Paul Kelly (musician)

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Paul Maurice Kelly (born 13 January 1955 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian singer-songwriter and is recognised 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. His lyrics, simply and laconically voiced, have managed to speak to Australian experiences and history perhaps more broadly and directly than any other artist, from "Bradman"[1], about the Australian cricketer Sir Donald Bradman, through "To Her Door"[2], a tale of a struggling couple's breakup and attempts at reconciliation, to "Every Fucking City"[3], a darkly comic story of a backpacker chasing a former girlfriend through a Europe stripped of distinctive national character.

Paul Kelly and the coloured girls - Long Bay Jail Xmas eve 1985
Paul Kelly and the coloured girls - Long Bay Jail Xmas eve 1985

Contents

[edit] Life and career

Kelly was born and raised in Adelaide, South Australia as the sixth of nine children, in a family of Irish Catholic heritage. He attended Saint Ignatius' College, Adelaide and Rostrevor College, and then Flinders University.

Kelly's career can be broken into three distinct periods: first as Paul Kelly & The Dots; then as Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls, later known as Paul Kelly & the Messengers; and lastly as Paul Kelly the solo artist (a period that also included his involvement with side-projects Professor Ratbaggy, a more groove-oriented and less song-based ensemble and with Uncle Bill/Stormwater Boys, both bluegrass ensembles).

In the late 1970s Kelly was vocalist for the Melbourne pub-rock band "The High Rise Bombers", following their dissolution he formed "Paul Kelly & The Dots". The Dots period (roughly 1978-1982), saw the release of two albums, Talk in 1981 and Manila in 1982. It was followed by a year or two of uncertainty, plagued with drug use, as Kelly grew as a songwriter but lacked 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 "locked herself in a hotel room ... and refused to leave until [he] had a record deal".

[edit] With the Coloured Girls aka Messengers

By the mid-1980s, Kelly had assembled a backing band known as The Coloured Girls, named in homage to a line in Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side".

Originally a loose aggregation of sidemen, the Coloured Girls line-up backed Paul on his 1984 solo album Post. Thereafter, the line-up solidified into :

  • Michael Barclay - drums
  • Jon Scofield - bass
  • Peter Bull - keyboards
  • Steve Connolly - guitar

This line-up released following five albums: Gossip in 1986; Under The Sun in 1987; So Much Water So Close To Home in 1989; Comedy in 1991; and Hidden Things, a collection of B-Sides and rarities, in 1992.

The first two albums were credited to Paul Kelly and The Coloured Girls in Australia, but for North American release, these albums were credited to Paul Kelly and The Messengers. (It was feared that some might take offense to the moniker "Coloured Girls".) For the final three albums, the band was credited as Paul Kelly and The Messengers in all territories.

Feeling the band had run its course, Kelly amicably dissolved the Messengers line-up in 1992.

[edit] Solo and collaboration

Though he has worked with other songwriters since 1992, the years from then 'til present, might be considered his solo period. 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 — both in very different musical directions from each other, and from what he was known for. 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 Guitar Award for the song "Until Death to Them Part".

During his solo years, Kelly has also worked as a composer of film and TV scores including Lantana, Silent Partner and One Night The Moon in 2001; and Fireflies in 2004.

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 like James Reyne and Jeff Lang.

A book of Paul Kelly's lyrics, titled simply "Lyrics" was published in 1993. A second anthology of lyrics was first published in 1999 - "Don't Start Me Talking (Lyrics 1984-2004)" - and is now in its second edition (2004).[4]

Kelly has written songs with and for many other artists, including Mick Thomas, Renée Geyer, Kate Ceberano, Vika and Linda Bull, Nick Cave, Kasey Chambers, Yothu Yindi, Archie Roach, Gyan, Monique Brumby and Troy Cassar-Daley. He has also covered songs by other groups including Hot Chocolate and Australian Crawl.

In December 2004, in Melbourne, he performed 100 of his songs in alphabetical order, over four nights.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Paul Kelly & The Dots

  • Talk (1981)
  • Manilla (1982)

[edit] Paul Kelly

[edit] Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls°

° credited as Paul Kelly & The Messengers in North America

[edit] Paul Kelly & The Messengers

[edit] Paul Kelly

[edit] Paul Kelly with Uncle Bill

[edit] Professor Ratbaggy

[edit] Paul Kelly

[edit] Paul Kelly and the Stormwater Boys

[edit] Stardust Five

  • Stardust Five (2006)

[edit] Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
US Hot 100 US Modern Rock US Mainstream Rock UK
1988 "Dumb Things" - #16 - - Under the Sun

[edit] External links

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