Magical Nights – Saigon Surf Twist & Soul (1964-1966)

During the mid-’60s, South Vietnam had a thriving music scene, with singers and bands filling stages all over Saigon belting out their takes on American styles like jazz and blues, not to mention rock & roll. One singer stood out from the rest, thanks to her incandescent vocals, but also due to the unique sound she and her collaborators came up with. Making a rousing blend of surf, R&B, and early rock & roll dubbed action music, Phuong Tâm could belt like Wanda Jackson, growl like Brenda Lee, croon wistfully like Connie Francis, and put over a ballad like Dinah Washington
While she did this, the musicians behind her made a glorious racket on the rockers made for dancing and poured sweet syrup over the romantic slow numbers. ‘Magical Nights: Saigon Surf, Twist & Soul 1964-1966’ is the result of dedicated efforts to recover Tâm’s musical legacy and is a treasure trove of music that was thought to be lost forever. Tâm’s daughter and a crew of collectors/preservationists did an exhaustive search of Vietnamese thrift stores to try and find clean copies of the ultra-rare vinyl; they also had some luck on auction sites. In the end they managed to track down and clean up enough music to present Tâm’s career as the brilliant convergence of styles and sounds that it is
Much of the disc is made up of dance songs designed to get people doing the twist or hully gully, working up a sweat while being treated to Tâm’s elastic exhortations. The guitars are spiky, the rhythm section ounces like a welterweight and the horns cut through the decades of static like a clarion call. Add Tâm to the mix and it’s some crackling rock & roll fun. She shines too on the slower songs; whether they are jazzy vamps, string-laden heartbreakers, or creepy crawly twists, her vocals are always the shining cherry on top of the perfectly arranged songs. Pick any track on ‘Magical Nights’ and one will discover a singer whose name should be up there with the greats of her era. It’s a little sad that her time on stage and record didn’t last longer, but it is amazing that this collection exists to shed light on a singer and music scene nearly lost to the ravages of war and time