Pat Kelly (musician)
Encyclopedia
Pat Kelly is a reggae
singer whose career began in the late 1960s.
in Springfield, Massachusetts
, United States
during 1966, before returning to Jamaica. In 1967, when Slim Smith
left The Techniques
, Kelly was brought in to replace him, recording for Duke Reid
in the rocksteady
era when Reid's Treasure Isle studio/label was dominating Jamaican music. Kelly's falsetto
voice, strongly influenced by the American Soul singer Sam Cooke
, in combination with Winston Riley
and Bruce Ruffin
, maintained the success that The Techniques had enjoyed with Smith. The Techniques first record with Kelly, "You Don't Care", adapated from Curtis Mayfield
's "You'll Want Me Back", spent six weeks at number one in the Jamaican singles chart, and was followed by further hits with "Queen Majesty", "My Girl", "Love Is Not a Gamble", "It's You I Love", and "Run Come Celebrate".
, and debuting with another Mayfield cover, "Little Boy Blue". Kelly's "How Long Will It Take" was the biggest-selling Jamaican single of 1969, and was the first Jamaican record to feature a string arrangement, which was overdubbed
when it was released in the United Kingdom
on the Palmer Brothers
' Unity label. An album, the Lee "Scratch" Perry-engineered Pat Kelley Sings (sic) followed, and Kelly was offered a £25,000 contract by Apple Records
, which he was unable to accept due to existing contractual commitments. Kelly continued to record, having a big hits for producer
Phil Pratt
in 1972 with "Soulful Love" and "Talk About Love", and returning to record with Duke Reid, having another hit with a cover of John Denver
's "Sunshine". He fell back on his earlier training, working as an engineer at Channel One Studios
. He also moved into production, producing his own Youth and Youth album in 1978, and co-producing (with Holt) John Holt
's The Impressable John Holt (Disco Mix) album in 1979.The late 1970s and early 1980s saw Kelly recording more regularly again, and he continued to record occasionally in the years that followed.
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
singer whose career began in the late 1960s.
The Techniques
Kelly was born in Kingston in 1949. After leaving school, he spent a year studying electronicsElectronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during 1966, before returning to Jamaica. In 1967, when Slim Smith
Slim Smith
Slim Smith was a ska, rocksteady and reggae singer. In their book Reggae: The Rough Guide , Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton described Smith as "the greatest vocalist to emerge in the rocksteady era".-Biography:Smith first came to prominence as a member of the Victors Youth Band, who were highly...
left The Techniques
The Techniques
The Techniques were a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group mainly active in the 1960s.-History:The group was formed by Winston Riley in 1962 while still at school, with the initial line-up also featuring Slim Smith, Franklyn White, and Frederick Waite...
, Kelly was brought in to replace him, recording for Duke Reid
Duke Reid
Treasure Isle re-directs here. For the game, see Treasure Isle .Arthur "Duke" Reid, CD was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner....
in the rocksteady
Rocksteady
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton...
era when Reid's Treasure Isle studio/label was dominating Jamaican music. Kelly's falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
voice, strongly influenced by the American Soul singer Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
, in combination with Winston Riley
Winston Riley
Winston Riley worked as a songwriter and record producer of Jamaican music. According to the Jamaica Gleaner, Riley has a claim to being the most successful reggae producer of all-time.-Biography:...
and Bruce Ruffin
Bruce Ruffin
Bruce Ruffin is a rocksteady and reggae artist.-Biography:...
, maintained the success that The Techniques had enjoyed with Smith. The Techniques first record with Kelly, "You Don't Care", adapated from Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
's "You'll Want Me Back", spent six weeks at number one in the Jamaican singles chart, and was followed by further hits with "Queen Majesty", "My Girl", "Love Is Not a Gamble", "It's You I Love", and "Run Come Celebrate".
Solo career
In 1968, Kelly went solo, moving from Reid to Bunny LeeBunny Lee
Edward O'Sullivan Lee, better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee is a prominent, prolific and successful record producer best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...
, and debuting with another Mayfield cover, "Little Boy Blue". Kelly's "How Long Will It Take" was the biggest-selling Jamaican single of 1969, and was the first Jamaican record to feature a string arrangement, which was overdubbed
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
when it was released in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on the Palmer Brothers
Pama Records
Pama records was a United Kingdom record label active during the 1960s and 1970s. Initially focused on soul music, it became one of the major outlets for reggae in the UK.-History:...
' Unity label. An album, the Lee "Scratch" Perry-engineered Pat Kelley Sings (sic) followed, and Kelly was offered a £25,000 contract by Apple Records
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by The Beatles in 1968, as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston...
, which he was unable to accept due to existing contractual commitments. Kelly continued to record, having a big hits for producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Phil Pratt
Phil Pratt
Phil Pratt, born George Phillips is a Jamaican reggae singer and record producer.Phil Pratt worked at Studio One for Coxsone Dodd as a box-loader during the rocksteady period when Lee Perry was operating there, before moving to the United Kingdom in the early 1960s...
in 1972 with "Soulful Love" and "Talk About Love", and returning to record with Duke Reid, having another hit with a cover of John Denver
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...
's "Sunshine". He fell back on his earlier training, working as an engineer at Channel One Studios
Channel One Studios
Channel One is a recording studio in Maxfield Avenue, West Kingston, Jamaica. The studio was built by the Hoo Kim brothers in 1972, and has had a profound influence on the development of reggae music....
. He also moved into production, producing his own Youth and Youth album in 1978, and co-producing (with Holt) John Holt
John Holt (singer)
John Holt is a reggae singer and songwriter.-Biography:Holt was born in Kingston in 1947. By the age of 12, he was a regular entrant in talent contests run at Jamaican theatres by Vere Johns...
's The Impressable John Holt (Disco Mix) album in 1979.The late 1970s and early 1980s saw Kelly recording more regularly again, and he continued to record occasionally in the years that followed.
Studio albums
- Pat Kelley Sings (1969) PamaPama RecordsPama records was a United Kingdom record label active during the 1960s and 1970s. Initially focused on soul music, it became one of the major outlets for reggae in the UK.-History:...
- Talk About Love (1978) Terminal
- Give Love a Try (1978) Third World
- Youth and Youth (1978) Live & Love
- Lonely Man (1978) Burning Sounds
- Lovers Rock (1979) Third World (with Johnny ClarkeJohnny ClarkeJohnny Clarke , Whitfield Town, Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae musician.-Biography:Clarke grew up in the Kingston ghetto of Whitfield Town. In 1971 he won a talent contest in Bull Bay, his prize a meeting with producer Clancy Eccles, with whom he recorded his first song, "God Made the Sea and the...
and Hortense EllisHortense EllisHortense Ellis was a reggae musician, and the younger sister of fellow artist, Alton Ellis.-Biography:Her father worked on the railways while her mother ran a fruit stall. She was 18 years old when she appeared on the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour, then Jamaica's foremost outlet for young...
) - One Man Stand (1979) Third World/Puff
- So Proud (1979) Burning Rockers/Chanan-Jah
- Cool Breezing (197?) Sunshot
- Wish It Would Rain (1980) Joe Gibbs
- From Both Sides (1980) Ital
- Sunshine (1980) KG Imperial
- Pat Kelly and Friends (1984) Chanan-Jah
- One In a Million (1984) Sky Note
- Ordinary Man (1987) Body Music
- Cry For You No More (1988) Blue Moon
- Srevol (19??) Ethnic
Compilations
- The Best of Pat Kelly (1983) Vista Sounds
- Butterflies Sonic Sounds
- Classic Hits of Pat Kelly (1995) Rhino
- Classics (199?) Super Power
- Soulful Love - The Best Of (1997) TrojanTrojan RecordsTrojan Records is a British record label founded in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. The name Trojan comes from the Croydon-built Trojan truck that was used as Duke Reid's sound system in Jamaica...
(Pat Kelly & Friends) - The Vintage Series (2000) VPVP RecordsVP Records is an independent reggae record label, located in Queens, New York. It is best known for producing Caribbean singers.-The foundation:...
- Sings Classical Hits Galore Striker Lee