Pat Kelly

Horatious Adolphus "Pat" Kelly (6 August 1944 – 16 July 2019) was a prolific, influential Jamaican rocksteady and reggae singer and innovative, groundbreaking sound engineer working with King Tubby, Bunny Lee and Scientist (musician), whose career began in the mid-1960s. He recorded as a solo artist and as a member of the vocal group the 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 from ska to rocksteady suited The Techniques, with a string of hits in 1967 and 1968 notably "You Don't Care" and "Queen Majesty", tunes which were versioned by Big Youth, Ken Parker (musician), Tony Tuff, Duke Reid, Tommy McCook, Sonia Pottinger's High Note label with The Revolutionaries, Ronnie Davis, The Itals, Cornell Campbell and many more He initially recorded as a solo artist for his former schoolmate, producer Bunny Lee. recording for Duke Reid in the Rocksteady era when Reid's Treasure Isle studio/label was dominating Jamaican music.

Solo career In 1968, Kelly went solo again, working again with Lee, and recording another Mayfield cover, "Little Boy Blue". Kelly's How 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 was overdubbed when it was released in the United Kingdom on the Palmer Brothers' Gas label. In the same year, Kelly also recorded a Bunny Lee produced version of the John D. Loudermilk composition, Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye, a tune already popularised in Jamaica by the Bettye Swann and Johnny Nash interpretations. 1969 was a prolific year, with Kelly also interpreting the James Carr (singer) Soul music R & B tune, The Dark End of the Street, with Bunny 'Striker' Lee and Lee "Scratch" Perry on production duties. In 1976, Pat Kelly teamed up with Yabby You and The Prophets to cut a Rockers discomix version of the How Long Will It Take tune, backed by The Revolutionaries.

In 1979, Kelly worked with Sly and Robbie, Ossie Hibbert and Ranking Trevor on the Rockers vocal and dub Discomix, "It's a Good Day", which was also versioned by King Tubby. As well as pursuing his calling as a vocalist, Pat Kelly also made use of his earlier training, working as a highly prolific sound engineer at several Jamaican studios including Channel One and King Tubby's, where he worked with Scientist (musician) on vocals and dubs with the leading musicians of the period. He also moved into production, producing his own Youth and Youth album in 1978, and co-producing (with Holt) John Holt's The 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 with Lloyd Parks and Johnny Johnson.

Kelly died on 16 July 2019, aged 74, from complications of kidney disease. He was survived by widow Ingrid, one son (Shawn) and four daughters (Cheryl, Pamela, Padeane, & Terri-Ann). He is buried at Dovecot Memorial Park & Crematorium in St. Catherine.

Discography Studio albums Pat Kelley Sings (1969), Pama Give Love a Try (1978), Third World Youth and Youth (1978), Live & Love Lonely Man (1978), Burning Sounds Lovers Rock (1979), Third World (with Johnny Clarke and Hortense Ellis) One Man Stand (1979), Third World/Puff So Proud (1979), Burning Rockers/Chanan-Jah Cool Breezing (197?), Sunshot Wish It Would Rain (1980), Joe Gibbs From Both Sides (1980), Ita Sunshine (1980), KG Imperial Srevol (1983), Ethnic Fight UK Pat Kelly and Friends (1984), Chanan-Jah One In a Million (1984), Sky Note Ordinary Man (1987), Body Music Cry For You No More (1988), Blue Moon Try To Remember (1991), Shelly's Records, NYC No Further Fears (2009), Tad's Record Are You For Real (with Los Aggrotones) (2012), Interrogator Records Love Songs (Jackpot, KGLP003).

Compilation albums The Best of Pat Kelly (1983), Vista Sounds Butterflies, Sonic Sounds Classic Hits of Pat Kelly (1995), Rhino Classics (199?), Super Power Soulful Love - The Best Of (1997), Trojan (Pat Kelly & Friends) The Vintage Series (2000), VP Sings Classical Hits Galore, Striker Lee