Jigu
"Pul Sisters" / Pearl Sisters : Golden -2cd- (KO,comp.1970s,re.2006)***°/**°°
aieplayed : CD1, Tr.2, 3 min, tr.3, 4 min, Tr.6, 4 min, Tr.11, 3 min, Tr.14, 3 min, CD2, Tr.1, 3 min 21
I airplayed the Pearl Sisters before when they participated with Shin Yung-Hyun on their earliest recordings. But also here on their later works they're still worth discovering. This album proves this well. The voices are recorded a bit too loud but the music is great. Entertaining 70s Korean pop/rock at its most attractive. The instrumental on track 14 has a what we call "surf guitar" lead and nice sax solos, and strings and such.
For a large part, the music of the first CD is rooted in American music of the late 50s mostly. The voice harmonies of the sisters are reminiscent of the Kessler Sisters my girlfriend told me, which is actually very true. The arrangements are professional, with full band, pop/rock instruments, and brass and orchestral elements. The voices are often recorded shamelessly loud which does not always makes the best mix, it still sounds all right on good equipment, but sometimes the bigger than necessary contrast against the music can become a bit annoying. Some tracks have more rock elements, like here and there a surf guitar, but also a sax or flute solo. The last track is a good instrumental by the rock band with again some surf guitar.
The second album is also well arranged, orchestrations with the pop/rock band, often the roots tend to entertain in easy-in-the-ear dance rhythms which becomes a form of exploiting a safe taste, so that the best elements creatively not always are as well developed equally freely, and sometimes it just works less convincingly than it could. Also the second album ends with a pop/rock instrumental, with some sax solos.
All-in-all, the Pearl Sisters still have a distinctive style of singing/arrangements which keep an attraction vivid or present. They were not the first harmony-driven vocalists. The trio, the Kim Sisters, had started earlier in a comparable way, in the fifties, worth checking out: very American in style, and very good entertainers and musicians. But I don't think the Kim Sisters have seen a reissue yet.
"As part of Jigu's re-release of old music, they released this 2-CD set of Pearl Sister's music (although they seem to have forgotten how to spell). This release only adds six cuts (4 by the Pearl Sisters, 2 instrumentals by Kyeong Eum Ahk) to the play list on JCDS-0186. From my perspective, it is a good buy (from www.annyoung.com) because the four new songs are new to my collection." "Until Jigu began releasing their Golden two-CD sets, my favorite CD was Jigu Records JCDS-0186. This CD was available at www.annyoung.com as late as early 2007, but is no longer listed. Selections on the disc seem to span the entire career of the Pearl Sisters, but only those released on the Jigu label."
"The Pearl Sisters were two Korean women called Bae In Soon and Bae In Sook. Unlike a lot of 60’s Korean ‘happy happy’ pop music they produced music with a beautifully moving melancholy edge.
They also covered popular American pop tunes. Real stand out tracks include the wonderful ‘Oh!’ and the song ‘I Love You’ sung in charmingly mispronounced English. The Pearl Sisters are a great ‘lost’ act and although there is little information on the net about them it seems that they split in the mid 1970’s. Bae In Sook re-emerged in 2004 with a new album called ‘A Cup Of Coffee With My Song’."
"In the late 1960s and early 1970s the Pearl Sisters were fairly popular, partly because they had the genius of composer – and Korea’s granddaddy of Rock ‘n Roll – Shin Chunghyŏn (of Add 4 fame) behind them, but also because they looked much better than the competition and were often duly complimented on their legs. The album ‘My Dear’ (Nima; 1968), named after their best selling song, also included the hit ‘A Cup of Coffee’. Other albums were called ‘First Love’ (Ch’ŏt sarang; Shinsegi Records 1969), and ‘Goodbye Rain’ (1970). The whole concept of the duo was, of course, not new, and had been introduced by actress/singer Yi Nanyŏng during the Korean War by letting her teenage daughters perform as the Kim Sisters (and, later, her sons as the Kim Brothers). It was Pae Insun who picked up on the idea and after winning a contest at a quintessential 8th-Army show stage managed to enthuse her sister Insuk to form a duo. One problem remained: their talent lay primarily in their presentation, which is why Master Lee was one of their biggest fans (he himself always getting credit for having great talent, but failing to make busting up a hundred opponents in 5 minutes look pretty). In the mid 1970s the sisters could no longer stand each other, and split. Sue Kim of the Kim Sisters told Master Lee that they got in touch with her at some point, hoping to make it in the US as well, but to be frank, they never had any real talent beyond that wicked leg and hip action that makes even Master Lee’s heart pound a little faster (up to 1 beat a minute). Here is a website from a fan with more detailed information on the records and sounds of the Pearl Sisters. And here’s one with more information on both Shin Chunghyŏn and the Pearl Sisters. But of course we all want to SEE the Pearl Sisters, so here goes nothin’ (enjoy!):
In 2003 Pae Insun published a book detailing her marriage to and divorce from her selfish and promiscuous tycoon-husband Ch’oe Wônsuk (of Dongah Construction Industrial Co.). Ch’oe’s company fell into debt as a result of the economic financial crisis in 1997 and has reportedly so far failed to become solvent again. He does, of course, still deserve an ass-kicking by Master Lee."
