Get To Know Songwriter Paul Kelly

By ROB PATTERSON

Sometimes I ponder why certain musical acts I love aren't better known. In my album collection, there's certain large segments for artists both known and lesser so. Among them are (of course) Bob Dylan, because when it comes to songwriters, there's first Bob Dylan, and then everyone else.

There's a goodly amount of Englishman Richard Thompson albums, who when I first started ardently listening to him in the late 1970s was still somewhat obscure but has since won a certain amount of esteem and mid-level success in the US. And the band NRBQ, who have never failed to delight me in live performance yet remain just above a cult favorite.

Finally, there's Australian Paul Kelly, who in America is likely the least known of these acts on our shores. Yet to my ears, he's as fine a songwriter and artist in his crafing and delivery of his work as any I know (up to and almost including Dylan). In his homeland Kelly is something of a national treasure. Here in the US, he popped up briefly in the singles charts backed his band The Messengers (who were somewhat cheekily and ironically were called The Coloured Girls Down Under) in the mid-1980s with the singles "Darling It Hurts" (which slipped into the pop Top 20 to peak at #19) and "Dumb Things (which feels at times like the story of my life and was a #17 modern rock hit).

He's released 23 studio albums that have remained largely under the radar here. I'll admit I've even missed a few, but of the most that I do have and know, they are treasure troves of smart lyricism and melodies that woo and wiggle their way into your heart.

He largely writes about real people and their real life experiences – certainly a number of them his own, as he details in his engaging songwriting memoir, "How To Make Gravy" – with an unforced gift for emotionality that hits straight to the heart. His friend Neil Finn of the better-known bands from the other side of the planet Split Enz and Crowded House – who Kelly released a live album with, Goin' Your Way (that I reviewed as a pick here a while back), and also one of my favorite musical talents – sums as Kelly's qualities I just cited very well in these words: "There is something unique and powerful about the way Kelly mixes up everyday detail with the big issues of life, death, love and struggle – not a trace of pretence or fakery in there"

People sometimes ask me for musical tips, and of all those I can offer that they may not yet know, Kelly stands out as the first and best. For any that might be interested, I'd suggest starting with two releases: his 1996 Live at the Continental and the Esplanade, which contains his best earlier material in splendid and potent concert performances; and his two-volume "best of" collection, Songs from the South. And the dig on from there. It's all worth the time and effort.

As said above, I've yet to get to everything myself. I even hadn't yet heard his latest, Life Is Fine. which came out late last summer, when I saw Kelly and his band on a rare US tour a few months ago. Yet the songs he played from it sounded instantly familiar. Once you become acquainted with Kelly, he's like a musical best friend who blesses your life.

I can assure you that Kelly offers a lifetime's worth of musical listening in which the new revelations as one get to know him become treasured favorites. And there's not many artists whose work over a number of decades I can say that about.

Populist Picks

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Book: John Adams by David McCullough – Reading this Pulitzer Prize winning biography of the founding father and second president is a perfect ameliorative to living in the era of Trump. A man of intelligence, integrity and honor, he embodies a personal, political and patriotic American greatness that Trump and his base don't even understand much less respect. And McCullough tells his life story with an engaging eloquence that is pure pleasure to read.

CD: Power of Peace by The Isley Brothers & Santana – A glistening platter of rocking R&B and funk by two iconic classic acts that mixes songs from The Chambers Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Willie Dixon and Curtis Mayfield with originals and features stunning takes on classics like "God Bless The Child," "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "What the World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love" into a feast of pleasures. Wondrous singing, guitar playing and band performances make this an album for the ages that feels and sounds so good right now.

Rob Patterson is a music and entertainment writer in Austin, Texas. Email orca@prismnet.com.

From The Progressive Populist, March 15, 2018

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