Shin Jung-hyeon (, or ; born January 4, 1938), also transliterated as Shin Joong-hyun or Sin Junghyeon, is a South Korean rock guitarist and singer-songwriter often referred to as Korea's "Godfather of Rock." A pioneer of

Korean rock Korean rock (Hangul: 한국의 록) is rock music from South Korea. It has roots in American rock, which was imported to South Korea by U.S. soldiers fighting in the Korean War and stationing in U.S. military bases in South Korea after the war. Arou ...

music, Shin is known for forming South Korea's first rock band, Add4, in 1962 and for being at the forefront of the country's

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

scene of the 1960s and 1970s. He wrote his most famous song, "Beautiful Rivers and Mountains," in protest of the military dictatorship of

Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...

in 1972. Shin was later imprisoned and tortured by Park's regime, and his music was banned until the 1980s. He experienced a resurgence in popularity in the 1990s and has since received numerous accolades recognizing his contributions to South Korean popular music.

Early life

Shin Jung-hyeon was born in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

in 1938, during the

Japanese occupation of Korea Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon, Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji period, Meiji government, military ...

. His mother died when he was a child, and his father later married a Japanese woman. Shin spent his youth with his father and step-mother living in

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...

and Japan. After they returned to what had become South Korea, Shin's father died in 1952, and his stepmother died the following year. After her death, Shin moved to

, where he worked in a pharmaceutical factory and attended night school. During this time, he taught himself to play guitar after a failed attempt at learning to play the violin.

Career

Beginnings

In 1957, when he was 19 years old, Shin made his debut at a U.S. military base in South Korea, one of the few places where South Korean musicians could find regular work at the time. Shin had been inspired by the American rock,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and, later,

he heard on the American Forces Korea Network radio station. Using the stage name Jackie Shin, he gained immense popularity performing on bases, and was performing up to 40 shows per month at one point. Shin later said that the U.S. military bases were where

was born.

Solo album and first South Korean rock band

Shin released his first album, ''Hiki Shin Guitar Melody,'' in 1958. The album included original songs in a variety of styles, covers of traditional Korean music, and covers of the hit American instrumental songs " Honky Tonk" and " Green Onions." Today, the album is highly valued by record collectors, and a copy of the original

vinyl record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

was worth an estimated 10 million KRW in 2016. In 1964, Shin's rock band Add4 released its first album, ''The Woman in the Rain''. Add4 is considered to be South Korea's first rock band.

Mainstream success and psychedelic soul

However, Shin did not achieve mainstream success in South Korea until 1968, when he produced the album ''My Dear'' for the singing duo The Pearl Sisters. The album, which included the hit songs "My Dear" and "A Cup of Coffee," was a huge success and went on to sell more than 1 million copies. For the next several years, Shin wrote songs and produced hit records for young musicians including Kim Chu-ja, with whom he made the album ''Before It's Too Late''. Many of these recordings featured Shin's trademark psychedelic soul sound.

"Beautiful Rivers and Mountains" and arrest

In 1972, the office of South Korean president

asked Shin to write a song in praise of the president. Shin refused and instead wrote a 10-minute long song about the beauty of South Korea, called "Beautiful Rivers and Mountains," which he recorded with his band at the time, Shin Joong Hyun & The Men. After the release of the song, police confiscated Shin's guitars and cut his long hair, which was banned at the time by the South Korean government. However, in 1974, his new band, Shin Joong Hyun & Yup Juns released their self-titled first album, which sold over 1 million copies and included the hit song, "Beautiful Woman." In 1975, Shin was arrested for possession of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

after giving away a plant to a friend of the president's son, even though marijuana was not yet illegal at the time of his arrest. He was subsequently imprisoned and tortured. He was later imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital. After his release, Shin was banned from performing in South Korea, until after the assassination of Park Chung-hee in 1979. Regarding the assassination, Shin said, "God took Park and opted to save me." However, in the meantime, the public's taste in music had changed, according to Shin. "It was all, 'Let's work hard,' and 'Let's be happy' kind of stuff. It was completely physical, with no spirit, no mentality, no humanity," he later said. Because he could not perform, he turned to producing and song-writing, among other occupations.

Later career and retirement

During the 1980s, Shin ran a music club in Itaewon, a Seoul neighborhood popular with foreign visitors and U.S. military personnel. He opened Woodstock, another music club, in southeast Seoul in 1986 and ran it and taught there for the next two decades. In the 1990s, Shin's music experienced a renaissance of popularity in South Korea. Cho Kwon Woo, Shin Hyo Bom and Bom Yarom Kaul Kyou recorded new versions of his songs, as did his son, Shin Daechul. Shin announced his retirement in 2006. His "farewell" concert aired over the course of 10 nights in December of that year on South Korean television station EBS. However, Shin returned to the stage in 2008 for his first concert in the United States at the Korean Music Festival at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

. In 2010, he became the first Asian musician and the sixth in the world to be the recipient of a Fender Custom Shop Tribute Series guitar, joining

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus ...

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...

, and

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

. Shin had used Fender guitars for much of his career. The following year, in 2011,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

-based Light in the Attic Records released the first U.S. pressings of Shin's music. He was honored by

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

with an honorary Doctor of Music Award in 2017.

Personal life

Shin was married to Myeong Jeong-gang, the first South Korean female drummer and a member of Blue Ribbons, until she died on March 23, 2018. They had three sons: Shin Daechul, guitarist for the heavy metal band Sinawe; Shin Yunchul, a singer and guitarist; and Shin Seokchul, a session drummer.

Discography

: # is recently reissued The

Add 4 Shin Jung-hyeon (, or ; born January 4, 1938), also transliterated as Shin Joong-hyun or Sin Junghyeon, is a South Korean rock guitarist and singer-songwriter often referred to as Korea's "Godfather of Rock." A pioneer of Korean rock music, Sh ...

Era * (1959) Guitar Melody Compilation

hin Jung-hyeon Hin or HIN may refer to: People * Cornelis Hin (1869–1944), Dutch Olympic sailor * Frans Hin (1906–1968), Dutch Olympic sailor * Johan Hin (1899–1957), Dutch Olympic sailor Science and technology * Hin recombinase, a protein * Hin, an anc ...

* (1964) The Woman in Rain-The Add 4 First Album dd 4* (1966) The Ventures of Korea, Add 4 : Shin Jung-hyeon Insturumental Arrange Compilation Vol.1 dd 4* (1967) The Woman in Rain

looz Tet Borgloon (; french: Looz, ; li, Loeën) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006, Borgloon had a total population of 10,697. The total area is 51.12 km2 (19.74 sq mi) which gives a population d ...

* (1968) Enjoy the Guitar Instrumental Twist dd 4 The Superstar Era : producer, singer-songwriter and guitarist * (1969) Green Apple

* (1969) No/Spring Rain ee Jeong-hwa / Donkeys# * (1969) Before too late / Sgt.Kim from Vietnam im Chu-ja# * (1969) Bell-bottom Trousers/Dear

earl Sisters Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Old Norse, Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "Germanic ch ...

# * (1970) Hello/You're a Fool uestions* (1970) Hit Instrumental Compilation vol.1

* (1970) In-A-Kadda-Da-Vida hin Jung-hyeon / Questions# * (1971) Sound

hin Jung-hyeon and his combo band Hin or HIN may refer to: People * Cornelis Hin (1869–1944), Dutch Olympic sailor * Frans Hin (1906–1968), Dutch Olympic sailor * Johan Hin (1899–1957), Dutch Olympic sailor Science and technology * Hin recombinase, a protein * Hin, an anc ...

* (1972) Setting Sun/Woman in the Mist/Beautiful Korea ang Hyeon / Shin Jung-hyeon and The Men# ** Partly reissued as CD 'GeoJitMalIYa', three 20 mins psyche jam pieces * (1972) No/Don't Say to Go im Jeong-mi# * (1972) Angel/I ... You eo Yu-seok# * (1972) Your Dream/Little Ship ang Hee-eun# ** Shin Jung-hyeon's compositions of Seo Yu-seok and Yang Hee-eun albums reissued as 1CD * (1973) Wind im Jeong-mi# * (1973) Now im Jeong-mi# Shin Jung-hyeon Bands Era * (1974) The Beauty/Think of You

hin Junh-hyeon and YeopJeons Hin or HIN may refer to: People * Cornelis Hin (1869–1944), Dutch Olympic sailor * Frans Hin (1906–1968), Dutch Olympic sailor * Johan Hin (1899–1957), Dutch Olympic sailor Science and technology * Hin recombinase, a protein * Hin, an an ...

# * (1975) Beautiful Korea/Mountain and River hin Jung-hyeon and YeopJeons# * (1975) Instrumental Best hin Jung-hyeon and YeopJeons# * (1980) Nobody Here But/Whenever See You

hin Jung-hyeon and Music Power Hin or HIN may refer to: People * Cornelis Hin (1869–1944), Dutch Olympic sailor * Frans Hin (1906–1968), Dutch Olympic sailor * Johan Hin (1899–1957), Dutch Olympic sailor Science and technology * Hin recombinase, a protein * Hin, an anc ...

# * (1980) Please Wait/Even Your Leaving

* (1982) The Satellite I Shot/As Waiting Somebody

# * (1983) Let's Go/Happy

hin Jung-hyeon and SeNaGeuNe Hin or HIN may refer to: People * Cornelis Hin (1869–1944), Dutch Olympic sailor * Frans Hin (1906–1968), Dutch Olympic sailor * Johan Hin (1899–1957), Dutch Olympic sailor Science and technology * Hin recombinase, a protein * Hin, an anc ...

Solo * (1988) During the Days/Winter Park

* (1994/2CD) Do Nothing, Let it be

* (1997/2CD) A Tribute to Shin Jung-hyeon arious Artists* (1998/2CD) Kim SatGat

* (2002/5CD Box) Not for Rock

* (2002/2CD Box) Body and Feel

* (2006) The Crane of a City

* (2006) Comfortably Safe

* (2007) Anthology

Awards and honors

In 2008, Shin won the Lifetime Achievement award at the

Korean Music Awards The Korean Music Awards () is an annual South Korean music awards show that honors both mainstream and underground musical artists from a variety of genres. Unlike other major South Korean music awards, which largely rely on record sales to det ...

. At the 2011 Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards, the South Korean government awarded Shin the Bogwan Order of Cultural Merit (3rd class) for "expanding the spectrum of Korean popular music." In 2017, Shin received an honorary degree from the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The president of the college said that Shin "helped build the foundation upon which the global success of South Korean popular music rests."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shin, Jung-hyeon 1938 births Living people Musicians from Seoul Singers from Seoul South Korean male singers South Korean rock guitarists South Korean rock singers South Korean singer-songwriters South Korean male singer-songwriters