Paul Kelly (Australian musician)

Paul Kelly (born 1955, South Australia) is an Australian singer-songwriter, based in Melbourne, and widely considered as an icon of Australian music.

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.

Life and career

He was raised in the South Australian capital, Adelaide, the sixth of nine children, in a family with an Irish Catholic heritage.

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".

With the Coloured Girls aka Messengers

The Coloured Girls — an homage to Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" — were released under the Messengers name in the US to avoid causing offence. Eventually, the band changed their name in all territories for reasons of consistency.

The Coloured Girls/Messengers period (roughly 1985 - 1992), saw the release of six albums: Post in 1985; 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 "classic" Coloured Girls/Messengers line-up was:

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

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 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.

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 from his Professor Ratbaggy project: 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, Renee 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 Renee Geyer, Kate Ceberano, Vika and Linda Bull, Nick Cave, Kasey Chambers, Yothu Yindi, Archie Roach and Troy Cassar-Daley. He has also covered songs by other groups including Hot Chocolate, and Australian Crawl.

Discography

Albums

Paul Kelly & The Dots

• Talk (1981)
• Manilla (1982)

Paul Kelly

• Post (1985)

Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls

• Gossip (1986)
• Under The Sun (1987)

Paul Kelly & The Messengers

• So Much Water So Close To Home (1989)
• Comedy (1991)
• Hidden Things (1992)

Paul Kelly

• Live, May 1992 (1992)
• Wanted Man (album) (1994)
• Deeper Water (1995)
• Live At The Continental And The Esplanade (1996)
• Songs From The South - Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits (1997)
• Words and Music (1998)

Paul Kelly with Uncle Bill

• Smoke (1999)

Professor Ratbaggy

• Professor Ratbaggy (1999)

Paul Kelly

• Nothing But A Dream (2001)
• Ways & Means (2004)

Paul Kelly and the Stormwater Boys

• Foggy Highway (2005)

Singles

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

External links

• http://www.paulkelly.com.au including lyrics
• Amazon.com: "Songs From The South"