Genius Tran Van Trach: Multi-talented, the founder of humorous music

Musician Tran Van Trach is a multi-talented artist who has participated in almost every field of the art world and he is also the one who gave birth to the humorous music genre with many immortal songs that have touched people's hearts.

Tran Van Trach was born in 1924, 3 years younger than Tran Van Khe. As a child, like his brother, Tran Van Trach attended primary school at Collège de My Tho (My Tho High School) until he was 18 years old (1942) and then left school. From a young age, he had a talent for music, and was taught by his aunt, Miss Ba Vien, so he was quite proficient in playing the zither and the pipa. He also studied the mandolin with his brother Tran Van Khe and the violin with his cousin Nguyen My Ca. In his teens, he was able to play the popular French songs of the time.

Talking about his younger brother, Professor Tran Van Khe wrote: "When Trach was born, the whole family was happy. My grandfather wanted to name his children and grandchildren with the Water element, so my father's name was Trieu, which means water, my name was Khe, which means stream, and my younger brother's name was Trach, which means pond or swamp. But from the time he was one, every time someone in the house called my younger brother "Trach oi!", the children of the neighbor with the same name felt uncomfortable, so they went to my grandfather to give little Trach a different name, so that his grandmother would not be called by her name." From then on, although the family register still named him Tran Van Trach, little Trach was called by the new name "Khe em", and Tran Van Khe was called "Khe anh". In the family and the whole Vinh Kim village, everyone called the two brothers "Khe anh" and "Khe em".

Professor Tran Van Khe continued: "Although we are 3 years apart, we are inseparable, like twins. We go to bed at night and wake up in the morning at the same time, and eat the same snacks: a package of cooked corn, a package of sticky rice with beans or sticky rice with grated coconut and sesame salt. Every meal, we sit close to each other, go swimming in the river, learn to ride bicycles, learn Shaolin martial arts with Mr. Thuan, son of Mr. Khuong, and even urinate and defecate at the same time."

After Tran Van Khe went to Saigon to study at Petrus Ky School and then to Hanoi to study medicine, Tran Van Trach also left his hometown to go to Saigon to pursue a music career. But just over a year later, in his hometown, Miss Ba Vien (who was like the biological mother of the three Tran Van Khe brothers) fell seriously ill. Because of filial piety, "Khe em" had to abandon all plans halfway and return home to fulfill her filial piety. Professor Tran Van Khe said: "When my aunt was seriously ill, her tuberculosis had reached the third stage, and a sputum test showed Koch bacteria. My aunt had a very loyal maid who volunteered to take care of her when she was sick. But Trach, determined to quit his job and return to Vinh Kim village, found a job in partnership with a cousin to make a ceramic kiln and every day rode a pedicab to take my aunt to catch the wind at Chim Chim intersection, more than 1 kilometer from my aunt's house. Trach hired a pedicab with cushioned seats, and every day when the sun was setting, Trach rode his bicycle to take my aunt to catch the wind...".

At that time, in My Tho, there was a French family working as civil servants. This Frenchman had feelings for a student who played the guitar and sang well, Tran Van Trach. When Japan overthrew France in 1945, the Frenchman was arrested and taken to a concentration camp in Saigon. Before leaving, he entrusted his family to Trach to look after. He had a very beautiful grown-up daughter and the handsome man and beautiful woman met, their love affair led to the birth of a child. When the Viet Minh movement arose, Tran Van Khe joined the National Salvation Youth. Tran Van Trach took his French wife and young child to the resistance zone to find him. Then, after meeting him in Can Tho, Tran Van Trach was admitted to the Southern Military Music Team and the two brothers relived their childhood, eating together at the same table and sleeping under the same roof.

The father of comedy music

After Japan surrendered in World War II, the French army returned to Vietnam, and tea rooms in Saigon were allowed to reopen. Tran Van Trach returned to Saigon and applied to work as an animator and singer at Dancing Théophile in the Dakao area. Later, he opened a small tea room on Lagrandière Street (now Ly Tu Trong Street, Ho Chi Minh City). Around 1946-1947, Tran Van Trach and his sister Tran Ngoc Suong opened a music bar in Ban Co area (now District 3, Ho Chi Minh City). In order to attract customers, Mr. Trach often sang French songs for French soldiers, so his friends gave him a very Western name, Tracco. While accompanying his brother in the military band, Tran Van Trach met musician Le Thuong. Seeing that Tran Van Trach had a hidden charm mixed with humor, Le Thuong wrote a comedy song for his friend to perform. That was the song "Peace 48", Trach sang imitating the sound of cannons, the sound of planes dropping bombs... Trach performed successfully, Le Thuong was inspired to continue writing the song "United Nations" sung in French, English, Russian, Chinese; then the song "Saigon Newspaper Village" criticizing journalists who lied, followed the French colonialists... also sung by Mr. Trach. Because of these songs, Le Thuong and Tran Van Trach were once arrested by the police and detained at Catinat police station for several days.

In 1949, Tran Van Trach came up with the idea of opening a grand concert - a comprehensive art program including singing, dancing, music, drama, circus, magic... Tran Van Trach conquered many audiences across the country, since then the name "grand concert" became popular. In 1951, starting from Nam Viet theater, Mr. Trach brought music to movie theaters to perform before the main movie show. This method was also welcomed by many viewers and the phrase "sideshow art program" was born from that. Tran Van Trach also composed humorous songs to perform himself. The song "Anh phu cyclo" was his first composition. He continued to write comedy songs such as "The Telephone", "The Wristwatch", "The Fountain Pen", "The Unemployed Guy", "The Tornado Department", "Don't Worry", "I Play the Cinema", "The Old Car", "The Vietnamese Tank"... Every song of his makes listeners laugh, enjoying the charm and humor of the lyrics, melody and the performance of the author himself.

Multi-talented "freak"

In addition to his singing and composing career, Tran Van Trach also collaborated with the Vietnamese film industry in its infancy. In 1955, he collaborated with My Phuong Film Company in France, producing two films: "Humanity" (1955) and "Drop of Blood" (1956). He co-starred in both films with artist Kim Cuong. After leaving the above film company, Tran Van Trach collaborated with Chinese people in Cho Lon to establish Viet Thanh Film Company and directed two films about Vietnamese fairy tales: "Thoai Khanh - Chau Tuan" (1956, with Kim Cuong and Van Hung) and "Truong Chi - My Nuong" (1956, co-starring Trang Thien Kim and La Thoai Tan).

In 1961, after a 6-month tour in France, he returned to Saigon with a new performance, a puppet show he learned in France. At the same time, Saigon music lovers were delighted with Tran Van Trach's voice singing the song "Chieu mua bien gioi" by musician Nguyen Van Dong in the sound track style (the music was recorded by a French band on a tape). The song "Chieu mua bien gioi" with Tran Van Trach's voice stood firm in Saigon's modern music scene for more than ten years, almost no singer in Saigon sang this song through Tran Van Trach. From 1965 to early 1975, Tran Van Trach was also a "manager", specializing in organizing youth music programs. Around the mid-1960s, starting from a newspaper article, the nickname "Monster Tran Van Trach" appeared in Saigon, associated with the multi-talented artist who stirred up the stage every time he appeared.

Most people in Saigon and the whole South cannot forget the song "National Lottery" composed by Tran Van Trach himself and sung every Saturday afternoon, when Saigon Radio broadcast live the weekly lottery program. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the lottery movement, along with the gambling, flourished throughout Saigon and the whole South. The song, sung by Tran Van Trach's attractive voice, further urged the people: "Building the country/ Helping our compatriots/ Building thousands of people/ Building houses/ Beautifying the country/ Through so many hardships/ We vow to build/ In the golden dream/ Millionaires are coming/ Only ten dollars/ Buying a car and house/ How rich will it be...".

In December 1977, Tran Van Trach left Saigon to settle in Paris (France), where he continued to live close to his brother, Professor Tran Van Khe. From then on, Tran Van Trach almost gave up his artistic activities and turned to other jobs to make a living. Tran Van Trach passed away on April 12, 1994, at the age of 70. He was buried at the Cimetière Intercommunal cemetery in Valenton, a suburb of Paris. On the day he passed away, his brother, Professor Tran Van Khe, was in Vietnam collecting traditional national music. Professor Tran Van Khe immediately flew back to Paris to preside over the funeral of his younger brother, the brother who had been close to him during his youth and accompanied him on his vast artistic path.

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