Thanks to Matt at Gusts of Popular Feeling, I just discovered this old article from 1963 in Stars & Stripes about the godfather of Korean rock’n’roll, Shin Joong-hyun (refered to in the article by his stage name when he played for the US Army, Jackie Shin). It is a short article, but complementary, saying that Shin played “the meanest guitar in Korea.”

I am not sure how accurate all the details are in this story (for instance, I thought that Shin got started before 1962, and I think he was born before 1940), but it is interesting that Shin was getting noticed early in his career. I did not know about him winning the KBS jazz contest.

Jackie Shin 1963 S&S