January 05, 1944 – October 21, 1990

One can only guess as to where Kelly’s preternatural understanding of the blues idiom came from.  More so than almost all of her contemporaries, she truly seemed born to “sing and play the blues”. 

               There is never anything forced about her singing, never a sense that she is imitating those who came before her or is any way doing anything other than sharing her own stories with us as honestly as she can. 

               Her guitar work, finger picked and slide, reveal the same sense of naturalness, an innate understanding of what to play and more importantly what not to play.  

               Not that Kelly couldn’t get as down and dirty as the best of the bluesmen and blueswomen that she covered.  Kelly could pull off the incredibly raunchy ‘Shave ‘em Dry’, the sweetly sexy ‘Me ‘N My Chauffer’ and a number as silly as ‘Boney Maronie’ with equal ease. 

               Having had her fun on Saturday, she headed to church on Sunday.  Her singing and playing on ‘Swing Down Sweet Chariot’ invites the listener to share the joy her belief brings her while ‘River Jordan’ and the acapella ‘Death Have Mercy’ (an a capella take on ‘Oh Death’) find her properly repentant, her slide work on the former witness to the depths of her belief.

               From the beginning, fans of Kelly’s music were faced with a musical treasure hunt in their attempts at tracking down her recordings as they were scattered across a wide array of EPs (usually released in limited pressings) and seemingly self-multiplying compilations (as the original British LPs were licensed for release in the States the track listings were mixed and matched to create “new” versions) and later, albums recorded for obscure labels whose size constrained their  ability to properly promote and distribute their product.

               Her debut four song EP, recorded in 1964, was produced by her friend Tony McPhee and he would continue to prove to be her most sympathetic collaborator, as both producer and musical partner as the decade drew to a close. 

               McPhee was also one of the musicians backing her on two numbers produced by Mike Vernon in 1966.  Occupying the piano stool at the session was Bob Hall with whom she would also forge a lasting musical alliance.

               The session was a rare misstep for Vernon as the recordings failed to capture Kelly’s essence and abilities; she sounds as if she was just brought in to sing a couple of songs with the band.   (The tracks would remain unreleased until they were licensed to Immediate Records for the compilation “Blues Anytime, Vol. 1”.

               Kelly too was unhappy, not only with the results but with the whole experience.

It would be two years before she went back into the studio, cutting a couple of acoustic duets with Tony McPhee as well as singing over Bob Hall‘s stride piano on one song and singing the other, unaccompanied.

We’ll take a look at these and more in Part 2.

In 1968, Kelly cut four tracks for the compilation “Me and the Devil” and recorded another three for “I Asked For Water, She Gave Me…Gasoline” in 1969.

               Kelly had a perfect foil in McPhee, their sensibilities meshing perfectly.  Her vocal range was showcased by her going toe to toe with Bob Hall’s percussive piano playing on one track and then standing all alone on an abbreviated acapella version of Big Bill Broonzy’s ‘Rising Sun, Shine On’ (titled here as ‘Same Thing on My Mind’)

               The second compilation opens with another Kelly / McPhee duet, this time taking on the traditional ‘Oh Death’ (using the Bertha Lee, Charley Patton version as it’s template). 

Kelly also sings lead vocal on two other numbers: The Groundhogs’ cover of ‘Rock Me’ (with McPhee’s solo a highlight) and Brett Marvin and The Thunderbolts “doing” ‘Dust My Blues’. 

The first proves to be the most successful early pairing of Kelly with a full band; the second not so much.

1969 also saw the release of Kelly’s self-titled major label debut.  (reissued in England on CD by BGO in 1999).

               Although originally released on Epic (a CBS subsidiary) the recordings were made by Nick Perls at various venues across England and then sold to CBS. 

What is lost in “polish” that could have been provided in a studio setting, i.e. second takes, overdubs, the possibility of bringing in another musician or two on a few numbers to provide some variation in the sound, is more than made up for by the primacy of the final result. 

As there is no hint of an audience, the lack of ambiance can make Kelly’s guitar and vocal seem oddly “airless”, the endings too abrupt.

Yet there are moments where the unfinished quality of the recordings make you feel as if you are eavesdropping, suddenly privy to another’s thoughts.

This feeling of violating someone’s private space is most strongly felt listening to the final track, a beautiful rendition of Robert Johnson’s ‘Come On In My Kitchen’. 

Kelly’s slide playing and vocal recreate the ethereal spirit of the original bringing an almost startling intimacy to the song, making one feel almost embarrassed to have shared something so personal with a person you hardly know.

I will review this LP and other recordings by Jo-Ann Kelly in the weeks and months ahead.  In the meantime, I highly recommend getting to know this extraordinary artist who was taken from us far too soon.