Ne Me Quitte Pas

A lot of singers tend to have a particular song that he or she is associated with.  For me, I've noticed it has been Ne Me Quitte Pas.  I find it a complete honor to be associated with this song.  In my opinion, there have been quite a few other Vietnamese singers who have recorded fantastic renditions of this song.  I am quite flattered to be considered among the singers whose names are linked to this classic love song.

When I first became truly engrossed with this song was after I heard Bach Yen's rendition on her album, Souvenir.  I had always liked this song in the past and had also enjoyed countless other versions recorded by the likes of other artists such as Don Ho, Ngoc Lan and Carol Kim.  It had also been one of the many songs I often had performed on stage at my live shows.  But after hearing Bach Yen being interviewed on the radio by Viet Dzung one day where she was plugging her latest CD, I was then really taken aback.  Something about what she had said about how a singer must really have gone through such pain and agony in his or her love life in order to sing this song with enough feeling.  Since I happened to be experiencing some personal sadness at the time with a heartbreak in my own life, that was what had prompted me to record this song for my first album.  

After Sy Dan had finished the arrangements for this song, my first intentions were to record it in all three languages:  French, English and Vietnamese.   After a few takes at Cong Truc's studio, I was still dissatisfied.  That was when I realized that I wasn't that crazy about the English lyrics that had been written for the English version, If You Go Away.  I started to listen more to Jacques Brel's original version and began to finally appreciate just how powerful his performance of the song was.  The original French lyrics were indeed deeper and way more heartfelt than the lyrics written in English.  And since Pham Duy's lyrics were written based on translation of the lyrics in English, the same could be said with the Vietnamese lyrics.  That's when I decided to re-record the song without the English version, and only in French and Vietnamese.  I then turned to Alan Nguyen to finish out the recording for this song.  I must say, I am forever indebted to Alan Nguyen.  He had helped me so much through the production of the album, Tiec Nho, and particularly with this song.  He is simply amazing.  He coached me step by step with this song.  I really couldn't have done it without him.  

After three weeks, I finally finished recording Ne Me Quitte Pas.  Before the album was released, I was already happy to hear that my two most difficult critics other than myself, Anh Tu and Julie Quang, were pleased with my recording of Ne Me Quitte Pas.  During the week before the album was finally out in the market, I had sent a copy to Pham Long of Little Saigon Radio.  After he played it, I remember him making a comment of how this was a rather difficult song to sing and how he was really impressed that a young singer such as myself was able to give such a heartfelt delivery.  A few days after that I had heard from Bien Tinh Productions that my recorded version of Ne Me Quitte Pas had been one of the most requested songs on both Little Saigon Radio on 1480 AM and Radio Saigon Cali Hai Ngoai on 106.3 FM.  And then to have Viet Dzung write an article on Hon Viet Magazine praising about the song and my recorded version of it, I was just overwhelmed with excitement and truly flattered.  

Since then, Ne Me Quitte Pas has been one of my most requested songs from audience members at my live shows.  I really enjoy singing this song.  It just never gets old for me.  I still find it an honor to hear how fans have associated my name with this song.  Afterall, it is one of my favorite love songs of all time.

Thien Phu

What's Next?

Several weeks ago I had received a delightful fan letter sent as a private message on my Facebook account.   This fan is from Arlington, Texas named Jennifer had two questions that she had wanted me to answer.  Here is what Jennifer had written to me in the fan letter.  And by the way, thanks, Jennifer, for such kind words!

Dear Thien Phu,

Hi!  I just wanted to tell you that you are a great singer.  I really love the way you sing in French. I've seen you perform live a couple of times when you came to Dallas a long time ago and had bought one of your CDs with your autograph at the show.  Lately I've been reading your blogs.  I really enjoy all of your stories.  You are a terrific writer.  Some of  your stories have even made me cry, especially the ones you wrote about Ngoc Lan and Anh Tu.  I do have a couple questions for you. Don't worry, these are not questions about your personal love life.  LOL I am sure many of your fans and readers have been wanting to ask you these same questions.  You have my permission to post this message in its entirety on your blog for other readers to see.  Actually, please do so and be sure to include your answers to my two questions in the posting.  

Sincerely your fan, 

Jennifer H. Tran Woolworth
Arlington, Texas

First Question:  What's next for Thien Phu the singer? 

Like you said on your blog, after the long break from the music business, you have finally now come back.  I'm very happy to hear that, Thien Phu.  So back to my question again, what's next?  Do you have any plans of recording another CD soon?  I love French music.  Your pronunciation in French is perfect.  If you are making another CD, I hope that it will include some French songs.  Please let us know.

2nd Question:  What's next for Thien Phu the writer?

After reading the stories you had written for your blogs, I was wondering if you are paid to do so.  Do you make any money with these blogs?  Or do you do it just as a hobby for fun?  I think you should set up a website of your own.  Who knows?  You could become the Vietnamese-American Huffington Post.  

I guess you can see why I've decided to make the title of this post, What's Next?, after reading Jennifer's message.  Here are my answers to Jennifer's questions.  When I had replied to Jennifer's message, my answer to the first question was that I didn't have an answer.  I didn't have any plans to do anything in music almost two months ago.  But now, I am happy to announce that I am currently working on my next album.  You must be psychic, Jennifer.  For years, I've heard from so many of my friends and fans tell me how I should one day record an album of French love songs.  Well, I thought I had done that already when I recorded Tiec Nho for Bien Tinh Productions.  I guess what these fans were trying to tell me for the longest time was that they would like me to do a solo album which would consist of a collection of French love songs.  That is what I have planned for my next album.  I must clarify one thing though.  All 10 tracks that are going to be featured on this next album are not just exclusively French love songs. There will also be a few Vietnamese songs to be featured, as well as one to two songs that had been originally sung with English lyrics. My next album won't be the male singer's version of Ngoc Lan's L'amour Tinh Ta released back in the 1980s.  I'm well aware of how successful that album was and how it had boosted her into a superstar among Vietnamese singers.  But she's Ngoc Lan.  And I'm Thien Phu.  Also, L'amour Tinh Ta had been released out in the market in 1988, a different time and even a different place than what is here and now.

I'm very excited about this new project.  I don't know exactly when this project will be completed and ready to be released.  I'm not so concerned with giving myself a deadline here.  My intentions behind making this album is not to keep with the times or to race against it.  That is why the selection of songs this time around consist of what I call, "evergreen" songs, which are timeless classics.

To answer Jennifer's second question, at first, this did start out as a hobby.  I am passionate about what I write.  I never write about anything that does not pertain to me or my interests.  Since this blog is about me, finding something to write about never is a problem.  The same goes for my writings on my other blogs, NgocLanRemembered.BlogSpot.com, VietCeleb.BlogSpot.com, and ClubLai.BlogSpot.com.  I do not get paid by anyone to write whatever I write about.  But what earns me a little bit of money, just like my YouTube channel and my articles on HubPages, is I've monetized my blogs with Google Adsense.  The more readers I get through time might result in more advertisement clicks which will earn me more money.  I'm sure, you know how that goes.

As for turning any of my blogs into a website of my own, I've thought about it.  It will happen, not now, but just a matter of time.

Thien Phu

Update on Ngoc Hue: She's Been Found!

I was starting to get a bit worried about Ngoc Hue since I hadn't heard anything about her for quite some time.  I had asked around to see if anyone knew of her whereabouts for the last year or so, and nobody seemed to have the slightest clue.  Perhaps this could be due to how I tend to have an over-active imagination at times, but I really was concerned.  I don't need to tell you that all sorts of crazy thoughts had fluttered my mind wondering just whatever came of Ngoc Hue.  I had gotten so desperate that I even had to post an article that I had entitled, Does Anyone Know Where Singer Ngoc Hue Is?, last November in hopes that perhaps someone out there would know where she is and give us an update.  And we're not even that close, although I am quite fond of her.  Imagine had it been someone I was really close with that I hadn't heard from for a length of time.  There would be no question that I would have a nervous breakdown.

Ngoc Hue:  She still looks hot!

Fortunately, I came across this thread on the MauTam.net forum yesterday while surfing the net which featured Ngoc Hue's most recent interview that had taken place on March 26, 2015.  For the past year or so, she has been busy touring and performing around the world.  She disclosed on the interview that this year will mark her 30th year working as a professional Vietnamese singer.  To commemorate this special momentum in her life, Ngoc Hue will be releasing a DVD, Ngoc Hue & Friend:  World Tour.  The DVD will contain coverage of her live performances for Vietnamese audiences around the globe along with 14 music videos shot in the style of MTV productions.  In addition, Ngoc Hue will also release her latest studio recorded album, Tinh Khuc Muon Thuo 4:  Dong Xanh.  Among the tracks on this on the album will include Ngay Mua Tuyet, Giot Sau Trong Tim, Trai Tim Yeu, Cho Quen Thu Yeu Thuong, Main Dans La Main, Oi Gian Thien Ly Da Xa, Con Dau Tinh Ai (Mal), Diu Em, Yeu Dau Suot Doi, Khoanh Khac Su Binh An (Moment of Peace) and the title track, of course, Dong Xanh.  Look for these two new releases from Ngoc Hue at Vietnamese music retail stores in the next few weeks.

I'm relieved to hear that Ngoc Hue is doing alright.  I hope she will put together some sort of live show event in promotion of both her latest studio album and DVD.  It has been quite a while since her fans have had the chance to see her perform live on stage here in Southern California.  Undoubtedly, Ngoc Hue's return to the stage will bring about a great turnout.  I'll be there, for sure.

Link(s):

Ngoc Hue Interview on MauTam.net Forum (Vietnamese)
Ngoc Hue on Facebook
Ngoc Hue Official Website