Talented musician of Tay Do land Luu Huu Phuoc

Members of Hoang Mai Luu Group. From left to right: Huynh Van Tieng, Luu Huu Phuoc, Mai Van Bo. Photo courtesy

Until 1974, at the end of the year. I came from the South to Hanoi , heard that Mr. Tu - musician Luu Huu Phuoc - called Mr. Bao Dinh Giang, inviting me to his house to play. That day, he reserved a day for me in the Southwest.

I arrived in the morning, and Tu was at home to welcome me. We ate candy, drank tea, and answered a few questions about the current situation in the South. I also answered to make Tu happy. Actually, I did not know Tu's family in Can Tho , they were upper class, so he, Tieng, and Bo had more convenience in going to school than others. Tu said: "This house used to be a mansion of the Westerners, but now the government has assigned me to be the reception office for the National Liberation Front Committee of South Vietnam with foreign friends." The house is big and luxurious. But very few people live there. In the back corridor there is a musician who is "dirt poor" named Huynh Tho. Seeing me with Tu, Huynh Tho ran out to greet me and said he was from the South, staying in the back corridor of the building.

Later I found out: Right here, Mr. Tu Luu Huu Phuoc was considering for many months when to publish the wonderful song by musician Tran Kiet Tuong - "HO CHI MINH THE MOST BEAUTIFUL NAME" - would Uncle Ho be pleased? Mr. Tu turned on the tape player for the leaders to listen carefully. The intention was to ask Uncle Ho's permission to publish this song, but before he could prepare, singer Quoc Huong was impatient to sing it for Uncle Ho first. Uncle Ho "remained silent" but happily accepted, making the music world of the whole country happy. The song partly responded to Uncle Ho's gratitude. Most importantly, it expressed the hearts of the Southern people towards Uncle Ho. Mr. Tu "showed off" to me the success of Mr. Tran Kiet Tuong.

I said, we in the Southwest have arranged your songs into musical scenes. Like “Dien Hong Conference”, “Bach Dang River”. As for your song “Southeast Asia”, you almost forgot it and didn’t include it in the collection. I have to sing it again for you.

“The sky lifts the sunlight to cover all of Asia: Slaves break out of prisons. The flag of freedom flies over the glorious Pacific Ocean, covering the mountains and hills, and over the Indian Ocean...”

Mr. Tu was touched. I didn’t expect that I knew most of the songs by heart. He thanked me and begged me to copy down the poems I composed for him as souvenirs. I copied “The Forest and Sea of My Hometown” and “The Road to the City” for him.

For me and my comrades, the memories of Tu Luu Huu Phuoc are even more warm and intimate. In times of danger and hardship, his lyrics suddenly arose like a sacred encouragement: "From the trenches, one day when I heard Uncle Ho's voice, my heart lit up like a flower blooming..." - from the song "Uncle Ho's love brightens my life" by Luu Huu Phuoc. And the triumphant song seemed to urge everyone to raise their voices when they all raised their voices in the march: "To liberate the South, we are determined to move forward together, destroy the American imperialists, and defeat the traitors..." - from his song "Liberate the South".

Nguyen Ba

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/nhac-si-tai-danh-dat-tay-do-luu-huu-phuoc-a188149.html