신중현 - Shin Joong-Hyun (Shin Jung-Hyun / Shin Jung Hyeon)

Short Biography.
Folkie Jin : "Shin Jung-Hyeon is the Godfather of Korean pop/rock. He started his musical career in 1955. In those days, immediately after the Korean War, so there is few musicians. At 1957 he can play at the US army in Korea. His psychedelic play fascinated US soldiers, some records company said him to make LP. His 1st band Add 4 constructed in 1962. Add 4 is the first rock band in Korea. After the time he started to make hit songs. Kim Jeong-Mi, Park In-Su, Pearl Sisters, Kim Chu-Ja, Im A-Yeong, Jang Hyeon and other singers debuted with the support of Shin Jung Hyeon. They debuted with his hit songs and he became the biggest power in GaYo scene."

Notice the photo on the right : Shin Jung-Hyun here is called "Kinetic Jackie and his electric guitar"...

It is nice to see that the first album of Shin Ju-Hyun is re-released, part of 6 reissues with an original package of a thick carton book box with CD. The music is guitar instrumental with some double bass and drums and sax between jazz-guitar and twist. The music is fine and entertaining but it is directly recorded from an LP and nobody took care in getting rid of an awful hissing noise during the playback so that listening becomes less of a pleasure, partly a torture, I wonder if it wouldn’t have been better not to release it until they knew how to solve this problem. Especially in headphones the effect remains too annoying.
Update : there has been another reissue on miniature LP by Riverman. This is the first proper reissue, in mini-LP format. I will give the release a listen...
Note that Shin was called here Hichy Shin or Hicky Shin.
내 기타는 잠들지 않는다 애드 훠 음반이 신중현의 공식 첫 앨범인 것으로 알려져 있다. 그러나 사실은 1958년에 첫 음반을 낸 경험이 있다. 우리 나라 민요와 동요곡을 기타 솔로로 연주한 음반이었다. 신중현이 아닌 '히키 신'이란 이름을 달았다. 당시 '미 8군에서 유명한 꼬마 기타리스트'로 이름이 난 상태라 제작자도 환영했다. 녹음은 우리 나라 최초의 녹음실인 '장충녹음실'에서 진행됐다. 그곳은 장충동의 마당이 넓은 커다란 가정집이었다. 고성능의 미군 휴대용녹음기로 녹음을 했다.
"My guitar never sleeps: this album is known to be the official first album of Shin Joong-hyun. But in fact, he had his first album in 1958. It was a record that played folk songs and nursery rhymes with guitar solo. It was named Hiki Shin, not Shin Ji Hyun. At the time, it was known as 'the famous little guitarist in the eighth army,' and the producers were also knowing him that way. The recording was conducted in Jangchung Recording Room, Korea's first recording studio. It was a large family house with a large courtyard in Jangchung-dong. They recorded it with a high-performance US military recorder."

CD release date: Oct 04, 2013 on Riverman, edition of 500.
LP release date: Aug 26, 2013, on C&L Music, edition of 500
LP/CD reissue MRC/Domido CNLR 1307 (1959/2013?)
신중현 (히키-신) - 키타-멜로듸 [500장 한정반] 씨앤엘뮤직 | 2013년 08월 26일
신중현 - 히키신 기타 멜로디 [LP][300장 한정반] 180g / 원반 이미지 아트웍 리마스터(OBI첨부) 2019년 08월 13일
CD Pony Canyon | 2011년 10월
신중현 - 히키신 키타멜로디 경음악 선곡집 (Guitar Melody) 신중현 (Shin Joong Hyun) - 히키-신 키타 멜로듸 경음악 선곡집 (1959) (LP Miniature) [500매 한정반] Riverman Music | 2013년 10월 08일
01.푸른하늘 은하수 / 銀河水 / Milky Way Blue Sky
02.아리랑 / Arirang
03.달마중 / Moon Watching
04.봄처녀 / Spring Maiden
05. 싼타루치아 / Santa Lucia
06.오! 마이달링 크렘탐 / Oh My Darling Clementine
07. 기타 투위스트 / Hicky Shin's Guitar Twist 08.밀양 아리랑 / 密陽 / Milyang Arirang
09.애기별 / Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
10.외기러기 / A Lonely Wild Goose
11.동심초 / 同心草 / Songsimcho
12.쌍두독수리 / Two-Headed Eagle (Unter Dem Doppeladler)
Tracks with * I consider essential listens or classics from a western point of view of listening, as tracks to check out for sure because for some reason they seem to stand out as such, which makes them also very suitable for western radio show airplay. Tracks that are only underlined can be considered fine tracks you might better check out as well, but I am not sure how essential they really are. In this case not any track is really essential, but it is pretty enjoyable in its late 50s instrumental guitar style.
히키-申 (신중현) / 키타-멜로듸 輕音樂 選曲集대한민국 록의 자랑스런 발원이자 시대를 앞서간 기타리스트 신중현. 그가 남겨온 위대한 음악적 발자취의 첫 번째 기록으로 남은 최초의 앨범. 열악한 녹음 환경에도 불구하고 ‘히키-신 기타 투위스트’나 ‘쌍두 독수리’ 등의 화려한 연주를 들으면 당시 객석의 열기가 그대로 전해지는 것을 어렵지 않게 감지할 수 있으며, ‘아리랑’, ‘밀양아리랑’등 가장 한국적인 소재로 블루스와 재즈로의 매끄러운 접근은 신중현의 폭넓은 음악적 역량을 드러내고 있다. 한없이 뜨거웠던 싸이키델릭의 활화산을 터뜨리기 전 펼쳐 보인 신중현의 또 다른 기타의 세계.
Hiki- 申 (Shin Joong-hyun) / Kita-Mello 듸 音樂 選曲 集 Proud guitarist and leading guitarist Shin Ki-hyun of Korea Rock. The first album left as the first record of the great musical footprints he left behind. In spite of the poor recording environment, listening to colorful performances such as "Hiki-Shin Guitar Twist" or "Two-Headed Eagle" makes it easy to detect the heat of the audience at that time. As the most Korean material, the smooth approach to blues and jazz reveals Shin's broad musical competencies. Shin Ji-hyun's other guitar world unfolded before he exploded the psychedelic volcano.
[히키-신 키타- 멜로듸 경음악 선곡집] 이라는 음반 한 장이 가지는 가장 큰 의미는 아무래도, 현재 ‘국내 락의 대부’로 불리는 신중현의 정식 레코딩이 담긴 최초의 음원이라는 점일 것이다. 비록 열악한 녹음환경 때문에 선명한 음질을 감상하기는 어렵지만, ‘자료’라는 측면에 있어서도 이번 재발매의 의의는 크다. 이 음반이 발매된 이후, 많지는 않았지만 국내의 몇몇 뮤지션들이 이러한 종류의 ‘경음악집’(당시에는 연주곡이 담긴 음반들에 경음악집이라는 타이틀을 붙여 내놓았다. 요즘으로 본다면 인스트루멘틀(instrumental) 음반을 생각하면 된다)을 발표하기도 했는데, 그 음반들과 신중현의 음반은 그 성격이 조금 다르다. 동시대 해외의 히트 팝음악이나, 국내의 트로트 넘버들을 주 레퍼토리로 삼거나, 기타 교습을 위한 일종의 교재로서 음반제작을 했던 다른 뮤지션과 달리 신중현은 구전동요나 민요를 자신의 기타 사운드로 편곡했기 때문이다. 이는 22세의 젊은 신중현이 비록 그 표현에 있어서는 해외의 것을 빌어 왔지만, 내용만은 우리의 것을 담고자 했던 의도를 엿볼 수 있는 부분이다. 실제로 신중현은 자신의 자서전 ‘신중현, Rock’(다나기획, 1999)에서 “... 많이 알려지지는 않았지만 1959년, 같은 단원에서 활동하던 선배들과 함께 우리 민요나 동요를 락과 재즈 풍으로 편곡해 녹음을 해서 일반에 공개하기도 했었다. 미군 휴대용 수동 녹음기를 가지고 제작한 것이어서 음질이 형편없기는 했지만 무언가 ‘우리 것’을 만드는 작업을 했다는 데에서 그때의 작업은 내게 뜻 깊은 것으로 기억된다.”고 회고하고 있다.(중략) 신중현이 했던 락 음악의 길은 독학의 길이었다. 물론, 지금의 상황도 크게 달라지지는 않았다고 하겠지만, 그가 걸어왔던 길은 그냥 독학의 길이 아니라 무에서 유를 창조해 내며, 역사를 만들어 가는 과정이었다. 앞서 이야기한 것처럼 우리가 그저 입버릇처럼 하는 말인 ‘국내 락 음악의 대부’라는 표현은 그가 거쳐 왔던 이러한 과정들 때문에 더욱 소중한 것이며, 단지 ‘미인’과 ‘아름다운 강산’을 만들어 불렀다는 단편적인 사실에서 기인한 것이 아니다. 이미 한 차례 재발매된 적이 있지만, 한정판 LP 박스세트였기 때문에 재발매의 수혜를 입은 사람들이 그렇게 많지 않을 것으로 안다. CD로 최초 재발매되는 이번 기회. 잃어버렸던 신중현 음악의, 아니 우리 대중음악의 퍼즐 조각을 맞추기 위해서라도 놓칠 수 없는 선택이 될 것이다. - 송명하 (파라노이드 편집장)
One of the biggest meaningful elements of the album, "Hiki-Shin Kita- Melotune Instrumental Selective Music", is probably that it is the first to contain the official recording of Shin Ji-hyun, now called the godfather of domestic rock. Although it is difficult to enjoy clear sound quality due to poor recording environment, the rerelease is significant in terms of 'material'. Since the release of this album, few, but not many, musicians in Korea have released this kind of 'instrumental music'.
Unlike other musicians who used contemporary overseas hit pop music, domestic trot numbers as the main repertoire, or produced records as a kind of teaching material for guitar lessons, Shin Ji-hyun arranged oral rhymes and folk songs into his guitar sound. This is a part of Young Joon-hyun, a 22-year-old, who wished to contain ours, even though he had asked for something overseas. In fact, in his autobiography 'Shin Joong-hyun, Rock' (Dana Planning, 1999), Shin Jung-hyun
“… Although not well known, in 1959, we arranged our folk songs and nursery rhymes in rock and jazz style together with our seniors. I recorded it and made it public. The sound quality was poor because it was made with a US military handheld recorder, but I remember that work was meaningful to me because I was working on making something 'ours'. ”
The path of rock music that Shin Shim did was a self-taught road. Of course, the current situation did not change much, but the path he had walked was not just the path of self-taught, but the process of making history out of nothing.
As we said before, the expression 'father of domestic rock music', which is just a habit, is more precious because of these processes that he has gone through, and it is due to the fragmentary fact that he made and called 'Beauty' and 'Beautiful Gangsan'. It is not one.
It has already been re-released once, but I know that not many people benefited from it because it was a limited-edition LP box set. This opportunity is reissued for the first time on CD. It will be a choice that can't be missed to match the missing pieces of Shin Jung-hyun's music or our pop music.
-Song Myung-ha (Editor, Paranoid)


Folkie Jin : He made his first original sound track album where he directed all things. This is a musical movie and he gave his songs to some popular singers. so mostly songs style are basically pop and ballad style. This record normal price is a over 300$.
1. 푸른 사과 / Green Apple - 조영남 / Cho Youngnam
2. 파랑새의 꿈 / Blue Bird's Dream - 최영희 / Choi Young Hee
3. 왔어요 / I'm here - 조영남 / Choi Young Hee
4. 거리를 헤매도 / Wandering the streets - 조영남 / Young Nam Cho 5. 하얀집 / The White House - 최영희 / Younghee Choi
6. 푸른 사과 (경음악) / Green Apple (Instrumental)
7. 빗속의 여인 / Woman in the Rain - 조영남 / Cho Youngnam
8. 저 하늘 끝까지 / To the end of that sky
9. 떠나야할 그 사람 트윈폴리오 / The person to leave
10. 작별 / Farewell - 최영희 / Choi Young Hee
11. 고향길 / Hometown - 조영남 / Cho Youngnam
12. 하얀집 (경음악) / The White House (Instrumental)
Shin Jung-Hyun and his "family" collector's records Part 1.
Folkie Jin : "Early Shing Jung-Hyun and Korean first psychedelic group Donkeys and professional rock group Questions and Singer debuted with support of him.
Here are only some of his most important records. He has many records and bootleg records so it is impossible to deal with his all records. Record prices stand for mint condition or Excellent condition!"
see also

"After this Shin Jung-Hyun psychedelic style matured. The most interesting records of him are all dating from 1969-1973."
"Only occasionally folk rock in Korea was made by a rock musician. This musician was Shin Jung-Hyun. I think there was no another musician like him in Korea. He made three psychedelic folk rock albums with folk singers. First one is Kim Jung-Mi's "Now"(1973) and Seo Yoo-Seok's "Shin Jung-Hyun Jakpeangok jip"(Shin Jun-Hyun songs collection, 1973) and Yang Hee-Eun's "Shin Jung-Hyun Jakpeangok jip"(1973). I think that he was interested about adding psychedelic music to folk music by the year 1973. Both albums (Seo Yu-seok and Yang Hee-Eun) were made only sides A by Shin Jung-Hyun. Sides B were composed by other composers. These records were a new experiment for the Korean Folk history."
See also

After 1975:
Park Jung-Hee (the President of South Korea from at these days a military regime was president of dictatorial government) commanded Shin Jung-Hyun to make the blue house (which is the Korean presidential residence) praising song but he rejected to do so and made the song "Beautiful rivers and mountains" instead, that praised the beautiful nature of Korea. He was sentenced to prison under the suspicion of drug abuse (Marijuana) in December 1975. He had taken Marijuana only once in former days with some hippies only. The real reason for his imprisonment was not the drug abuse, but the refusal of Park Jung-Hee's command. He couldn't act more musical activities but made records until the 80's, until he died. After all, His best days was ended by other people (Park Jung-Hee).
See also

About Shin Joong Hyun : "My Job is to Make Rock Music in Korean Style"
A clock hangs upside down on the wall of the underground studio where Shin Joong-hyun writes and plays music. It is a world where he wishes time ran backward so that he could make music for another lifetime. Often dubbed the godfather of Korean rock 'n' roll, Shin says his job is combining rock and traditional Korean music in a way that can be shared by everyone in the world - a job that may not be completed in his lifetime. But he took a giant step in this direction when he released an album in February this year. It is titled after Kim Sat-Kat, a 19th century itinerant poet famous for wearing a conical hat made of roughly woven reed which covered his entire face. Shin wrote and sang all of the 19 songs on the album. The song lyrics are Kim's poems which were originally written in Chinese and have been translated into Korean by Shin. The songs have the rhythm of rock music rendered in the five-note scale of the traditional Korean music. Shin, who also plays guitar capable of producing sounds similar to those made by Korean musical instruments specially built.
"We should create our own music and culture," he said.
"To me, the job is to make rock music in a Korean style. I hope my album will promote our culture in other countries."
The album came more than two decades after he was inspired by the poet who wandered around Korea, writing poems, many of them satirical.
Until the mid-1970s, he wrote hit songs and trained singers like Kim Chu-ja, Chang Hyun and the Pearl Sisters who rose to stardom with his songs. But his musical career plunged into the abyss when he refused to write a song praising President Park Chung Hee, who took power in a 1961 military coup. He was subsequently placed on a surveillance list. Police officers harassed him, questioned him about what kind of music he was writing and playing, prevented him from holding live concerts and even cut his long hair short. He was constantly trailed by plain clothes policeman. At that time, he began to identify with the poet Kim, whose family was persecuted after his grandfather, a county chief, surrendered to rebels in 1811. Disillusioned with the sociopolitical system of the Choson Dynasty, which did not permit members of such disgraced families to hold govern-mental posts, Kim left home at the age of 20 or so and wandered around Korea writing cynical and sarcastic poems about the corruption of government officials, human greediness, the capriciousness of the wealthy and other social ills. The 60-year-old Shin said in a recent interview with Herald Week that he was fascinated by Kim's poems because they were short, simple, with and satirical. Unlike most poems which do not translate smoothly into song, lyrics, he said, Kim's poems became livelier when they were combined with music.
"It was as if they were written to be made into songs," he said. Before writing music for the lyrics, Shin traveled to the places that the poet visited some 150 years before. He also visited the poet's grave. After the tour he felt inspired to write songs in honor of the poet. He said,"It felt like magic that I could sing and play Kim's poems." He said he believes rock's rhythm, the five-note Korean scale and the sound of traditional Korean musical instruments will appeal to the Korean sentiment when they are put together though they may not be a perfect match.
He is planning to hold concerts both in Korea and abroad to test the musical combination on Korean audience and then foreigners.
"Korean music, which resembles natural sounds like wind, rain and thunder, mingles well with other musical genres (like rock)." he said.
Shin started his musical career when he played guitar at the U.S.army base in Seoul in the 1950's. He liked rock because it had a strong beat and contained elements of blues and country music. Rock'n'roll is all the more appealing to him because it began as a revolt against the establishment in the 1960's, he added.
On his 40th anniversary as a musician last year, Shin received a tribute album from young Korean rock musician, the first in Korean musical history. The young musicians, who included Shin's three sons, also held a concert in his honor. Shin said he hopes young Korean musicians will create their own music that has emotional depth and inner strength. "Our traditional music may sound too simple. But if you listen to it again and again, you will feel its depth," he said."We need to establish our own culture before jumping to adopt Western culture."
-Herald Week 1998. Interview by Kim se-yoon-

Although I did my best to promote Shin Yung Hyun’s music before anyone ever knew his contributions to music over here for way too long. Only a handful of Korean reissues were distributed in very small qualities in the west (Kim Yung Mi to start with, SJH& The Men, besides small attention to a few other bands like He6 and San Ul Lim for instance), I was still surprised to see finally a final real effort of a reissue of any kind for the western market. To some degree I still need to say : what took so damn long ? This compilation is an official compilation with the help of the artist, and with his own choice of songs. They are representative, several I would have chosen as well and are not to miss, a few other essential tracks are too lengthy, large tracks to include and just a few I am not sure why these got a preference although each track is good, Shin Jung-Hyun in reality has assembled a very impressive repertoire, a fine contribution to the psychedelic scene with a certain range in guitar style, and small Korean flavour interpreting in a very personal way the very essence of progressive minded rock, psychedelia and creative crossover abilities.
With this new release I have also read for the first time a more complete biographical story, which, needless to say, still is about painful moments for an adventurous and exceptional and powerfully expressive talent (with stories of poverty, being cheated, about commercial commitments to individual singer’s releases without too much gratitude afterwards, and with the painful story of being sent to a mental hospital and then imprisonment by the new dictator because he refused to make a song praising him, and about being released in a changed world which was only open to dance music). Here we’re with no doubt talking about the most talented artist in Korean pop/rock music. A compilation like this is only a fair starter. His choice of tracks was in fact a bit bigger than one CD, the other tracks were assembled in an additional digital only release. What Shin Yung-Hyun would really deserve is a box-set with all his releases. Luckily I was able to trace many of the Korean reissues from over the years, some of them are already no longer traceable. Readers of this online magazine can always contact me for a recommended list and addresses where to find the other reissues, I would be happy to provide all the information.
PS. There are appropriate background explanations in the booklet.
Recommended to all real psych lovers.
SJH made me start to look for Korean albums from 60s/70s.
Lights In The Attic: "Shin Joong Hyun’s tale is personal, spiritual, and deep, not only reflecting the full spectrum of human emotions, but one that produced reverberating echoes of sound, some beautiful and life-giving, others restless and ungovernable. For the first time outside of Korea, Shin’s music will be readily available to music lovers the world over. Light In The Attic are thrilled to release Beautiful Rivers And Mountains: The Psychedelic Rock Sound Of South Korea’s Shin Joong Hyun, a career spanning CD, 2xLP, and Digital Download compilation of the diminutive guitarist, songwriter, producer, arranger, and talent developer.Inspired by jazz, soul, and traditional Korean music, Shin started his career in the mid-1950’s, performing for US troops stationed locally after the Korean War armistice of 1953. While his English language skills were limited, the young player had no trouble communicating through his trusty electric guitar, but Shin was no mere 6-string slinger for hire, he was able to communicate something far beyond your average professional musician. Production work and extensive songwriting followed, not to mention a steady stream of electrifying performances. Gaining momentum by the moment, Shin developed popular success across South Korea molding protégés like singing duo the Pearl Sisters and folk-psych songbird Kim Jung Mi into top pop stars. From there it was hit after hit. The late 1960’s rock explosion and an influx of imported music from The Beatles, Jimmy Smith, and The Jefferson Airplane all informed and inspired Mr. Shin to elevate his own craft. Even experimental trips via a crew of local hippies also took the music man to new heights despite Korean law forbidding such rebellion. Drug use was illegal and punishable as a serious offence. Park Chung-hee, then President of South Korea began to closely monitor Shin’s “subversive” activities. After refusing to write a song in praise of the political leader, the musician was labeled unpatriotic and his career was instantly snuffed-out through a series of surveillance, torture, and institutional confinement.While this was not the end of Shin’s musical story, for an all-too-brief moment in Korean cultural history, Shin Joong Hyun and his talented accomplices laid down a trove of recordings that have slowly reverberated far from their native land. Beautiful Rivers And Mountains: The Psychedelic Rock Sound Of South Korea’s Shin Joong Hyun features Korean/English lyric translations, unseen pictures, beautiful graphic design from Strath Shepard (Pacific Standard), fully restored and re-mastered audio by Timothy Stollenwerk (Stereophonic) extensive liner notes by Kevin “Sipreano” Howes (Jamaica-Toronto series, Rodriguez, Monks, Mowest comp) and Shin Joong Hyun himself. With loving attention to detail and Shin’s full blessing, we trust you’ll find this album as addictive as a bottle of your favorite Korean soju. So let’s raise a toast to Shin and his musical life! As they say in Seoul, “Gun Bae!!!”
1. Moon Watching– Shin Joong Hyun 2. Please Don’t Bother Me Anymore– Golden Grapes 3. The Man Who Must Leave– Kim Sun 4. The Sun– Kim Jung Mi 5. I Don’t Like– Lee Jung Hwa 6. Please Wait– Jang Hyun 7. Spring Rain– Park In Soo 8. Tomorrow– Lee Jung Hwa 9. Blues 72– Shin Joong Hyun 10. Pushing Through The Fog– Jang Hyun 11. I’ve Got Nothing To Say– Shin Joong Hyun 12. Why That Person?– Bunny Girls 13. Sunset– Jang Hyun 14. Beautiful Rivers and Mountains– Shin Joong Hyun & The Men
Mojo: “Shin Joong Hyun’s tale is personal, spiritual, and deep, not only reflecting the full spectrum of human emotions, but one that produced reverberating echos of sound, some beautiful and life-giving, others restless and ungovernable.First ever anthology outside Korea of legendary guitarist, arranger, songwriter and producer of mind-altering experimental pop, acid folk and extended psych jams.”
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/sep/15/shin-joong-hyun-korean-psychedelic :

It was in 1957, at the spring variety show at the Eighth US Army base in Seoul, that Shin Joong Hyun gave his first public performance. The 19-year-old had lived through Japanese rule, the subsequent division of Korea into two warring states, and the US "police action" that followed. The Harmony guitar he strummed had been paid for by many hours' toil at a relative's pharmaceutical factory. At the variety show, as girl dancers gyrated for the entertainment of American GIs, Shin played standards and showtunes: tame material for a boy who worshiped Elvis and Charlie Parker.
He'd developed his passion for western music via American Forces Korea Network. "I ended up building my own radio to listen to American music," he says. "It had poor reception and terrible static, but I was just happy that I was able to listen to music. I thought jazz was simply amazing. But, honestly, I enjoyed any music that was played on AFKN.
"During my first performance, the GIs were shouting, 'Hey shorty! Play guitar solo!'" remembers Shin, who duly asked his bandleader for permission. "He gave me this sheet music book and told me to practise … I played my first guitar solo during my next performance: the crowd went wild, and the bandleader raised my wage by 50%."
The following year, Shin cut his first records, covers of Korean pop. His own tastes remained attuned to the west, however. "I remember the first time I heard the Beatles. I was mesmerised by their sound: it was blissful. I tried to mimic them with my four-piece, ADD4."
Shin's pseudo-Merseybeat quartet failed to find success in the Korean market. His embrace of psychedelia would prove a turning point a couple of years later, however, when his new group, Club Date, performed Jefferson Airplane's Somebody to Love live on Korean television, to instant acclaim.
AFKN had clued Shin into the psychedelic sounds then emanating from the US. "I mimicked their music, visuals and sounds without fully understanding what it was," he admits. "Later, I was playing a 'psychedelic' song and some American hippies – antiwar protesters – came to listen. I became friends with them, and they taught me what psychedelic music really was. They also gave me LSD."
After hearing Somebody to Love, local singing duo the Pearl Sisters approached him for creative guidance. Their single Nimah subsequently topped the charts in Korea, and Shin recast himself as a successful performer, producer, songwriter and svengali.
This career is essayed by an excellent new compilation, Beautiful Rivers and Mountains: The Psychedelic Rock Sound of Shin Joong Hyun 1958-1974. It collects choice nuggets of Motown-styled pop (I Don't Like), deep soul (Spring Rain), melancholic folk-pop (The Sun) and Hendrixian acid-rock (J Blues 72).
"It was the most beautiful time of my life," says Shin. But it wasn't to last. In 1972, at the height of his career, the South Korean government requested Shin pen an ode to President Park Chung-Hee and his ruling Republican Party. Shin refused the dictatorship's request; soon, he was blacklisted within South Korea's music industry and his songs banned. Arrested for possession of marijuana in 1975, he was tortured in prison and incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital. "I was miserable. I had no motivation for anything," he says now, of those years of silence.
With Park's assassination in 1979, Shin's gloom began to lift. His music enjoyed a renaissance in South Korea in the 1990s, and in 2008, five decades after Shin first switched on to American pop via his home-built wireless, he finally performed in the US, at the Korean Music festival at the Hollywood Bowl.
"Words can't describe how I feel," he says with a smile, of the acclaim the new compilation has already enjoyed. "I still can't believe people listen to my music across the world."
신중현 - Anthology part I&II [Normal Edition] 9cd box Pony Canyon | 2009년 12월 22일
신중현 - 앤솔로지 파트 1 (Anthology Part 1) 5cd box Pony Canyon | 2008년 02월 01일
신중현 - 앤솔로지 파트 2 (Anthology Part 2) 5cd box Pony Canyon | 2008년 02월 01일
Celebration of the official retirement in 2006, with an overview of 50 years of intense music history! [Shin Joong-Hyun Anthology Part I & II
Composed of nine albums in total. Timeline of 50 Years of Music History by Shin Joo-hyun (1958-2005). Many rare track works that could not be saved because they have not been re-released in the meantime! Shin Ji Hyun's photo book and 100P booklet inserted !!
# Part 1: 1958->1973
# Part 2: This is a 5CD box set from the late 1973s to the last retirement performance of Mr. Shin Shin Hyun from 1973 to 2006.
See the separate pages of Shin Jung Hyun's groups next...