I Should Have Never Recorded That Song!

For years I've been told my several of my friends who happen to also be in the singing business that I have this one very bad habit at times.  And that is, I've had a tendency to make wrong selections on songs to record or sing live.  What happens is I'll hear a song recorded or performed by some other singer who did such a great job, for some reason I'll automatically want to take that song and sing it myself, thinking that I'll give the song equal justice.  Well, that's not always the case, regrettably.

During my trip back to Vietnam in the summer of 1998, I attended the concert of a local singer there named Thu Ha.  I had heard from several colleagues prior to this trip for many years such as Jenny Trang, Hoang Dung and Dai Trang, all rave about how fantastic this singer, Thu Ha, is.  So I had to go see her myself.  Now keep in mind, this singer is not to be confused with Tran Thu Ha, who is also extremely talented.  Thu Ha is another singer in Vietnam with an extremely powerful voice, not like those who scream and yell like Siu Black or Phuong Thanh but just naturally powerful.  At the night of her concert, I was just overtaken by Thu Ha's performance.  My friends were right.  She is amazing.

I saw a lot of qualities in Thu Ha quite similar to one of my other idols, Khanh Ha.  As a matter of fact, she did sound a lot like Khanh Ha with several of the songs she performed live that night.  Even on some of her recordings, Thu Ha sounded like an exact replica of Khanh Ha.  That didn't impress me much.  I've always thought singers should have their own unique style, rather than impersonating someone else who had come before them.  It's okay to borrow bits and pieces here and there from other singers.  We've all done that.  I certainly have, myself.  However, let's say if I'm going to listen to a singer that sounds exactly like another singer, why not just listen to one out of the two?  Does anyone share my sentiment on this matter?

Thu Ha

Anyway, when I watched Thu Ha sing live, I was really impressed.  She was a bit edgier than Khanh Ha in many ways.  I liked how how gutsy she is as a live performer, not afraid to improvise and experiment with her vocal acrobatics.  That is something completely different from Khanh Ha.  On one particular song she did that night that just blew me away was Tra No Tinh Xa written by Tuan Khanh.  I was so enthralled by her performance of this song that I had never heard of before, I just had to barge in on her backstage and pay her a compliment.  That was when I found out Thu Ha was actually Chinese.  When I heard her talk to another person in what sounded like Cantonese, I was really shocked.  Most other singers of Chinese-Vietnamese descent that I've known in the past all speak with a little twang when they speak Vietnamese and tend to sing in Chinese as well as Vietnamese such as Kim Anh, Tuan Dat, Lucia Kim Chi and more recently, Lam Truong.  Thu Ha spoke Vietnamese with no accent what so ever and hasn't recorded any songs in Chinese to my knowledge.  That was another thing I found impressive about her.

For the next several days, I couldn't get that song, Tra No Tinh Xa, out of my head.  Through an acquaintance I had just met in Saigon, the late musician and singer named Do Quang, I was given a compact disc that featured Thu Ha's studio recording of Tra No Tinh Xa.  I started listening to it religiously for the next several weeks.  When I got back to the United States, I contacted Vu Anh Tuan who was about to do the music arrangements for my next album, Ngay Em Di, about this particular song.  I became his biggest headache insisting he hurry up and finish the arrangements for it.  Never mind about the other songs, I've just got to record this song first.  Now that I think about it, Vu Anh Tuan often gave me a hesitant look each time I talked about this song, which I now know meant that he had been fully aware of how my voice was just not compatible for it.  But being the nice guy he is, he went ahead and did the arrangements anyway.  When it was ready for me to record in the studio, Alan Nguyen also expressed to me his reservations.  Knowing how stubborn I can be, I guess everyone just backed down and let me go ahead with my decision.  Once in the studio, I quickly found out that my decision to record Tra No Tinh Xa was not a good one.  It took me a total of 3 weeks, 7 long recording sessions to finally finish the damn song.  The end result proved that what everyone around me had been trying to tell me was actually true.  I should have just left this song alone.  I mean, what was I thinking?

Amazingly, since the release of Ngay Em Di which included Tra No Tinh Xa, I've received some positive feedback from some of the fans on my delivery of this song.   Even at my live performances, I've had fans come up to me requesting me to sing this song.  Of course, I'm very grateful.  But at the same time, I feel like asking these fans, "Are you serious?"  A few months after the release of Ngay Em Di, I ran into the late musician,Tung Giang, at a CD release party for Phi Nhung.  He put it best when he jokingly told me what he thought about my recording of Tra No Tinh Xa.  He said, "Don't worry, kid.  If Phi Nhung can record Trong Vang, then why shouldn't Thien Phu record Tra No Tinh Xa?"  Ouch!  That hurt.

Link(s) to This Post:

  Tra No Tinh Xa - Thien Phu

Thanh Lan: Icon of Vietnamese Pop Music

I'd have to say that Thanh Lan was the very first Vietnamese singer that turned me onto Vietnamese music.  As I had grown up mostly outside of Vietnam, my interests in music have primarily been with music from cultures in the Western part of the world.  I remember while I was a teenager, my mother had a cassette of Thanh Lan covering French popular somgs that had been recorded in South Vietnam prior to 1975 I really liked. I found her interpretations of songs such as La Plus Belle Pour Aller Danser, Bang Bang, Aprés Toi, and Oh! Mon Amour to be quite enchanting.  My mother had told me of how she had known Thanh Lan personally back in Vietnam since she had worked singing at my grandmother's nightclub, Au Ma Cabane, nightly for many years.  From the photographs I saw of Thanh Lan, I was enamored by her beauty.  The fact that she hadn't made it out of Vietnam like so many other Vietnamese singers after the Fall of Saigon saddened me.  I had heard of how Vietnamese singers who had stayed behind after 1975 had to endure hardship due to the Vietnamese communist government's limitations of the performing arts sector in Saigon.  That has since changed. 

Sometime in 1989, while Vietnam and the United States had yet to normalize relations, as a result of many overseas Vietnamese travelling back to Vietnam, a music videotape featuring Thanh Lan was produced and had made its way over to the overseas Vietnamese communities in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe.  I just had to purchase a copy for myself.  When I saw the videotape, I found it heartbreaking to see this beautiful singer with a somber look in her eyes performing her songs on video.  I could tell she had experienced quite a bit with all the hardships for so many years under the communist regime not being able to do what she liked doing the most, which was perform and work as a singer.  After that videotape, I also saw Thanh Lan on other videotapes produced by various overseas Vietnamese travelers travelling back to Vietnam.  I was happy to hear that the communist government had loosened up its policy and finally allowed its singers to perform French and American music after so many years of foreign music being banned at either live performances or audio recordings.

On my first trip back to Vietnam on December of 1991, I went to see Thanh Lan perform at the Rex Hotel in Saigon.  She looked great and sounded just as good as she did on her recordings many years ago.  When she finally came to the United States in 1994, I had wanted to attend her live show that was scheduled to be held at the Ritz Nightclub in Anaheim, California, but unfortunately it had been cancelled after the incident of a television interview she had done that ended up stirring quite a bit of controversy and protest.  Remember that infamous interview?  Apparently, Thanh Lan had been asked by the interviewer if she would consider moving to the United States permanently if she was offered $4,000 a month to perform regularly at Ritz Nightclub and she responded that she wasn't interested because she was already earning $2,000 a month performing at the nightclubs in present day Saigon.  I guess what she had implied was how she was able to live a better life due to the difference of currency values between the two countries and Vietnam's lower standard of living.   Somehow that resulted in heavy protest from the anti-communist overseas Vietanamese community in the United States who branded Thanh Lan as a communist.  I really felt bad for Thanh Lan during this period.  I didn't feel what she said had anything to do with being either a supporter of communism or even with politics at all.  But the protesters had their field day with Thanh Lan and her first scheduled live performance in San Jose would be met with picketers which caused cancellations for all her other scheduled shows.  It seemed like Thanh Lan would have to return to Vietnam after what had happened.  Again, I was really saddened for her. 

A few weeks after that, I would run into Thanh Lan at Kim Anh's CD release event held at Diamond Nightclub in Fullerton, California.  I wanted to ask her what was going on, whether she was going to return to Vietnam or not.  But I backed away from doing so upon being introduced to her.  And then it was announced a week later that Thanh Lan had been granted political asylum on Little Saigon Radio.  I was really relieved for her.

Events Promoter Cathy Fornatora, Thien Phu and Thanh Lan

I've had the chance to work with Thanh Lan a few times through the years.  On several occasions in the 1990s, she and I had worked together on various concerts with many other singers.  In 1999, we  performed at the Santa Ana Stadium together with a long list of other Vietnamese singers.  On that night, we really talked for the first time as we sat next to each other waiting for our turns to sing.  That was when I learned that she and my mother are of the same age.  I found her to be quite likable and genuine.  It would be another 10 years until we would work together again at the Can Nightclub on Valentine's Day of 2009.  Most recently, we performed together in Seattle during the winter of 2013 for a live show music video taping produced by Viet Star Productions.  During that trip, we spent quite a bit of time together preparing for the video shoot.  I must say Thanh Lan is one very classy lady.  She never has anything bad to say about anyone.  One thing about Thanh Lan I especially like is how she always wears a great, big smile on her face at all times.  Now if only everyone can be like that. 

Thanh Lan Link(s):

Thanh Lan Facebook Page
Thanh Lan Bio on VietCeleb.BlogSpot.com

Thien Phu on My Favorite Singers

Ever since I started singing, I've been constantly asked by many audience members about what I like, in terms of my taste in music.  I guess that's a natural curiosity for people to have about singers.  I remember way back before I started singing professionally, I had the same curiosity about my favorite singers.  I wanted to know who were their idols, what made them want to become singers, and what were their tastes like in music.  In terms of some of my favorite Vietnamese singers, I've been blessed with having had the opportunities to ask some of them personally such questions.  But when I had been asked that same question myself in the past, I often froze and really couldn't give an answer.  My reasons for posting this today had to do with a few e-mails I've received from fans wanting to know just that along with recently watching an old television interview I had done way back on Little Saigon Television.  I found it to be rather odd how I had shrugged when Quynh Trang had asked me about who were some of my favorite singers growing up.  It was rather embarrassing now that I think about it.  How could such a simple question be so difficult to answer?

This posting might seem like an extremely delayed response to that television interview I did 16 years ago.  But like the saying goes, better late than never.  I guess one of the reasons why I had hesitated to reveal who were my favorite Vietnamese singers was because by then I had become a Vietnamese singer myself and therefore, some of the singers I had idolized for so long all of a sudden had become my colleagues.  I was worried about having to deal with the aftermath if I did reveal which singers I had preferred over the other.  I could just imagine how I'd have to apologize to this person and that person why I chose him or her as my favorite singer.  Believe me, that's very typical behavior in show business.  And especially in the Vietnamese entertainment industry where ego definitely is in full existence.  I've reached a point in my life now where I really don't care anymore, simply because I've realized there is absolutely nothing wrong with honesty.

There have been quite a few Vietnamese singers I consider as idols ever since I started listening to Vietnamese music.  Among the female vocalists, it's no secret that Ngoc Lan has been a singer I've idolized.  When I was a little kid, I remember listening repeatedly to a cassette of the great Thanh Lan singing popular French songs in both languages, French and Vietnamese. When I became a teenager, I was then living in the United States and Thanh Lan was still back in Vietnam.  Like many other Vietnamese-Americans during that time, Ngoc Lan's voice initially served as a comforting and nostalgic reminder of the iconic Thanh Lan.  There was a similarity in their voices.  But the more I listened to Ngoc Lan, the more I became immersed with her voice.  When I became friends with Ngoc Lan, she was everything I imagined she would be and more.  I guess you can say, Ngoc Lan was one of those idols that upon meeting her exceeded my expectations.  I do remember asking Ngoc Lan who was the singer she had idolized the most.  She told me that it was a toss up between either Olivia Newton-John and Diana Ross.  I can understand why she would say Olivia Newton-John. After all, she does sound a lot like her.  Like in the case of many singers, they often end up with a similar singing style to that of their idol.  That was the case with Ngoc Lan.

Ngoc Lan and Kieu Nga were two of my favorite
 singers growing up during my teen years.

On the contrary, another female Vietnamese vocalist I had idolized alongside Ngoc Lan was Kieu Nga.  I tremendously enjoyed the numerous duets that these two ladies had recorded and listened to them quite often during my teen years growing up.  But when I got to know Kieu Nga personally, she was quite the opposite of what I had imagined her to be.  I guess one of the things that we tend to do as fans of singers and other types of performance artists is that since we idolize them so much, before actually meeting anyone of them in person we already have this preconceived image of what they should be in our minds.  And at times, that can only set ourselves up for disappointment.  I did grow fond of Kieu Nga as a person.  However, her gentle singing voice that I had gotten so used to listening to had given me this preconceived image of her being this meek, mild-mannered and soft-spoken person.  Anyone who has ever met or gotten to know Kieu Nga on a personal basis will agree with me that she is anything but soft-spoken or mild mannered.  I say that with the utmost affection for her.  Although Kieu Nga might come off to be rather coarse when first meeting her as I had done so myself, after a short period time I would find her demeanor and straight-forwardness to be rather endearing.  However, to this day I've yet to overcome the contrast between Kieu Nga's singing voice and her actual persona.

Khanh Ha

Several other Vietnamese female vocalists are certainly on my list of favorites.  Bach Yen was a singer whose music I hadn't been introduced to until much later on and have since grown to deeply admire.  I've been very privileged to have met Bach Yen on several occasions. And from what I've gathered based upon our few encounters, she truly exemplifies what really is a true artist and a classy lady.  Of course, I can't forget to mention Khanh Ha.  She is an incredible talent and definitely is one of my idols.  Like the similarities in Ngoc Lan and Thanh Lan's voices, I have also felt that way with Khanh Ha and Thanh Ha's voices, which is why I started to like listening to Thanh Ha when she first came onto the scene.  By the way, it isn't much of any surprise that Thanh Ha has said that Khanh Ha is her idol.  When I became a singer, I was introduced to Ngoc Huong's music by another fellow
singer by the name of Anh Tu.  From the first time I heard one of her CDs, I was just floored with her tremendous voice.  I idolized her so much that I had to personally invite her to be a guest vocalist on my album, Ngay Em Di.

Luu Hong is one Vietnamese female vocalist with a rather peculiar voice.  Growing up I was always

Luu Hong, My "Mother"

surrounded by her music during the 1980s here in the United States.  To be honest, I never paid much attention to her voice back then.  It wasn't until after I entered the singing profession and had gotten to know her that I started to really listen to her music.  How we became acquainted was rather odd.  There had been a rumor floating around when I first started singing that Luu Hong was actually my mother.  I think it was singer Cong Thanh that had introduced me to Luu Hong the first time we met at the old Majestic Nightclub in Huntington Beach, California. Since then, I've turned into an avid fan of her music.  Well, what can I say except why shouldn't I idolize my own mother?

My Constant Idol, Julie Quang

But there has always been one constant idol among Vietnamese female vocalists for me and that is Julie Quang.  I've been a major fan of hers for as long as I can remember.  Since I love singing in French, myself, one of the reasons why I idolize Julie so is because of  how beautifully she sounds when she sings in French.  I also love the way she sings in Vietnamese, in English, and even the few songs I've heard her record in Chinese.  For me, listening to Julie Quang sing is as relaxing and enjoyable comparable to the feeling of a gentle cool breeze on a hot summer day.  At times, I have to pinch myself for how fortunate I am to have Julie as a close friend in my life who also happens to be my idol.  But would you believe that Julie has told me that her music idol is Janis Joplin?  I found that a bit surprising since she doesn't sound anything like Janis Joplin at all.

As far as who my favorite American female vocalist is, that's easy.  Hands down, it has always been Diana Ross.  She's the only American diva in my book.  There were a number of years that I had also idolized Whitney Houston quite a bit.  But I've never been much into Mariah Carey or Celine Dion. I've never been a fan of singers who scream or wale.  I just like singers who simply sing.  That is why Francoise Hardy is my favorite French female vocalist.  Another European female vocalist I really like is Dutch singer, Laura Fygi.  In terms of Vietnamese female vocalists today, I've noticed how so many of them tend to sing as if they were screaming from the top of their lungs.  I find that so annoying whenever I hear the likes of Siu Black and Phuong Thanh.  It can be exhausting listening to these divas go overboard as they not only belt out but literally scream note after note.  The only two Vietnamese female singers of today that I enjoy listening to are Ho Ngoc Ha and Le Quyen.  I love Ho Ngoc Ha's interpretation of  Noi Long.  Her voice is extremely likable and pleasant.  The same could be said for Le Quyen.  But there are times I've found her to sound a bit too much like Luu Hong, which is not a bad thing.  I just prefer singers who have an original sound.

Are there any male vocalists that I idolize?  Of course, there are.  In our Vietnamese culture, despite how female vocalists have traditionally always outnumbered male vocalists with a ratio of two to

Tuan Ngoc

one, there definitely isn't a deficiency of talented male vocalists.  From when I first started listening to Vietnamese singers, the first two Vietnamese male vocalists whom I idolized were Elvis Phuong and Duy Quang.  I don't listen to any old compact discs recorded by either of these two gentlemen

Don Ho

today for whatever reason.  Perhaps it's because I've outgrown listening to them.  When I became an adult, my favorite Vietnamese male vocalist for many years was Don Ho.  There is something irresistibly charming about his voice.  I've never been able to place my finger on it, but I'm just in a complete daze each time I hear a song recorded by Don Ho.

Sometime in the late 1990s, I can't remember the exact year but, I had been given a CD of a new male artist in Vietnam by the name of Lam Truong.  I remembered how I had instantly taken a liking to his voice after hearing the CD for the first time.  That was probably around the same time that I started hearing comments from others that I sounded a lot like him with certain songs.  The first person that told me that was the late legendary music arranger, Tung Giang.  I was really taken aback when he said that to me during one of my recording sessions at his studio because I had never thought that I had sounded like anyone else before.  Now that I think about it, I should be flattered to be compared to someone of Lam Truong's caliber.  However, my fascination with Lam Truong would only be a short-lived one after I had gone to Vietnam and attended one of his live performances.  It was not that he sounded bad at his live show, because in fact he does have a very nice voice.  I even found him to be rather cordial with a pleasant personality when we spoke briefly after we were introduced by a mutual friend on the night of his performance.  I just couldn't get into his performance wholeheartedly since, for whatever reason, he had decided that night to perform a great deal in his set of songs in a language he apparently did not have even the slightest grip on.  I'm referring to the English language, of course.  Throughout the concert, I had to sit there and listen to this talented vocalist butcher the English language in one American song after another.  I have no idea why so many Vietnamese singers in Vietnam have this voracious obsession to sing in English, yet apparently don't make the conscious effort to practice enough so that they will sound at least coherent.  From that night at his live show on, it all just ruined it for me with Lam Truong.

Nguyen Khang

Among Vietnamese male vocalists of today, my favorite would be my good friend and former colleague, Nguyen Khang.  I really do like his voice.  It's rare that I would idolize someone who is among my peers, but in Nguyen Khang's case I'd have to make an exception.  Nguyen Khang and I have known each other for many years long before either one of us had gotten established as
Vietnamese singers.  Although they say that fame changes people, I haven't seen that with Nguyen Khang.  Despite how we don't keep in touch much these days, every time he and I do run into each other we still address one another as "may" and "tao", which is how Vietnamese close friends informally address one another in conversation.  To me, he is still the same old guy I've known from way back.  I've just never told him how much I now idolize him as an artist.  By the way, who do you think Nguyen Khang's idol is?  Tuan Ngoc.  I know. What a shocker! Surprise!  Surprise!

Just like in the case of my favorite Vietnamese female vocalists, there has also been one constant idol for me with Vietnamese male vocalists.  That would have to be none other than the one and only, Mr. Tuan Ngoc.  There is no other Vietnamese male singer like him.  His voice, in my opinion, is the most soothing and warmest I've ever heard.  I do believe that he is probably the only Vietnamese male vocalist out there who is qualified to take on the genre of jazz music.  This was probably the main reason why I had chosen not to reveal who my favorite Vietnamese male vocalist was when I was interviewed on Little Saigon Television back in 1998 since at the time I was very close to his brother, Anh Tu.  I could only imagine the sibling rivalry I would cause if I had disclosed on television how his older brother was my idol.

Anh Tu and I had one thing in common which was we both idolized Elton John deeply.  I've loved Elton John's music ever since I was a kid.  In recent years, I've found myself listening to several other American male singers such as Marc Anthony, Jason Mraz, and most recently, a new artist by the name of Spencer Day.  I can't deny it, but I'll admit that I do sound a lot like Spencer Day.  Many people have told me so and I'm not even bothered by that the least bit.  If I had to choose who my favorite French male singer is, I'd say that it would either be Herve Vilarde or Enrico Macias.  Even though I do cover a lot of Christophe's famous songs, I've never really been much of a fan of his singing voice.  Perhaps that is why I don't even remotely sound like him.

Now that I think about it, perhaps it was rather wise on my part not to have answered this question when I was being interviewed by Quynh Trang on Little Saigon Television back then.   It was only a half-hour program.  There just wasn't enough time for me since I would give such a long and detailed answer. I'm sure if Quynh Trang was reading this post now she would be relieved that I didn't go ahead with giving her an answer during the interview.  As you can see, I always have a lot to say.

Thien Phu

  

My Friendship With Thanh Ha

Here is a beautiful story I had recently written and published on ClubLai.BlogSpot.com about my special friend, Thanh Ha.  At times, I've felt as if Thanh Ha was the sister I had never had.  Many people have even told us that we do look like brother and sister.  I am truly honored whenever I hear anyone say that.


Amerasians/ Eurasians Forum: Thanh Ha: My Friendship with Thanh Ha Thanh Ha is perhaps the most successful Amerasian singer out there.  I remember the first time I met this be...