How to Make Gravy is a four-track EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 by Australian singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Paul Kelly

Paul Kelly (musician)

Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor...

 and was originally released in 1996 on White Label Records

Mushroom Records

Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...

 in Australia.

The title track was written by Kelly and earned him a 'Song of the Year' nomination at the 1998 Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) Music Awards

APRA Awards

The APRA Music Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia and New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually....

. It tells the story of an imprisoned man writing a letter to his brother, in which he laments that he will be missing the family Christmas celebrations. It was covered

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 by James Reyne

James Reyne

James Reyne is an Australian rock musician and singer/songwriter both as a member of the iconic 1980s band Australian Crawl and solo work.. He is a successful singer/ songwriter and prolific artist...

 on his 2005 acoustic album ...And the Horse You Rode in On; and by David Miles

David Miles

David Miles is a British economist. He is a Visiting Professor at Imperial College London and former Chief UK Economist of Morgan Stanley...

, From Nowhere, Semicolon, Ghostwriters

Ghostwriters

-Singles:* "Someone's Singing New York New York" Virgin Records * "Runaway Bay" Virgin Records* "World Is Almost At Peace" Virgin Records* "Second Skin" Mercury Records* "Impossible Shame" Mercury Records...

, Karl Broadie and Lawrence Agar.

Background

Paul Kelly's album, Wanted Man, was released in 1994 and reached No. 11 on the Australian Recording Industry Association

Australian Recording Industry Association

The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

 (ARIA) Albums Chart

ARIA Charts

The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

. Kelly also composed music for the 1994 film Everynight ... Everynight

Everynight ... Everynight

Everynight ... Everynight is an Australian drama film directed by Alkinos Tsilimidos and released in 1994. Based on a play of the same name, written by Ray Mooney, the film details the early life of contract killer Christopher Dale Flannery and is set inside Melbourne's HM Prison Pentridge's...

, directed by Alkinos Tsilimidos

Alkinos Tsilimidos

Alkinos Tsilimidos is an Australian film director. Raised in comfortable circumstances in middle-class Doncaster, Tsilimidos won the Montréal First Film Prize at the Montréal World Film Festival for his 1994 film Everynight ... Everynight...

, it is set in the notorious H division of Victoria's Pentridge Prison. Kelly's next solo releases were Deeper Water

Deeper Water

Deeper Water is an album recorded by Paul Kelly and was released in September, 1995 on Mushroom Records in Australia.The album peaked at #40 on the Australian album charts and resulted in a second consecutive nomination for 'Best Male Artist' at the 1995 ARIA Awards.-Track listing:All songs written...

in 1995 and Live at the Continental and the Esplanade

Live At The Continental And The Esplanade

Live At The Continental And The Esplanade is a live album by Paul Kelly and was originally released in 1996.It was released on Mushroom Records in Australia, and recorded at the Continental in Prahran and the Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda, both in Melbourne...

in 1996. Between March and May 1995 Kelly undertook a seven week tour of North America, appearing on several dates with Liz Phair

Liz Phair

Phair's entry into the music industry began when she met guitarist Chris Brokaw, a member of the band Come. Brokaw and Phair moved to San Francisco together, and Phair tried to become an artist there...

 and Joe Jackson

Joe Jackson (musician)

Joe Jackson is an English musician and singer-songwriter now living in Berlin, whose five Grammy Award nominations span from 1979 to 2001...

.

By 1996, Paul Kelly Band members were Stephen Hadley (bass guitar, ex-Black Sorrows), Bruce Haymes (keyboards), Peter Luscombe (drums, ex-Black Sorrows) and Shane O'Mara (guitar). Spencer P. Jones (guitar, Beasts of Bourbon

Beasts of Bourbon

Beasts of Bourbon was an Australian alternative rock band formed in 1983, with a line-up that has changed as the band splintered and reformed several times - Beginnings :...

) guested on some performances. This line-up issued the CD-EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, How to Make Gravy with the title track earning Kelly a 'Song of the Year' nomination at the 1998 Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) Music Awards

APRA Awards

The APRA Music Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia and New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually....

.

Cover versions

It was covered

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 by James Reyne

James Reyne

James Reyne is an Australian rock musician and singer/songwriter both as a member of the iconic 1980s band Australian Crawl and solo work.. He is a successful singer/ songwriter and prolific artist...

 on his 2005 acoustic album ...And the Horse You Rode in On; and by David Miles

David Miles

David Miles is a British economist. He is a Visiting Professor at Imperial College London and former Chief UK Economist of Morgan Stanley...

, From Nowhere, Semicolon, Ghostwriters

Ghostwriters

-Singles:* "Someone's Singing New York New York" Virgin Records * "Runaway Bay" Virgin Records* "World Is Almost At Peace" Virgin Records* "Second Skin" Mercury Records* "Impossible Shame" Mercury Records...

, Karl Broadie and Lawrence Agar.

Track listing

Personnel

Paul Kelly Band members

• Stephen Hadley – bass guitar (tracks 1 & 2)
• Bruce Haymes – keyboard
• Spencer P. Jones – guitar (tracks 1, 2 & 4)
• Paul Kelly
  Paul Kelly (musician)
  Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor...
  
  – guitar, vocals
• Peter Luscombe – drums
• Shane O'Mara – guitar (tracks 1, 2 & 3)
• Bill MacDonald – bass guitar (tracks 3 & 4)

Recording details

• Mastering – Oscar Gaona
• Mix engineer – Victor Van Vugt (tracks 2, 3 & 4)
• Sound engineer – Simon Polinski (tracks 1 & 2)
• Producer – Simon Polinski (track 1), Paul Kelly (tracks 1, 2, 3 & 4)