Post (Paul Kelly album)

Post is the first solo album by Australian singer-songwriter rock musician, Paul Kelly.<ref name="ARDb">Template:Cite web</ref> Kelly had moved to Sydney by January 1985, after leaving his Melbourne-based Paul Kelly Band and the breakup of his marriage to Hilary Brown.<ref name="NEAP">Template:Cite book</ref>

The album was produced by Clive Shakespeare (Sherbet guitarist) and Kelly, and was released in May 1985 by the independent White Records label, leased to Mushroom Records.<ref name="McF">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Jeff">Template:Cite book</ref> The album failed to chart in Australia, with only one single, "From St Kilda to Kings Cross", released in April which also failed to chart.<ref name=kent1 /><ref name="McF"/> The name of the album, Post relates to both being 'after' significant changes in Kelly's life and to the sense of a 'signpost' to future directions.<ref name="NEAP"/> Kelly dedicated the album to Paul Hewson, keyboardist and songwriter for New Zealand/Australian band Dragon who had died of a heroin overdose in January.<ref name="NEAP"/><ref name="Dragon">Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref name = "liner">Album liner notes – Paul Kelly : Post</ref> Kelly has described Post as a concept album dealing with addictions – not necessarily heroin addiction – but various forms, he has also denied that the songs were autobiographical but that he wrote about the world around him.<ref name="NEAP"/>

Background

Template:Listen Paul Kelly and the Dots, had released two albums in the early 1980s, Talk and Manila, but they had little chart success.<ref name="McF"/> Kelly had become involved with the Melbourne drug culture,<ref name="NEAP"/> the Dots disbanded in 1982 after numerous line-up changes and Kelly formed the Paul Kelly Band.<ref name="McF"/> Kelly's first marriage, to Hilary Brown, had broken up in late 1984; likewise the Paul Kelly Band had ended too.<ref name="NEAP"/> Kelly had moved to Sydney by January 1985, where he recorded Post in the studio of Sherbet guitarist Clive Shakespeare.<ref name="McF"/> It was self-funded (at a cost of $3,500),<ref name="Courier">Template:Cite news</ref> with Michael Barclay on drums and guitarist Steve Connolly (The Zimmerman),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> guest performers on the album included bass player Ian Rilen (Rose Tattoo, X),<ref name="McF"/><ref name="WRecords">Template:Cite web</ref> Peter Bull (Flaming Hands, Grooveyard) on keyboards and guitarist Graham Lee. They spent two weeks recording at Clive Shakespeare's studio, Shakespeare engineered the album and co-produced with Kelly, it was released in May 1985 on the independent label White Label Records, and licensed to Mushroom Records.<ref name="ARDb"/><ref name="McF"/><ref name="Jeff"/>

The term 'post' has a few layers of meaning for Kelly in this album, i.e. post Kelly's childhood and youth in Adelaide, post his life in Melbourne, particularly post his involvement with the Melbourne drug culture, post the death of his musician friend, Paul Hewson.<ref name="NEAP"/> Kelly dedicated the album to Hewson,<ref name = "liner"/> who was a keyboard player and songwriter for the Australian/New Zealand band, Dragon, he died of a heroin overdose in January 1985.<ref name="Dragon"/> 'Post' also relates to a marker or 'signpost', pointing to a new direction, and even a way to 'post' his account of the world.<ref name="NEAP"/> Kelly has described Post as a concept album dealing with addictions – not necessarily heroin addiction – but various forms, he has also denied that the songs were autobiographical but that he wrote about the world around him.<ref name="NEAP"/> The album was re-released in 1990 as one of Mushroom's Midprice Masters and was re-released again in 2006 by Mushroom.<ref name="ARDb"/>

Reception

Template:Album ratings According to Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, Post is a stark, personal collection of acoustic songs that highlight Kelly's broadly based song writing skill.<ref name="McF"/> Australian Rolling Stone magazine hailed Post as the best record of 1985.<ref name="Courier"/><ref name="Lure">Template:Cite news</ref> Both the album and the one single released from it, "From St Kilda to Kings Cross", failed to chart.<ref name=kent1>Template:Cite book</ref> The album is thought by some critics to be more of a demo recording, as four tracks were re-recorded by Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls for their debut album Gossip in 1986. However, according to others it is like Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, where there is a beauty and delicateness in this raw production, with the emphasis on the words, the melodies, the song structures that are the defining elements of Kelly as a songwriter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personnel

• Paul Kelly – guitar, vocals
• Steve Connolly – guitar
• Michael Barclay – drums

Additional musicians

• Chris Coyne – saxophone (tenor) (tracks 1 & 9)
• Ian Rilen – bass guitar (track 2)
• Peter Bull – keyboards (tracks 8, 9 & 11)
• Graham Lee – electric 12 string guitar (track 8), Dobro guitar (track 10)
• Toni Allayis – vocals (track 11)
• Jimmy Niven – piano accordion (track 11)

Recording details

• Producer – Clive Shakespeare, Paul Kelly
• Engineer – Clive Shakespeare

Art work

• Cover, Sleeve Design – Yanni Stumbles
• Photography – Francince McDougall, Laurie Markham, Tom Takacs