Wanted Man (Paul Kelly album)

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Wanted Man
Demon
ProducerPaul Kelly, Randy Jacobs, David Bridie
Paul Kelly chronology
Seven Deadly Sins
(1993) 		Wanted Man
(1994) 		Deeper Water
(1995)
Singles from Wanted Man
  1. "Song from the Sixteenth Floor"
    Released: January 1994
  2. "Love Never Runs on Time"
    Released: 16 May 1994
  3. "God's Hotel"
    Released: September 1994

Wanted Man is a folk rock album by Paul Kelly and was originally released in July 1994. It was issued on Mushroom Records in Australia and was Kelly's first solo studio album after disbanding his previous group, The Messengers. Tracks 1–10 were recorded at three Los Angeles studios while tracks 11–13 were recorded in Melbourne. It was produced by Kelly, Randy Jacobs and David Bridie. The cover art for Wanted Man is a colophon rendering of Australia's legendary outlaw Ned Kelly (no relation) as a guitarist and was painted by David Band.

The album peaked at No. 11 on the

nominated for 'Best Male Artist' at the ARIA Music Awards of 1995
. Three singles were issued from the album, "Song from the Sixteenth Floor", "Love Never Runs on Time" and "God's Hotel" (co-written with Nick Cave) – but none reached the ARIA Singles Chart.

Background

Paul Kelly's first solo studio album after disbanding Paul Kelly & The Messengers was Wanted Man. The group had given their last performance in August 1991, and Kelly resumed his solo career.[1] He justified his decision: "We forged a style together. But I felt if we had kept going it would have got formulaic and that's why I broke it up. I wanted to try and start moving into other areas, start mixing things up".[2] Kelly's first post-Messengers solo release was the live double CD Live, May 1992, released in November 1992.[1] Kelly had already relocated to Los Angeles and signed with Vanguard Records to tour the US as a solo artist.[1] While in Los Angeles he produced fellow Australian Renée Geyer's album Difficult Woman (1994).[3]

Recording and composition

In late 1992, when living in Los Angeles, Kelly recorded ten tracks for his next album, Wanted Man, at three studios: Stagg St, Clearlake and O'Henry. Kelly returned to Australia in 1993 and had a book collection of lyrics published, aptly titled Lyrics.

Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) interviewed Kelly and found, "Kelly’s attraction to the theatrical, however unconscious, has meant occasionally a song’s character will pop up again, sometimes unintentionally".[9] Kelly conceded the three songs were linked, "'I’ve got a feeling it’s the same guy. He keeps coming back'. Maybe he’ll be in a happier place next time? 'Yeah, he’s a bit of a fuck-up, that guy', Kelly laughs".[9]

The final single, "God's Hotel" was co-written with Nick Cave.[10] Kelly had read Cave's book of lyrics, King Ink (1988), and found "God's Hotel".[11] When interviewing Cave for a newspaper article in The Age, Kelly asked about the lyrics, Cave said "It's just a blues ... You can use the words if you want".[5]: 353–4  Kelly only used five of twelve verses and adapted the tune from the chords of "Bittersweet" by Hoodoo Gurus.[5]: 353–4  "Everybody Wants to Touch Me" describes how a pregnant woman becomes the object of curiosity, wonder or revulsion,[5]: 137–40  although some believe the song relates to a celebrity being the centre of attention (see Paul Kapsis' cover version).[5]: 137–40  In 2000 Kelly's friend Deborah Conway recorded her version for The Women at the Well tribute album.[5]: 137–40  Kelly noted "I don't like all covers of my songs but I have to say this one's awesome. Absolutely".[5]: 137–40  "Lately" was co-written with Geyer and followed their work on the soundtrack for the ABC-TV mini series The Seven Deadly Sins, Geyer and Kelly sang alongside Vika Bull and Conway for the 13 tracks. The cover art for Wanted Man is a colophon rendering of Australia's legendary outlaw Ned Kelly (no relation) as a guitarist and was painted by David Band.

Reception and charting

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic
[12]
Rolling Stone[13]

Wanted Man peaked at No. 11 on the ARIA Albums Chart and resulted in Kelly being nominated for 'Best Male Artist' at the ARIA Music Awards of 1995.[14][15] Three singles were issued from the album, "Song from the Sixteenth Floor" (January 1994), "Love Never Runs on Time" (May) and "God's Hotel" (September) – but none reached the ARIA Singles Chart.[14]

Allmusic
's William Ruhlmann was less favourable and said "[it] was familiar folk-rock, with Kelly singing romantic lyrics over acoustic and electric guitars and a rhythm section. Wanted Man was less ambitious lyrically than some of Kelly's earlier albums".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Paul Kelly,[8][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] unless otherwise indicated

Wanted Man
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Summer Rain" 2:42
2."God's Hotel"Nick Cave, Paul Kelly[10]5:09
3."She's Rare" 4:20
4."Just Like Animals" 4:39
5."Love Never Runs on Time" 2:57
6."Song from the Sixteenth Floor"John Clifforth, Paul Kelly[7]3:57
7."Maybe This Time for Sure" 2:54
8."Ball and Chain"Randy Jacobs, Paul Kelly[6]3:50
9."You're Still Picking the Same Sore" 3:35
10."Everybody Wants to Touch Me" 3:05
11."We've Started a Fire" 5:12
12."Lately"Renée Geyer, Paul Kelly[24]3:30
13."Nukkanya" 3:18

Personnel

Paul Kelly's backing band members
Musicians (Tracks 1-11)
Recording details
  • Producer – Paul Kelly, Randy Jacobs, David Bridie
  • Engineer – Terry Becker, Richard Bosworth, Tony Cohen, Warren Croyle, Mark Linett, Simon Polinski
    • Assistant engineer – Bruce Curnow, Tim Johnston, Jeff Shannon
  • Mastering – Alan Yoshida
  • Mixer – Terry Becker, Tony Cohen, Simon Polinski
Artwork
  • David Band – artwork (paintings, direction)
  • Christopher Holt – typography

Charts

Chart (1994) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[25] 11
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[26] 19

References

  1. ^ a b c McFarlane, 'Paul Kelly' entry. Archived from the original on 30 September 2004. Retrieved 8 March 20120.
  2. ^ Sawrey, Kaitlyn (November 2009). "Ausmusic Month 2009 – Celebrating Australian Music All Through November 2009". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Archived from the original on 6 April 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  3. ^ a b Holmgren, Magnus. "Paul Kelly". Australian Rock Database (Passagen). Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  4. ISBN 978-1-86508-105-2
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1-926428-22-2
    .
  6. ^ a b "'Ball and Chain' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  7. ^
    Australasian Performing Right Association
    (APRA). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  8. ^ a b "'Love Never Runs on Time' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  9. ^ a b c Kruger, Debbie (December 2002). "Paul Kelly Words Are Never Enough". APRAP (Australasian Performing Right Association). Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  10. ^ a b "'God's Hotel' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  11. ISBN 1-880985-08-X
    .
  12. Rovi Corporation
    ). Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  13. ^ a b c Corio, Paul (29 December 1994). "Paul Kelly Wanted Man". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  14. ^
    ISBN 0-646-11917-6
    .
  15. ^ "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 1995: 9th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  16. ^ "'Summer Rain' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  17. ^ "'She's Rare' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  18. ^ "'Just Like Animals' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  19. ^ "'Maybe This Time for Sure' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  20. ^ "'You're Still Picking the Same Sore' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  21. ^ "'Everybody Wants to Touch Me" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  22. ^ "We've Started a Fire' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  23. ^ "'Nukkanya' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  24. ^ "'Lately' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  25. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Paul Kelly – Wanted Man". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  26. ^ "Charts.nz – Paul Kelly – Wanted Man". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wanted_Man_(Paul_Kelly_album)&oldid=1168705947"