Paul Kelly

Australian Singer-Songwriter

Paul Kelly, singer and songwriter, was born 19th June 1940, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. Paul was singing in local groups The Spades and The Valadeers by the time he was a teenager.His first professional break came in the early '60's when Clarence Reid invited him to join his group The Del-Mires. In 1963 he recorded with the group on a song 'Down With It Can't Quit It' on the Selma label. Turning solo artist, Paul made his debut with 'It's My Baby' (on the Lloyd label), and recorded a series of Reid songs through to the late '60's.His main success during this era was 'Chills And Fever' (1968) The song, which established Paul across America, was 'Stealing In The Name Of The Lord', a controversial song which upset church groups but didn't stop the record being a hit for the Happy Tiger label. Also on the label he had success with 'Cryin' For My Baby', both these songs produced by country producer Buddy Killen prior to the demise of the label when Paul signed with Warner Brothers. Here he released an album 'Dirt' (1972), which included Paul's own songs 'Poor But Proud', 'Hangin' On In There' and '509'. Next to come were 'Don't Burn Me' (1973) and 'Hooked, Hogtied and Collared' (1974), including 'Take It Away From Him And Put It On Me', both highly regarded in soul circles. His last Warner's album was 'Stand On The Positive Side', co-produced by Gene Page in 1976. From here Paul recorded briefly with Epic ('Everybody's Got A Jones', 1978) and A & M ('I've Been To The Well Before', 1980) before forming Laurence Records in 1983.He ran the label under the pseudonym Laurence Dunbar, but recorded singles 'Livin' In A Dream', 'Children Are Listenin' and 'I Keep Holding On' in 1984 under his real name Paul Kelly. 'Gonna Stick And Stay' and 'Let's Celebrate Life' followed in 1992 and 1999, respectively.