Kelly Groucutt - Kelly (1982) (LP) - €10,00

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Kelly Groucutt (born Michael William Groucutt; 8 September 1945 – 19 February 2009) was an English musician, best known as the bassist and occasional vocalist for the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) between 1974 and 1982.

In 1982, he released his self-titled, debut solo album, Kelly. This album featured fellow ELO members Bev Bevan, Richard Tandy, Mik Kaminski and their orchestral co-arranger and conductor Louis Clark.

The sound quality sounds amateurish, like it's been lifted straight from a mate's cassette from school. Yeah, it's that bad, tinny and cheap.

Anyway, the album itself is a decent effort. The songs are faithful to ELO's late '70's palette and it's nice to hear this, which clarifies Kelly's input into ELO's recordings.

The 'single', Am I A Dreamer' is excellent. It is bright and full of melody. There are some McCartney-esque moments along the way too, such as 'Oh, Little Darling' but the real highlight is 'Sea Of Dreams' which sees Groucutt really flexing some musical muscle, which ironically in some ways was more ambitious than anything Jeff Lynne did around 1981-1983. It features sweeping strings, harpsichords and vocoders, all classic ELO elements circa 1975-6.

One criticism about the album is the lack of variation in the lyrics. Nearly all the songs tend to be about relationships or a fool in love crying at night 'till the morning light. That's fine, It musts makes the album feel lightweight in places. These rhyming couplets "oh I know it's wrong but the feeling is strong" feels a bit samey and predictable. That said, the lyrics play second fiddle, in my opinion, and the music holds up well.

Side one

1.  Am I A Dreamer - 3:48

2.  Oh, Little Darling - 3:50

3.  Dear Mama - 4:32

4.  Black Hearted Woman - 3:29

5.  Midnight Train - 3:52

Side two

1.  Can’t Stand The Morning - 3:11

2.  Anything Goes With Me - 3:31

3.  Old Rock & Roller - 3:44

4.  Don’t Wanna Hear That Song Again - 3:11

5.  Sea Of Dreams - 4:51

Companies, etc.

• Marketed By – RCA Records
• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – RCA Records
• Produced For – Kagee Productions Ltd.
• Published By – RCA Musica
• Published By – Keymack Music Ltd.
• Recorded At – 54 East Sound Recorders
• Mixed At – The Old Smithy Recording Studio
• Mixed At – RCA Studios, Rome
• Mastered At – Artisan Sound Recorders

Credits

• Arranged By, Strings, Conductor – Louis Clark
• Artwork [RCA] – Francesco Logoluso
• Contractor [Strings] – Pavel Farkas
• Design [Album Sleeve], Photography By, Artwork [Kelly Logo] – John Warwicker-le-Breton M.A.
• Drums, Percussion – Bev Bevan
• Engineer [Assistant] – Maureen 
• Engineer, Mixed By – Llew Horowitz
• Executive-Producer, Sequenced By – Peter Kuys
• Keyboards – Richard Tandy
• Management – The Kuys Entertainment Corp.
• Mastered By [Half Speed] – Guido Di Toma
• Mixed By [Room Engineer] – Paolo Venditti
• Producer, Written-By, Vocals, Bass Guitar, Guitar, Sequenced By, Art Direction [Cover Concept] – Kelly Groucutt

Sequenced at R C A Studios, Rome.

Recorded: May, June and July, 1981, at 54 East Sound Recorders Pasadena, California.
Mixed: July 1981 at the Old Smithy Studios, Worchester, England, and August 1981 at R C A Recording Studios Rome, Italy.
Mastered at: Artisan Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California.

Notes

Release:  1982

Format:  LP

Genre:  Pop

Label:  RCA Records

Catalog#  3063

Vinyl:  Excellent

Cover:  Excellent

Prijs. €10,00