Yeongene – Bonnie Gene : Yeongene In Scotland

Korean singer Yeongene and Duglas T. Stewart of Scotland’s BMX Bandits are a match made in musical heaven as they combine forces to present the music of the American maestro and living legend Burt Bacharach. Besides the aforementioned Stewart, 왕연진 Yeongene Wang is also backed instrumentally by a host of top-tier Scottish musicians like Stevie Jackson (Belle & Sebastian), Gabriel Telerman (the Pearlfishers), Eugene Kelly (the Vaselines), topped off by backing vocals from Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) and arrangements & engineering by David Scott (the Pearlfishers). This 2010 collection from Glasgow’s PoppyDisc combines two stellar releases, which were previously individually released in 2006 by Beatball Music in Korea. PoppyDisc partitions the collection into two chapters with Chapter One being Me & My Burt, the aforementioned Burt Bacharach songbook project, aptly followed by Chapter Two which is the Saveoursmiles release from Yeongene Vs BMX Bandits. The streamlined beauty of this release is that it gathers together all of Yeongene’s music with BMX Bandits in one complete package.

Chapter One - Me & My Burt (A Burt Bacharach Songbook) 

The soundtrack for Lost Horizon is as infamous as the 1973 box-office failure it accompanied in that it completely severed the once-inseparable musical partnership between lyricist Hal David and Bacharach. The fiasco also damaged Burt’s working relationship with Dionne Warwick to further rub salt in the wound. In any case, Yeongene’s elegant rendition of the main theme fares much better than hirsute folkie Shawn Phillips as her voice is perfectly suited to interpreting the layered lushness of the Bacharach songbook. Yeongene is also certainly up to the musical task of traversing the shifting time signatures and intricacies which place Bacharach compositions in a class of their own.

Accomplished

Yeongene had decades of musical experience to prepare for these releases. After years of piano study, Yeongene joined the Korean indie-pop outfit Linus’ Blanket in 2001 on a holiday lark. In time, she came to lead the group before eventually recording solo under the name. While gentle guitar-driven indie-pop with jazz accents was Linus’ Blanket’s forte (and perfect for H Mart background music), her sound began to swing in more ragtime and jazz age directions in the subsequent years before further expanding and diversifying into even more styles. Nonetheless, the versatile Yeongene is said to be a prodigy who can play back a song on a keyboard right after hearing it.

Sturm und Drang

Next, Yeongene turns to “Tower of Strength,” an early Bacharach collaboration with lyricist Bob Hilliard, that would go on to be Gene McDaniels’ second biggest hit behind his signature song "A Hundred Pounds of Clay.” Yeongene delivers the song with a plea for the necessary strength to withstand the burn of being spurned. “Wives and Lovers” has been a long-time favorite with the jazz set and here it is delivered with a major nod to Brubeck's tugging “Take 5,” while Yeongene incants “Time to Get Ready for Love” like Ranny Sinclair. With Yeongene’s voice providing the requisite soft touch, the effervescent “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” is the first of the indisputable Bacharachian standards that will have you humming it for days.

Vegas Vernacular I was previously familiar with “It Doesn’t Matter Any More” by the Cyrkle from their Neon album.  The inclusion of a pronounced 12-string guitar and bump-a-bump-bah's in the middle eight are especially fitting touches heard on Yeongene’s version in which her vocals are seemingly layered over BMX Bandits’ backing track for their contribution to Big Deal’s 1998 Burt Bacharach tribute album. “Try to See it My Way,” would make a perfect placement in a Korea drama. Its jazzy guitar flourishes and a sax solo add embellishments that were not present on previous versions by Joannie Sommers and Peggy March. “Promise Her Anything” will have you recalling the ultra-swank Tom Jones version that would sound best in Las Vegas at the Monte Carlo late night show. In contrast, Yeongene’s rendition would perfectly blend into the sunlit confines of a natural wood coffee bar of the imagination or even the Peppermill Coffee Shop & Lounge up on Las Vegas Blvd. Growing up in the ‘70s, I didn’t think I ever wished to hear the shopworn evergreen “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” ever again, then I heard Yeongene’s buoyant interpretation that is light on its feet with her adept handling of the fluid tempo change in the jaunty outro. Her voice goes along with the music like water and a slide. Overall, Yeongene’s vocals are well attuned and suited to the sounds of the heartfelt Scottish pop like Dionne Warwick’s elegant voicings fell perfectly in place interpreting the daunting compositions & arrangements of Bacharach and expressing the lyrics of Hal David.

Peppermill Coffee Shop & Lounge 
Las Vegas, NV

Chapter Two - Yeongene Vs BMX Bandits

Chapter 2 begins after the intermission of “Jean,” a wistful Rod McKuen composition and like 1957’s “Tammy” by Debbie Reynolds, it shares the characteristics of being a 3/4 ballad and a movie theme titled after the main female protagonist. The poptastic “Do You Really Love Me,” is delivered in Midwestern mid-sixties pop style (i.e.,Tommy James and the Shondells, the McCoys). The song is testament that this was songwriter Daniel Johnson’s finest moment as he brilliantly gets to the heart of the matter with a catchy song that will plant a smile on your face in the face of uncertainty. The lightheartedness of “Ally Ally Oxen Free,” another Rod McKuen composition, reminds me of Death by Chocolate’s cover of “If You Want to Sing Out Sing Out,” from film Harold and Maude. “Come on Out and Play” is a total bubblegum TV theme song replete with a bouncy bass and a modulation that will put a spring in your step.

Isn't She Great?

Sometimes it takes the combined efforts of a Korean and several Scots to reapproach and recast some of the finest sophisticated pop songs in American music. I hope they will consider another volume as the possibilities are vast. How about choice selections from totally ignored Together? and Isn't She Great? soundtracks? What about the schlock of “Arthur’s Theme” (Best That You Can Do) or the mighty MOR of “Something Big,” which briefly cracked the top 40 in 1971 for Mark Lindsay? Moreover, one can never go wrong with his ‘60s songs like “Reach Out for Me,“ the Pitney pairing of ”24 Hours From Tulsa,” “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” or the towering peak-era centerpieces “The Look of Love, “The Windows of the World.” and “What the World Needs Now Is Love.” This shining hour is recommended for those who like Scottish pop, Rod McKuen, K-pop, and/or Burt Bacharach, which should just about cover everyone by this point.