장현 - Jang Hyun (and The Men)
"From this record only the song on Side B(2) got a reissue in CD format in 2002, on The men compilation album. The men was his best days group with Yupjeons and made highest perfectionist songs because of the participation of Son Hak-Rae (Saxophone, Oboe). They played mostly long time Psychedelic numbers and longer than original song at live show. It was a great improvisation performance!! But sadly, live songs weren't recorded. The Men members were Shin Jung-Hyun (Lead guitar and vocal), Lee Tae-Hyun (Bass), Mun Yung-Bae (Drums), Son Hak-Rae (Saxophone, Oboe), Kim Gi-Pyu (Organ),Park Kwang-Su (Vocal) with guest vocalist (Kim Jung-Mi,Lim A-Yung, Jang Hyun etc.)
At this time Shin Jung Hyun had to consider both a Popular and Experimenting approach, like the record company demanded. So Side A contains popular short songs with a Guest singer and Side B are more longer psychedelic songs of his group the Men, with Jang Hyun and the men, Jiyeon and the men, Yoon Young-Kyun. So you must pay attention to Side B songs!!
Side B2 Jandi (Lawn) means Marijuana (local secret language). This song is a very unique and fascinating eastern psychedelic number.
Side B1 Beautiful Rivers and Mountains is a masterpiece song of Korean psychedelica. He wrote this song for a week at Korean group sound office room. This song is a about praising the nature of Korea.
Great psychedelic Gem and Eastern psychedelic style song! And you can hear nice fuzz guitar sounds at the latest section." Folkie Jin.
Remark : "It would be better that Shin Yung-hyun and Shin Chunghyŏn (the same person) is corrected into Shin Joonghyun (he himself prefers this), or Shin Jung-hyeon (wikipedia here). It is a pity that there is no single Romanization of Korean scripts.
SJHeon's band(s) played for the records by Jang Hyun, Kim Jungmi and (partly) by Pearl Sisters. Shin's bands had different names in different periods with ever-changing lineup. Jang Hyun was not a singer in the band Shing Joonghyun and the Men. The lineup for The Men was SHIN Joonghyun (g), Lee Tae-hyun (b), Moon Young-bae (d), Sohn Hak-rae (Oboe, Sax), Kim Kipyo (k). The main vocal of the band was PAK Gwang-su (here), and the other members also participated as vocal. The reason why the title of a record is "Jang Hyun and the Men" is that the side A is for Jang Hyun (as a solo singer) and the side B is for the band "The Men" (only two tracks). Of course, all the JANG Hyun's songs were written by SHIN and the recording session was done by the same band (The Men). All the facts are confirmed through the interviews with the musicians themselves except JANG Hyun who migrated to Los Angeles and dies there in 2008."
Hyunjoon Shin, Ph.D. Researcher IEAS (Institute for East Asian Studies)
This LP is something of a classic as far as Korean Psychedelic Rock goes. Shin Jung Hyun is the guitarist and writer and he is a pretty legendary figure in Korean Rock music. Side A features a number of shorter, more commercial styled songs with Shin Jung Hyun’s band The Men behind featured vocalist Jang Hyun. The first track on Side A is called Twilight and was recently comped by Now-Again on their Forge Your Own Chains international Psych compilation. Side B features two longer tracks performed by Shin Jung Hyun’s band The Men. The first is a long psych/rock burner called Beautiful Rivers & Mountains. The legend has it that Park Jung Hee (the president of Korea’s Military regime at the time) wanted Shin Jung Hyun to compose a song in praise of the President, Regime & the Blue House (presidential house). Shin Jung Hyun protested and came back with a song about the landcsape of Korea and for this protest he was jailed for a time. The second song on Side B is a slow number called The Lawn which is apparently a thinly veiled ode to Marijuana use, pretty heady stuff for early 70s Korea and a really solid listen from start to finish.
Chris Holmes.
"Jang Hyun & The Men "Woman Of The Evening Sun"
1972 Korean Psychedelic masterpiece…!! This LP is something of a classic as far as Korean Psychedelic Rock goes. Shin Jung Hyun is the guitarist and writer and he is a pretty legendary figure in Korean Rock music. Side A features a number of shorter, more commercial styled songs with Shin Jung Hyun’s band The Men behind featured vocalist Jang Hyun. The first track on Side A is called Twilight and was recently comped by Now-Again on their Forge Your Own Chains international Psych compilation. Side B features two longer tracks performed by Shin Jung Hyun’s band The Men. The first is a long psych/rock burner called Beautiful Rivers & Mountains. The legend has it that Park Jung Hee (the president of Korea’s Military regime at the time) wanted Shin Jung Hyun to compose a song in praise of the President, Regime & the Blue House (presidential house). Shin Jung Hyun protested and came back with a song about the landcsape of Korea and for this protest he was jailed for a time. The second song on Side B is a slow number called The Lawn which is apparently a thinly veiled ode to Marijuana use, pretty heady stuff for early 70s Korea and a really solid listen from start to finish. ……. This album is a great treasure of Korean classic rock. If you haven’t figured it out yet, it seems like Shin Jung Hyeon (often misspelled “Hyun”) made all the music in Korea for a period of time. This album is decidedly moody and maybe one of the more subdued albums he ever did to my knowledge. It’s really heavy on the cheesy organ sounds and there’s an oboe on like every song. The opening song “The Evening Sun” sets the tone for the whole album and if you don’t like that song then forget it. My personal favorite song on the album is “Sound of Mind/마음의 소리,” but the album is mostly known for the song right after it “Beautiful Rivers Beautiful Mountains/아름다운 강산.”(Check out the Kim Jung Mi album to hear a shorter but more fun version of the song) "
New 2018 reissue on King records :
장현 and The Men / 석양,안개속의여인,아름다운강산(신중현 작곡집)
1/ A1. 석양
2. 안개 속의 여인
3. 미련
4. 너를 사랑하네
5. 마음의 소리
6 / B1. 아름다운 강산(THE MEN)
7 / B2. 잔디(THE MEN)
reissue will be reviewed soon
180g Virgin Vinyl 日本 東洋化成 Pressing 게이트 폴더 쟈켓, 브로마이드, 스티커 포함 700매 한정반
한국록의 명곡 ‘아름다운 강산’의 오리지널 버전이 수록된 명반
신중현이 결성한 많은 밴드 중 가장 음악적으로나 대중적으로 최고의 성과를 이뤄낸 밴드는 ‘한국적 록 음악의 완성을 이뤘다’고 평가받는 ‘신중현과 엽전들’이다. 하지만, 더 맨을 신중현 음악의 정점이라 평가하는 음악전문가들과 록 애호가들도 상당하다. 이는 더 맨이 더 없이 풍성하고 세련된 한국적 록 사운드를 구현했기 때문일 것이다. 또한 신중현 사단의 전설적인 싸이키델릭 여성보컬리스트 김정미의 발굴과 무엇보다 한국 록의 명곡 <아름다운 강산>이 더 맨 시절에 탄생했음도 중요한 이유일 것이다.
신중현이 리드했던 더 맨은 리드 기타 신중현, 베이스 기타 이태현, 드럼 문영배, 오르간 김기표, 오보에와 색소폰 손학래, 리드 보컬리스트 박광수의 6인조 라인업으로 구성된 록밴드였다. 더 맨의 첫 앨범 제작이 끝나가던 1972년 10월 17일에 군사정권은 비상계엄령을 선포하며 유신정권을 출범했다. 이는 전성기를 내달리던 신중현에게 좌절의 시간이 다가왔음을 예고하는 것이기도 했다. 1972년 10월 29일 유니버샬레코드는 총 7곡을 수록한 더 맨의 첫 독집「장현 and THE Men」을 발매했다.
타이틀곡은 석양을 배경으로 한 앨범 재킷과 어울리는 장현의 히트곡 <석양>이다. 느리게 흐르는 이 노래에서 저음 가수 장현(본명 장준기)이 가성으로 부른 음색은 매력적이다. 1970년 신중현의 창작곡 <기다리겠소>로 데뷔한 장현은 이 앨범 발표 당시 신중현 사단의 가장 인기 있는 남자가수였다. 그는 1975년 활동 금지된 이후에도 베스트 앨범을 양산할 만큼 대중적인 인지도가 높았다.
앨범 타이틀「장현 And The Men」을 보면 1면에 수록한 <석양>,< 안개속의 여인>, <미련>등 전곡을 노래한 장현을 더 맨의 리더나 리드보컬로 오해할 수 있다. 앨범 타이틀은 장현의 인지도를 이용한 음반사의 판매 전략이었을 뿐, 당시 더 맨의 리드보컬은 한국 블루스 보컬의 선구자인 박광수였다. 인기가수 장현을 앞세운 판매 전략 덕분에 이 앨범은 상업적으로 성공을 거두었다. 하지만 상업적 성공여부와 상관없이 이 음반이 한국 록의 명반으로 평가받는 이유는 따로 있다. 2면을 꽉 채운 더 맨의 <아름다운 강산>오리지널 버전과 금지곡 <잔디>가 수록되어 있기 때문이다.
<아름다운 강산>의 오리지널 버전
유신정권이 가동되었던 1972년에 신중현은 “박정희 대통령의 노래를 만들라”는 청와대의 전화 청탁을 거절한 후 온갖 통제에 시달렸다고 전해진다. 그로 인해 유신정권에 강한 거부감을 갖게 된 신중현은 자신이 생각하는 애국가를 만들어보았다. 그 노래가 바로 러닝타임 10분의 대곡 <아름다운 강산>이다. 이 음반을 통해 발표된 <아름다운 강산>의 오리지널 버전은 박광수의 저음 보컬에 신중현 등 멤버들의 코러스가 가미되어 구성했다.
앨범발매 후 박광수는 당시 정부의 장발 단속에 대한 항의 표시로 삭발을 단행했고, 나머지 멤버들은 장발에 머리핀을 꽂아 귀만 드러낸 모습으로 한 지상파 TV 쇼 프로그램에 출연하는 도발을 감행했다. 이들은 태극기가 휘날리는 엄숙한 장면에서 현란한 사이키 조명으로 정권을 조롱하며, 앨범에 수록한 버전보다 훨씬 긴 18분 동안 <아름다운 강산>을 연주했다. 일종의 음악적 시위였다. 방송 출연 이후 더 맨의 멤버들은 요주의 대상으로 낙인찍혔다. 리드 보컬 박광수는 필자와의 인터뷰에서 “<아름다운 강산>은 원래 신중현씨가 통기타로 만든 곡입니다. 처음 이 노래를 선보였던 무대는 청평 페스티벌이었는데 관객들의 반응이 대단했죠.”라고 당시를 회고했다.
<아름다운 강산>과 함께 이 앨범의 대표적인 금지곡인 <잔디>의 제목은 대마초를 상징하는 경상도 지방의 은어이다. 이 곡은 묵직한 박광수의 보컬, 가성으로 부른 신중현의 코러스, 더 맨의 사이키델릭 사운드 연주가 어우러진 한국 록의 숨은 명곡이다. 박광수는 인터뷰에서 “솔직히 저는 <아름다운 강산>보다 <잔디>에 더 애착이 갑니다. 그 노래 때문에 대마초 사건 때 기관에 끌려가 호되게 당했지만요.”라며 노래에 대한 강력한 애정을 드러냈다.
한국 록 음악 최고의 명곡 <아름다운 강산>
<아름다운 강산>은 이후 김정미, 신중현과 엽전들 등 많은 신중현사단 가수의 음반에 재 수록되며 대중 속으로 파고들었다. 하지만 1975년 대마초 파동으로 활동이 금지된 신중현과 운명을 함께했다. 이 앨범은 1972년 10월 발매한 초반이 조기 매진되면서 이듬해인 1973년에 여러 차례 추가 제작되었을 정도의 히트앨범이다. 하지만 판매금지처분이 내려지면서 상당량이 폐기되었고 공개적으로 들을 수 없는 불온(?)한 음반으로 낙인찍히면서 이제는 쉽게 구할 수 없는 희귀 고가음반으로 둔갑했다.
해금 조치 후 컴백한 신중현은 1980년 신중현과 뮤직파워를 결성해 <아름다운 강산>을 다시 불렀다. 이후 이 노래는 이문세, 노브레인 등 수많은 가수들이 리메이크했다. 특히 1988년 이선희가 부른 버전은 폭발적인 인기를 누리며 국민가요로 사랑받는 계기를 마련했다. 그동안 신중현 음반들이 무수하게 재 발매된 점을 생각하면 신중현 음악의 정점인 이 앨범의 재발매는 너무 늦은 감이 있다. 소량의 한정반이긴 해도 180g 중량반으로 제작된 LP와 CD까지 동시에 이뤄진 이 앨범의 재발매는 그 자체만으로 큰 의미가 있다.
글 / 최규성 대중문화평론가. 한국대중가요연구소 대표
Translated with the help of Google Translate :
Jang Hyun and The Men /
Sunset, Woman in the Fog, Beautiful Gangsan (Shin Jung Hyun Composer)
Side. A
1. Sunset
2. Woman in the mist
3. Foolishness
4. I love you
5. The sound of the heart
Side. B
1. THE GREAT MOUNTAIN (THE MEN)
2. THE MEN
180g Virgin Vinyl ; Japan Toyo Kasei Pressing ;
Gate folder jacket, sticker included ; 700 copies limited edition
The original version of Korean rock's famous song 'Beautiful Gangsan'
Among the many bands Shin Jung-hyun has formed with, the band that has achieved the best musical and popular performances was Shin Jung-hyun and Men, who are regarded as having accomplished the greatest Korean rock music. Most music experts and rock enthusiasts consider The Men as the culmination of Shin Jung Hyun's music. This is probably because they embody rich, sophisticated Korean rock sound without any compromise. They also introduced the legendary psychedelic female vocalist Kim Jung-mi under lead of Shin Jung Hyun division and were responsible for the creation of Korean rock most famous song "Beautiful Gangsan.”
Shin Jung Hyun led this rock band consisting of a six-member line-up with lead guitar Shin Jung Hyun, bass guitarist Lee Tae Hyun, drummer Moon Young Bae, organist Kim Ki-pyo, oboe and saxophone player Son Hak Rae and lead vocalist Park Kwang Su. On October 17, 1972, when the first album of The Man was finished, the military regime declared an emergency martial law and launched the Yushin regime. It was going to give Shin Jung-hyun, who was in the prime of his life, a time of frustration. On October 29, 1972, Universal Records released The Man's first solo album, "Jang Hyun and The Men," which included a total of seven songs.
The title song is Jang Hyun's hit song <Sunset> which matches the album jacket with the sunset background. In this slowly flowing song, the tone of the bass singer Jang Hyun (originally named Jang Jun Ki) is fascinating. Chang Hyun, who made his debut with Shin Jung Hyun's original song "I'll Wait" in 1970, was the most popular male singer of the Shin Jung Hyun division at the time of this album release. He was popular enough to produce his best album even after he was banned in 1975.
The album titles "Jang Hyun And The Men" can be misunderstood as if he was a leader or lead vocalist who sang all the songs such as <Sunset>, <Woman in the Fog>, <Mystery> on the first side. The title of the album was the sales strategy of the record company using the recognition of Jang Hyun. At that time, the lead vocal of the Men was however Park Kwang Soo, a pioneer of Korean blues vocals. This album was commercial success thanks to its sales strategy, which was based on the popular singer Jang Hyun. Regardless of the association of commercial success, this record is considered to be a Korean rock album. It contains the original version of "The Beautiful Kangsan" and the forbidden song "The Grass".
The original version of <Beautiful Gangsan>:
In 1972, when the Yushin regime was in operation, Shin Jong-hyun was told that he had been subjected to all kinds of control after rejecting Cheong Wa Dae's call to "make Park Chung-hee's song". As a result, Shin Jung-hyun, who had a strong sense of rejection of the revivalist regime, made his own anthem. The song is a beautiful song with a 10 minute running time. The original version of "Beautiful Gangsan" released on this album was composed of Park Kwang-su's bass and vocals by Shin Jung-hyun and other members' harmony vocals.
After the release of the album, Park Kang-soo went to strive against the government's war against “long-haired scum”, and with the rest of the band they performed a provocation while appearing in a live TV show program with a hairpin inserted in the long hair until it became exposed. They ridiculed the regime with a gorgeous live version of <Kangsan Mountain> for 18 minutes, much longer than the version recorded on the album. It was a sort of musical demonstration of what they were capable of. After appearing on the show, The Men's members were branded as critical targets. Lead vocalist Park Kwang-soo said in an interview with the author, "<Beautiful Kangsan> is a song originally made by Shin Jung-hyun. It was the Cheongpyeong Festival where the first song was shown, and the reaction of the audience was great. " The song "Grass", became a forbidden song along with "Beautiful Gangsan", about the landscapes of Gyeongsang Province, an area which symbolises and refers to the cannabis of the era. This is a hidden masterpiece of Korean rock, which is a combination of heavy vocals by Park Kwang Su, a vocal harmony by Shin Jung Hyun, and a psychedelic sound by The Man. Park Kwang-soo said in an interview, "Honestly, I am more attached to <grass> than to <beautiful Kangsan>, especially for the organ. There’s also an affection to cannabis noticeable in the song.
"Beautiful Kangsan" was later re-recorded on the recordings by many Shin Jung-hyun singers such as Kim Jung-mi, Shin Jung-hyun himself or Seokjeon. However, in 1975, with the war on cannabis also Shin Jung-hyun’s fate was doomed. When the album was firs released in October 1972 it was sold out early. It still was a hit album in 1973 when it was given an additional edition several times in a row in the following year. However, as a result of the prohibition on the sales, most of it has been discarded and branded as a publicly unheard-of record, making it a rare high-priced album that is no longer readily available.
Shin Jung-hyun, who made a comeback after the demolition, formed a music power with Shin Jung-hyun in 1980 playing <Beautiful Gangsan> again. Since then, this song has been rerecorded by many singers such as Lee Munseo and Nobre. In particular, the version sung by Lee Sun-hee in 1988 became an explosive popularity and a chance to be loved again as a national song. I
Although this LP-version is a small volume of limited edition, the reissue of this album, which is made up of LP and CD is significant in itself enough.
Written by Choi Kyu Sung, a popular culture critic. Representative of Korean popular song research institute.
If I read and am informed well enough, this must have been an album accompanied by Shin Jung-Hyun. I assume this must have been at least a double album, or a large LP with a few bonus tracks, because I see a total of 15 songs for over 50 minutes of material., which could have been two LP’s in those days.
Most material is comparable, which means rather melancholic and slightly mellow chansons, with a mainstream public approach. The band is rather interesting although the lead guitarist (Shin Jung-Hyun?) hardly shows much of himself, strumming the rhythms, here and there playing a part of the melody, with soft drums and bass and melancholic organ and some oboe arrangements, which are both nice to hear and shows Shin’s mark in them. A few songs have a light brass arrangement to it. Here and there we also have the whohoo and nananaa backing singers.
The album is really nice but sadly lacks a bit of surprise so that the mainstream pop direction in the end still seems to have domination over the creative potentials that are still noticeable in the background, even though the band and producer seems to have been restricted in the studio arrangements.
Ebay description (Roach Rec.):
"Rare lp out of Korea in the early 70's I'm guessing. I have had this lp for years and never put it on because I found the cover so... well boring. I put it on and it immediately sucked me in, and I don't speak a lick of Korean. The music bounces around from dark folk psych, then switches gears to bouncy pop psych, almost loungy at times, then switches to trippy melodic psych rock. Lot's of echoed and treated vocals, sound effects, crazy swirling organ and keyboards, fuzzed noodly guitar work, female backing vocals that are often haunting, almost spooky sounding..."
장현 / Chang Hyun - 장현 베스트 / Chang Hyun Best / 미련 · 나는 너를 · 마른잎
King Record – KCD-019 cd 12-3-1991
* 1 석양 / Sunset
* 2 미련 / Regrets
3 나는 너를 / I am you
* 4 마른잎 / Dry leaves
5 기다려주오 / Please wait
6 빗속의 여인 / Woman in the Rain
7 오솔길을 따라서 / Along the trail
8 저무는 바닷가 / Slicing beach
* 9 안개속의 여인 / Woman in the Fog
* 10 고독한 마음 / Lonely hearts
11 님은 먼곳에 / Far away
12 검은 머리 / Dark hair
13 가버린 사람아 / You who have gone
14 사랑의 상처 / Wounds of love
15 잔듸에 누워 / Lying down feast
장현 힛트앨범(석양/미련) Universal KLS-75 1973, 1974-06-08,1976-08-14 LP
2008-09-02 Pony Canyon Korea (PCSD-00271, 8805636062710) CD
* 1. 석양 / Sunset
* 2. 미련 / Regret
3. 기다려주오 / Please wait
* 4. 안개를 헤치고 / Through the fog
5. 마음의 소리 / The sound of the heart
6. 안개 속의 여인 / Woman in the mist
7. 무소식이 희소식 / No news is good news
8. 타향에서 만난 사람 / Meeting people from other villages
9. 너를 사랑하네 / I love you
10. 외롭지 않아요 / I'm not lonely
Tracks with * I consider essential listens or classics from a western point of view of listening, as tracks to check out for sure because they seem to stand out as such. This 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.
Psychefolk Radio show comments: "Far less impressive than the more psychedelic SJH& The Men release, while this is still very enjoyable, mostly in a more relaxed way. But this specific (chosen) track has something pretty wild too."
Jang Hyun was already the singer featuring on the famous Shin Yung-Hyu & The Men release. On the SJH side was featured one of the most famous and most beautiful songs Shin Yung Hyun had ever written. This was arranged with some additional oboe. Where SJH and the Men sounded also musically inspired from start to finish, this album sounds like a shadow repetition of a successful formula with a similar but not so creative band, and with use of oboe and organ just like before, and with some sparse orchestrations, with several often melancholic songs, or otherwise it is the band that makes these songs more melancholic.
It is a relaxed band which sound improvised, without ever being inventive or without really taking the time to add more creative ideas as if there wasn't time to build on these. Just a bit of organ, a chachacha idea, some trumpet and a slight touch of fuzz guitar on the seventh track, or some tiny spaces of time for the organ are added, not yet making the “extra” that could uplift this band to something further.
The album is really enjoyable but the “good idea” of performing, of a psych-era related band sound now is already stretched to some degree.
Update : This now sold-out album has again been reissued by the label under the Shin Joong Hyun-Masterpiece Gold Series as Jang Hyun but it is also listed as Shin Joong Hyun/Jang Hyun (2011) ->
CD release date: Oct 20, 2011; Pony Canyon
1 미련 2 안개를 헤치고 3 석양 4 기다려 주오 5 안개속의 여인
6 무소식이 희소식 7 태양에서 만난사람 8 외롭지 않아요 9 너를 사랑하네 10 마음의 소리
I have reviewed this item before, its previous, sold out reissue. This is the new reissue. I didn't check this copy. If the (lack of a good sound) quality is the same as the other albums on this series this second reissue is to avoid.
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BIOGRAPHY:
장현(본명 장준기, 1945 ~ 2008.11.30) 부산출생, 명지대 무역학전공
1970년 대구 수성관광호텔 나이트클럽에서 노래를 불렀는데 이때 신중현을 만나 〈기다려주오〉, 〈안개 속의 여인〉 등을 발표하며 1970년 11월 데뷔를 했다. 이후 중저음의 허스키한 음색으로 〈미련〉, 〈나는 너를〉, 〈마른 잎〉 등을 부르면서 대중의 사랑을 받았다. 1975년 대마초 파동으로 가수활동을 그만두고, 신중현과 인연도 끊었다.
1976년 결혼 후 사업가로 변신해서 크게 성공했다.
1994년 위암4기 판정을 받고 투병생활과 사업을 병행하다가, 한국과 미국을 오가며 무대에 서기도 했으나, 암이 폐로 전이되어 2008년 11월 30일 새벽, 폐암의 합병증인 폐렴으로 62세 나이로 별세하였다.
Jang Hyun (Real Name Jang Joon Ki, 1945 ~ November 30, 2008) Born in Busan, Korea
In 1970, he sang at the Daegu Suseong Tourist Hotel Nightclub. At the time, he met Shin Joong-hyun and made his debut in November 1970, releasing `` Wait for me '' and "Woman in the fog ''. Later, he was loved by the public by singing "Full"', " I"' and `"Dry Leaves" in a husky bass tone. In 1975, he stopped being a singer due to the cannabis wave.
After getting married in 1976, he became a businessman.
In 1994, he was diagnosed with the 4th stage of gastric cancer, and he struggled with his business. He went on a stage between Korea and the United States.
