Paul Kelly (musician)
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| Paul Kelly | |
|---|---|
 Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls
Long Bay Gaol, Christmas Eve 1985 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Paul Maurice Kelly |
| Born | January 13, 1955 |
| Origin | Adelaide, Australia |
| Genre(s) | Acoustic, Folk Rock, Australian rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | vocals, guitar, harmonica |
| Years active | 1978–current |
| Associated acts | Paul Kelly & The Dots Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls Paul Kelly & the Messengers Paul Kelly and the Stormwater Boys Stardust Five Professor Ratbaggy |
| Website | www.paulkelly.com.au |
Paul Maurice Kelly (born 13 January 1955 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian singer-songwriter and is recognized as an icon of Australian rock music as a member of the ARIA Hall of Fame. He is now based in Melbourne, Australia.
His output has ranged from bluegrass to studio-oriented dub reggae, but his core output comfortably straddles folk, rock, and even some country.
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[edit] Life and career
[edit] Early life
Kelly was born in a taxi inAdelaide, South Australia, on the way to the hospital (mentioned in song 'It's all downhill from here). He was the sixth of nine children (including one stillborn), in a family of Irish Catholic heritage. His father, John, a lawyer, died of Parkinson's disease when Kelly was 13 years old. Kelly's mother, Josephine, raised the family on her own after her husband's death. He attended Rostrevor College, and then Flinders University and dropped out after one term because he wanted to write. Kelly spent several years working odd jobs and traveling around the country before he eventually moved to Melbourne in 1976. Kelly's first public appearance was in 1974, when he sang the Australian folk song Streets of Forbes to an audience in Hobart.
[edit] Band career
In the late 1970s, Kelly was vocalist for the Melbourne pub-rock band 'The High Rise Bombers'. Following the dissolution of that group, Kelly formed 'Paul Kelly & The Dots'. The Dots period, which ranged from 1978-1982, saw the release of the albums Talk in 1981 and Manila in 1982.
After Manila, Kelly had difficulty securing a recording contract. In the liner notes to his 1997 Greatest Hits collection, Songs from the South, Kelly makes special mention of Michelle Higgins, a former Mushroom Records employee who had locked herself into a hotel room, refusing to leave the room until she had secured Kelly at least a two album recording contract.[1] Kelly moved to Sydney in January 1985, where he recorded Post with guitarist Steve Connolly and bass player Ian Rilen. The trio spent two weeks recording the album.
Kelly began to play and record with a full-time band, which included Connolly, drummer Michael Barclay, bass player Jon Schofield, and keyboard player Peter Bull. Through a joke, the band became known as Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls; in 1986 they released the double album Gossip. The album included remakes of four songs from Post and also featured "Maralinga (Rainy Land)", a song about the effects of British atomic testing on the aboriginal people of South Australia.
An edited version of Gossip featuring 15 songs was released in the United States by A&M Records in July, 1987. In the interval between releases, the band changed its name to Paul Kelly and the Messengers and headed out on an American tour, traveling across the United States by bus. Kelly and the Messengers' second album, Under the Sun, was released in 1987 in both Australian and the U.S. Despite their success, the Messengers broke up in 1991, allowing Kelly to pursue a solo career.
[edit] Solo career
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Since 1992, Kelly has had a solo career, with occasional collaborations with other songwriters and performers, such as Kasey Chambers or Missy Higgins. His first post-Messengers solo release was the (truly solo) live double CD Live, May 1992 in 1992, followed by Wanted Man in 1994; Deeper Water in 1995; Live At The Continental And The Esplanade in 1996; Words and Music in 1998; Smoke (with Uncle Bill) in 1999; Professor Ratbaggy (as member of Professor Ratbaggy) in 1999; Nothing But A Dream in 2001; Ways & Means in 2004; and Foggy Highway (with The Stormwater Boys) in 2005. In 2006, Paul Kelly formed a group called Stardust Five, who released their self-titled debut album in March of that year.
Kelly had a big year in 1999, releasing two albums in very different musical directions. Both were also distinct from his customary musical style. Professor Ratbaggy had a more groove-oriented style compared to his usual folk or rock formula, using samples, synth and percussion. Smoke, released with Uncle Bill, was poles apart: a bluegrass album composed of a few new songs and several of his old songs played in bluegrass style. "Our Sunshine" was one of the new songs on the album and was written as a tribute to Ned Kelly, a famous Australian outlaw. Kelly and Uncle Bill were nominated for a Golden Trombone Award for the song "Until Death to Them Part".
During his solo years, Kelly has also worked as a composer of film and television scores including Lantana, Silent Partner, One Night The Moon and Fireflies.
In 2002 and 2003, two albums of Paul Kelly songs were released: Women At The Well featured songs performed by female artists including Bic Runga, Jenny Morris, Renée Geyer, Magic Dirt, Rebecca Barnard, Christine Anu, and Kasey Chambers; and Stories Of Me featured artists including James Reyne and Jeff Lang.
A book of Paul Kelly's lyrics, titled Lyrics was published in 1993. A second anthology of lyrics entitled Don't Start Me Talking was published in 1999, which has subsequently had songs written since appended in later editions.[2]
Kelly has written songs with and for many other artists, including Mick Thomas, Renée Geyer, Kate Ceberano, Vika and Linda Bull, Nick Cave, Marilyn Manson, Nick Barker, Kasey Chambers, Yothu Yindi, Archie Roach, Gyan, Monique Brumby, Kelly Willis and Troy Cassar-Daley.
He has also covered songs by other groups including Hot Chocolate and Australian Crawl.
In December 2004, in Melbourne, Kelly performed 100 of his songs in alphabetical order over two nights. A similar show was performed at the studio at Sydney Opera House in December 2006.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
[edit] Paul Kelly
- Post (1985) AUS #46
- Live, May 1992 (1992) AUS #53
- Wanted Man (1994) AUS #11, NZ #19
- Deeper Water (1995) AUS #40, NZ #30
- Live at the Continental and the Esplanade (1996)
- How to Make Gravy EP (1996)
- Songs from the South: Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits (1997) AUS #2, NZ #17
- Words and Music (1998) AUS #17, NZ #44
- Roll on Summer EP (1999) AUS #40
- Nothing But A Dream (2001) AUS #7, NZ #46
- Ways & Means (2004) AUS #13
- Stolen Apples (2007) AUS #8
[edit] Paul Kelly & The Dots
- Talk (1981)
- Manila (1982)
[edit] Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls
- Credited as Paul Kelly & The Messengers in North America.
- Gossip (1986) AUS #15
- Under The Sun (1987) AUS #19
[edit] Paul Kelly & The Messengers
- So Much Water So Close To Home (1989) AUS #10
- Comedy (1991) AUS #14
- Hidden Things (1992) AUS #37
[edit] Paul Kelly with Professor Ratbaggy
- Professor Ratbaggy (1999)
[edit] Paul Kelly with Uncle Bill
- Smoke (1999) AUS #36
[edit] Paul Kelly and the Stormwater Boys
- Foggy Highway (2005) AUS #22
[edit] Stardust Five
- Stardust Five (2006)
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |
| AUS | US Modern Rock | |||
| 1980 | "Billy Baxter" | #38 | - | Talk |
| 1986 | "Before Too Long" | #15 | - | Gossip |
| 1986 | "Darling It Hurts" | #16 | - | Gossip |
| 1986 | "Leaps and Bounds" | #51 | - | Gossip |
| 1987 | "To Her Door" | #6 | - | Under The Sun |
| 1987 | "Forty Miles To Saturday Night" | #86 | - | Under The Sun |
| 1988 | "Dumb Things" | #36 | #17 | Under The Sun |
| 1989 | "Sweet Guy" | #42 | - | So Much Water So Close To Home |
| 1989 | "Careless" | #92 | - | So Much Water So Close To Home |
| 1989 | "Most Wanted Man In The World" | #74 | - | So Much Water So Close To Home |
| 1991 | "Don't Start Me Talking" | #92 | - | Comedy |
| 1992 | "Hey Boys" | #71 | - | duet with Mark Seymour |
| 1993 | "Last Train" | #93 | - | duet with Christine Anu |
| 1994 | "Song from the 16th Floor" | #87 | - | Wanted Man |
| 1997 | "Tease Me" | #69 | - | Words and Music |
| 2000 | "Roll On Summer" | #40 | - | Roll On Summer EP |
| 2003 | "Won't You Come Around" | #55 | - | "Won't You Come Around EP |
[edit] References
- ^ Kelly, Paul (1997-05-13). Songs from the South: The Best of Paul Kelly. Mushroom Records. ISBN B000007VXC. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
- ^ Kelly, Paul (February 2004). Don't Start Me Talking. Allen & Unwin. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
- "Paul Kelly - Picking Up Music and Passing It On" [radio transcript]. 2008. In Talking to Kinky and Karlheinz - 170 musicians get vocal on The Music Show ed. Anni Heino, 245-251. Sydney: ABC Books. ISBN 9780733320088.
