cong Son Tribute Site
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