Latest Release
- 1 NOV 2024
- 12 Songs
- Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits: Songs From The South 1985-2019 · 1987
- Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits: Songs From The South 1985-2019 · 1987
- Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits: Songs From The South 1985-2019 · 1997
- Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits: Songs From The South 1985-2019 · 1986
- Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits: Songs From The South 1985-2019 · 1985
- Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits: Songs From The South 1985-2019 · 1991
- Deeper Water · 1995
- Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits: Songs From The South 1985-2019 · 1986
- Dumb Things (triple j Like A Version) [feat. Paul Kelly] - Single · 2017
- Foggy Highway · 2005
Essential Albums
- When Paul Kelly released his debut solo album in 1985, his reputation as one of Australia’s greatest songwriters had yet to crystallise. Instead, he was a struggling 30-year-old musician who’d released two poorly performing albums with previous outfit Paul Kelly and the Dots. Upon moving from Melbourne to Sydney he was also effectively homeless, temporarily staying with Cold Chisel keyboard player Don Walker. It was on the grand piano in Walker’s Kings Cross home that Kelly wrote “Satisfy Your Woman” and album opener “From St Kilda to Kings Cross”. Later he would shack up with Dragon keyboardist Paul Hewson, to whom the album was dedicated following his accidental overdose death. Having been dropped from Mushroom Records after the first two Dots albums, Kelly had to borrow money to make Post, which he recorded with Sherbet guitarist Clive Shakespeare. The result was bare-bones, Kelly’s acoustic guitar and vocals embellished with some tasteful electric guitar work from Steve Connolly, the odd burst of sax, and little more. Lyrically it’s threaded with autobiographical references: “Adelaide” reflects on Kelly’s upbringing and his father’s passing before delivering a final kiss-off to the city (“All the king’s horses, all the king’s men/Wouldn’t drag me back again”). “From St Kilda to Kings Cross” is timely given his recent move from Melbourne’s beachside suburb, and namechecks local landmarks such as Oxford Street, Sydney Harbour and his beloved St Kilda Esplanade (“I’d give you all of Sydney Harbour, all that land, all that water, for that one sweet promenade”). “Blues for Skip” is an account of writer’s block set to a haunting, Nebraska-esque backing; “Incident on South Dowling” is a harrowing account of the consequences of addiction; “Standing on the Street of Early Sorrows” is a wistful song to a former crush named Julie. Upon release, Post failed to set the world alight commercially, but it is the sound of a songwriter finding his voice and place in the world, setting the foundation for the accolades and success that would come. As Kelly would sing many years later, from little things, big things grow.
- 2020
- 2017
Artist Playlists
- Australia's premier singer/songwriter, and our musical poet laureate.
- The musical legacy of Australia's prolific, gifted and restless songwriting talent.
Compilations
Appears On
About Paul Kelly
Over his nearly five-decade career, roots-rock troubadour Paul Kelly has become one of Australia’s most iconic storytellers, earning nine Gold records and 14 Top 10 albums along the way. ∙ Recorded on a shoestring budget, his 1985 solo debut, Post, won Kelly comparisons to Bruce Springsteen as well as Album of the Year honors from Rolling Stone Australia. ∙ His 1986 release, Gossip—named one of the Top 50 Australian Albums of all time by The Age—featured the breakout tracks “Before Too Long” and “Darling It Hurts,” a US Rock chart hit. ∙ The Australasian Performing Right Association ranked the hit ballad “To Her Door,” from his 1987 album, Under the Sun, one of the Top 30 Australian Songs. ∙ Yothu Yindi’s 1991 new wave protest classic “Treaty,” which Kelly cowrote, was the first single by a largely Aboriginal group to hit the Australian charts and was also a dance club smash in the US. ∙ Kelly has won many awards for his work as a score composer, including three for the acclaimed 2001 musical One Night the Moon, in which he, his wife, and their daughter also star. ∙ Country star Kasey Chambers was among those who performed his songs on the 2002 Paul Kelly tribute album, The Women At The Well, naming him an inspiration for her own career. ∙ Four of his 16 ARIA Awards came from 2017’s Life Is Fine, his first album to hit No. 1 in Australia and a throwback to the eclectic pop-rock sound that marked his earliest hits. ∙ In 1997, he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, and 20 years later, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia, an honor given for extraordinary achievements and service to the country.
- GENRE
- Singer/Songwriter