4BB | Album Of The Week

Hi there, and welcome back to another year together with 4BB Weekly!

How about starting this new year with some old music – and with old I actually mean a re-run…a reprise post off the old 4BB blog. Since our last Paul Kelly post, where we happened to mention his “Don’t Burn Me” LP from 1973 being posted before, people have been asking where they can find it…and since it isn’t available elsewhere on the blogs, we thought it would be in order with a re-up. Add to that, the Week 1 post of 2009 was Paul Kelly’s 1974 release, “Hooked, Hogtied & Collared” – so opening the year with a Paul Kelly joint could almost be considered a 4BB tradition!

OK, but before we reheat and serve that old post write-up, we got other business to attend to…like the “4BB Breaks” competition of Week 53! We’ve received a couple of mails with all answers correct, but the first one to get it all 5 “missing breaks” in order was T-Swift – congrats, homie…hit me up and we’ll sort out the handing over of the Grand Prize! :¬)

And for all you curious people out there, here’s a quick rundown of the songs missing in LP2’s playlist:

6. Archie Bell & The Drells “Tighten Up”, 11. The Jackson 5 “The Life Of the Party”, 16. MFSB “Family Affair”, 20. The Electric Indian “Rain Dance” and 26. Rhythm Heritage “Theme From S.W.A.T.”

Alright then, here’s the Paul Kelly re-up, originally posted over at 4BB 2.0 on September 23rd, 2008:

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Here’s another gem contributed by our old “Tunes From The Shed” buddy, Paros! And it’s yet another stellar Paul Kelly effort – the southern soul singer I had never heard of…until just recently. The scary part is that he’s close to being right up there with Al Green in my book…and, damn, I almost missed him! And judging from the comments on that last Paul Kelly post, you all almost did too!

“Don’t Burn Me” from 1973 was released the year before the “Hooked, Hogtied & Collared” album that we posted earlier – and this is also a Buddy Killen/Paul Kelly collaboration…so prepare yourself for another smooth production, with some typical Paul Kelly penned “should-have-been” soul classics! I just bought the only Paul Kelly re-issue available on the market, the Warner Archives compilation CD “The Best of Paul Kelly” (available here), and on the back cover there’s this plug by Bob Merlis (the former Warner exec) that really says it all:

“It’s almost pointless to write that Paul Kelly’s is one of soul’s greatest voices, you know it when you hear it – this is the very real deal.”

It’s hard to find reviews on “Don’t Burn Me”, but luckily I discovered that the great Ear Fuzz blog did a post on the album almost 2 years ago – with a spot on write-up of course, written by Junior, who really says everything I was about to say, but so much better:

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“The trail of artists destroyed by cack handed marketing and promotion is a depressing one indeed. So common was this in the sixties and seventies that Artists-robbed-of-global-success practically has it’s own category in my record collection.

Still, rather than once again harping on with pointless righteous anger about the shitty hand life can deal you let’s celebrate the music instead. Paul Kelly comes from the sweet soul stable of male vocalists, delivering a number of grown man soul albums in the early seventies. Wrongly dismissed as an Al Green imitator at the time, his albums actually offer an exceptionally high standard of soul music.

Don’t Burn Me, his 1973 album, is a classic example of the Paul Kelly sound, showcasing Kelly’s gorgeous vocal range. “Come Lay Some Lovin’ On Me” is the kind of track that wouldn’t seem out of place on an Hi album from the same period with it’s subtle use of strings, organ and horn blasts. “Don’t Burn Me” again features the high quality production of brass and strings with Kelly delivering the kind of seemingly effortless vocals that never stop amazing me.”

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When listening to the album the first time, I instantly recognized the album opener “Come Lay Some Lovin’ On Me”….I had heard that song somewhere before, but with a female vocalist – and soon enough discovered that Margie Joseph, already in 1974, did her very own wicked version of it on her “Sweet Surrender” album (immaculately produced by Arif Mardin – another great one that passed away just recently)! But Margie’s not alone in tapping in on Paul’s songwriting skills – his songs has been covered by artists like Jackie Moore, Staple Singers and The Mighty Clouds Of Joy, just to mention a few.

A couple of great ballads, some finger poppin’ grooves – all in all, this album is the type to be with you through the good and the bad times, and Paul is there to sing all your troubles away…truly one of soul music’s great, yet almost forgotten, voices and writers. Just listen to this – the awesome title cut, “Don’t Burn Me”:

As always, big thanks to our friend Paros for the generous contribution…but first and foremost, Paul Kelly – thank you for the music!

See y’all next week!

/Lafayette

(Ps. If you want to hear Margie Joseph’s version of Paul’s “Come Lay Some Lovin’ On Me”, you better get yourself a doctors appointment A.S.A.P – it’s posted over at our good friend Doc Okeh’s place!)