Pat Kelly | |
|---|---|
| Born | Horatious Adolphus Kelly (1944-08-06)6 August 1944 |
| Origin | Kingston, Jamaica |
| Died | 16 July 2019(2019-07-16) (aged 74) |
| Genres | Rocksteady,reggae,roots reggae, dub |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, producer, recording engineer,sound engineer |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | Mid-1960s–2019 |
| Formerly of | The Techniques |
Horatious Adolphus "Pat" Kelly (6 August 1944 – 16 July 2019)[1] was a prolific, influential Jamaicanrocksteady andreggae singer and innovative, groundbreaking sound engineer working withKing Tubby,Bunny Lee andScientist (musician), whose career began in the mid-1960s.[2] He recorded as a solo artist and as a member of the vocal groupthe Techniques.Slim Smith, who had been the lead vocalist in the band, left The Techniques in 1966 to be replaced by Pat Kelly. The shift fromska torocksteady suited The Techniques, with a string of hits in 1967 and 1968 notably "You Don't Care" and "Queen Majesty", tunes which were versioned byBig Youth,Ken Parker (musician),Tony Tuff,Duke Reid,Tommy McCook,Sonia Pottinger'sHigh Note label withThe Revolutionaries,Ronnie Davis,The Itals,Cornell Campbell and many more[2]
Kelly was born inKingston in 1944. After leaving school, he spent a year studyingelectronics inSpringfield, Massachusetts, United States during 1966, gaining a degree in audio electronics fromMassachusetts Institute of Technology, before returning to Jamaica.[2][3] He initially recorded as a solo artist for his former schoolmate, producerBunny Lee.[3] In 1967, whenSlim Smith leftThe Techniques, Kelly was brought in to replace him,[4] recording forDuke Reid in theRocksteady era when Reid'sTreasure Isle studio/label was dominating Jamaican music.[2] Kelly'sfalsetto voice, strongly influenced by the American soul singerSam Cooke, in combination withWinston Riley andBruce Ruffin, maintained the success that The Techniques had enjoyed with Smith.[2] The Techniques first record with Kelly, "You Don't Care" ( which was adapted fromThe ImpressionsCurtis Mayfield tune, "You'll Want Me Back" ) spent six weeks at number one in the Jamaican singles chart, and was followed by further hits such as "I'm in the Mood For Love", a song Kelly recorded with The Techniques in 1966, and revisited a number of times throughout his career. In the late 1970s, Kelly recorded aHigh Note label vocal and dubDiscomix of "I'm in the Mood For Love" forSonia Pottinger, followed by a slower, more spaciousWinston Riley produced take on the same tune with MC Toaster Prince Mohammed, AKAGeorge Nooks and released on theTechniques label.[2][5]
In 1968, Kelly went solo again, working again with Lee, and recording another Mayfield cover, "Little Boy Blue".[2][4] He also recorded forPhil Pratt.[6] Kelly'sHow Long Will It Take 45 was the biggest-selling Jamaican single of 1969, and was the first Jamaican record to feature a string arrangement, which wasoverdubbed when it was released in the United Kingdom on thePalmer Brothers'Gas label. In the same year, Kelly also recorded aBunny Lee produced version of theJohn D. Loudermilk composition,Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye, a tune already popularised in Jamaica by theBettye Swann andJohnny Nash interpretations. 1969 was a prolific year, with Kelly also interpreting theJames Carr (singer)Soul musicR & B tune,The Dark End of the Street, with Bunny 'Striker' Lee andLee "Scratch" Perry on production duties. In 1976, Pat Kelly teamed up withYabby You and TheProphets to cut a Rockersdiscomix version of theHow Long Will It Take tune, backed byThe Revolutionaries.[2] An album followed, theLee "Scratch" Perry-engineeredPat Kelley Sings (sic), and Kelly was offered a £25,000 contract byApple Records, which he was unable to accept due to existing contractual commitments.[2][5]
Kelly continued to record, having a big hits forproducerPhil Pratt in 1972 with "Soulful Love" and "Talk About Love", and returning to record with Duke Reid, having another hit with a cover ofJohn Denver's "Sunshine". In 1977, Pat Kelly cut a Rockersdiscomix version of "Talk about Love" with Dillinger andThe Revolutionaries, and in the same period, he also revisited "Sunshine" withThe Revolutionaries, updated to the more spacious and experimental drum and bass heavy styles of the time. Kelly's composition "Talk about Love" has proved consistently popular, notably with versions produced by vocalistAl Campbell recorded atChannel One Studios in 1991.[2][7]
In 1979, Kelly worked withSly and Robbie,Ossie Hibbert andRanking Trevor on the Rockers vocal and dubDiscomix, "It's a Good Day", which was also versioned byKing Tubby. As well as pursuing his calling as a vocalist, Pat Kelly also made use of his earlier training, working as a highly prolificsound engineer at several Jamaican studios includingChannel One andKing Tubby's, where he worked withScientist (musician) on vocals and dubs with the leading musicians of the period.[6][8][9] He also moved into production, producing his ownYouth and Youth album in 1978, and co-producing (with Holt)John Holt'sThe 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.
In 1991, he recorded a remake of 'Broken Homes' titled 'Broken City' under Shelly's Records Label, using the Pounder Riddim, which would later contribute to the emergence of the genre known as reggaeton."
In the 1990s he was a member of a reformed Techniques, along withLloyd Parks and Johnny Johnson.[3] He continued to perform internationally up to 2018.[10]
Kelly died on 16 July 2019, aged 74, from complications of kidney disease.[11] He was survived by widow Ingrid, one son (Shawn) and four daughters (Cheryl, Pamela, Padeane, & Terri-Ann).[1][3] He is buried at Dovecot Memorial Park & Crematorium in St. Catherine.[1]
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