So Much Water So Close to Home | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 1989 | |||
Recorded | February–March 1989 | |||
Studio | Ocean Way Studios, Los Angeles | |||
Genre | Folk rock | |||
Length | 40:58 | |||
Label | Mushroom/White (AUS/NZL) A&M (Rest of World) | |||
Producer | Scott Litt, Paul Kelly | |||
Paul Kelly and the Messengers chronology | ||||
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Singles from So Much Water So Close to Home | ||||
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
So Much Water So Close to Home is an album by Australian rock band Paul Kelly and the Messengers and was originally released in August 1989. [4] [5] The title comes from a short story of the same name by author Raymond Carver. [6] Carver died in August 1988. [7] Kelly co-wrote the score for the 2006 Australian film Jindabyne , [8] which was also based on the same story. [6] The entire album was recorded in the U.S. with producer Scott Litt, [5] best known for his work with R.E.M. It was released on Mushroom/White Records in Australia & New Zealand and A&M Records for the rest of the world. [5] The album peaked at #10 on the ARIA album charts, [9] but none of its singles, "Sweet Guy", "Careless" and "Most Wanted Man in the World" had any Top 40 chart success. [9] All tracks for the album were written by Kelly, [10] who provided vocals, guitar and harmonica and also co-produced with Litt. [5]
Paul Kelly had formed Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls in 1985, named for a group mentioned by Lou Reed in "Walk on the Wild Side". [4] [5] [11] For international releases from 1987 on, they used the name Paul Kelly and the Messengers to avoid possible racist interpretations. [4] [11] They released Gossip in 1986 on Mushroom Records in Australia and in 1987 on A&M Records for international release. [5] Under the Sun was released in 1987 in Australia and in 1988 internationally. [5]
Their next album, So Much Water So Close to Home was released in 1989 as by Paul Kelly and the Messengers in all markets. [5] It peaked at #10 on the ARIA album charts, [9] but none of its singles reached the ARIA Top 40 Singles charts. [9] The entire album was recorded in the U.S. with producer Scott Litt, [5] best known for his work with R.E.M. Litt had re-mixed some of Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls' tracks from Gossip for its US release as by Paul Kelly and the Messengers. [4] [5] So Much Water So Close to Home was released on Mushroom/White Records in Australia and A&M Records in the United States and Europe in 1989. [5]
The title comes from a 1975 short story of the same name by author Raymond Carver [6] (later collected in What We Talk About When We Talk About Love ). Album track, "Everything's Turning to White" is based on Carver's short story, [12] it describes the tale of recreational fishermen who find a dead woman's body but continue their trip for three days before reporting their discovery to police. [13] Kelly would go on to co-write the score for the 2006 Australian film Jindabyne , [8] which was also based on the same story. [6] In 1991 Paul Kelly and the Messengers released their next album Comedy . [4] [5]
All tracks written by Paul Kelly. [10]
Side 1
Side 2
Paul Kelly and the Messengers
Additional musicians
Recording details
Chart (1989) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA) [14] | 10 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [15] | 26 |
Chart (1989) | Position |
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ARIA Albums Chart [16] | 87 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA) [16] | Gold | 35,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter and guitarist. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor Ratbaggy and Stardust Five. Kelly's music style has ranged from bluegrass to studio-oriented dub reggae, but his core output straddles folk, rock and country. His lyrics capture the vastness of the culture and landscape of Australia by chronicling life about him for over 30 years. David Fricke from Rolling Stone calls Kelly "one of the finest songwriters I have ever heard, Australian or otherwise". Kelly has said, "Song writing is mysterious to me. I still feel like a total beginner. I don't feel like I have got it nailed yet."
Gossip is the double LP debut album by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls. Produced by Alan Thorne and Paul Kelly, it was released on Mushroom Records in September 1986, which peaked at No. 15 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart, and achieved gold record status. There was commercial success for "Before Too Long" which peaked at No. 15 and "Darling It Hurts" reached No. 25 on the related Singles Chart. Gossip was released in different forms, initially as a double album with 24 tracks, it was edited down to a single 15-track LP for North American and European release on A&M Records, when released on CD in North America, it featured 17 tracks.
Under the Sun is the second album by Australian rock group Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls and was originally released in December 1987 by Mushroom Records. In the North American and European markets, it was released by A&M Records in 1988 with the band credited as Paul Kelly & The Messengers, with a different track order and listing.
Deeper Water, the tenth studio album by Paul Kelly, was released on 12 September 1995 on White Label Records in Australia and on Vanguard Records in North America. It peaked at No. 40 on the ARIA Albums Chart and provided his second consecutive nomination as Best Male Artist at the ARIA Music Awards of 1996. In New Zealand Deeper Water reached No. 30 on the Official New Zealand Music Chart. Kelly issued its lead single, "Give in to My Love", in October 1995 and followed with "Deeper Water" later that year.
Words And Music is an album recorded by Paul Kelly and originally released in 1998.
Comedy is a double album recorded by Paul Kelly & the Messengers and originally released in 1991. It peaked at No. 12 on the ARIA Albums Chart and remained in the top 50 for 12 weeks. Comedy reached the top 30 on the New Zealand Albums Chart.
Hidden Things is an album by Australian folk rock group Paul Kelly & the Messengers released in March 1992 on Mushroom Records, which reached No. 29 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It also reached the Top 40 on the New Zealand Albums Chart. It is a collection of tracks recorded by Kelly and both his backing bands, the Coloured Girls and the Messengers, from 1986 to 1991, but were not issued on previous studio albums. The album spawned a single, "When I First Met Your Ma", which was released in March. Messenger band members provide lead vocals on "Hard Times" from its writer Steve Connolly, "Rock 'n' Soul" from its writer Jon Schofield. "Sweet Guy Waltz" is a slower version of "Sweet Guy" which was on 1989's So Much Water So Close to Home. The album was re-released in 2011 as Hidden Things: B-sides & Rarities.
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 as a guitarist and was painted by David Band.
Christopher John Wilson was an Australian blues musician who sang and played harmonica, saxophone and guitar. He performed as part of the Sole Twisters, Harem Scarem and Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls, and fronted his band Crown of Thorns. Wilson's solo albums are Landlocked, The Long Weekend, Spiderman (2000), King for a Day, Flying Fish (2012) and the self titled Chris Wilson (2018).
Foggy Highway is an album recorded by Paul Kelly and the Stormwater Boys and originally released in May 2005 on EMI in Australia and Capitol Records in the US. It peaked at #6 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) End of Year - 2005 Country chart. On 18 October 2005 it was re-released by Cooking Vinyl and included a four track bonus disc. In October 2010, the May 2005 version of Foggy Highway was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums at No. 66, with Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls' album, Gossip (1986) at No. 7.
Jindabyne is a 2006 Australian drama film by third time feature director Ray Lawrence and starring Gabriel Byrne, Laura Linney, Deborra-Lee Furness and John Howard. Jindabyne was filmed entirely on location in and around the Australian country town of the same name: Jindabyne, New South Wales, situated next to the Snowy Mountains.
Vika and Linda, also known as Vika and Linda Bull, are an Australian vocal duo consisting of Vika Susan Bull and her younger sister, Linda Rose Bull. They came to prominence after singing backing vocals in Joe Camilleri's band The Black Sorrows from 1988. They left that group early in 1994 to start their duo with a self-titled album appearing in June that year. The duo scored their first number 1 album in 2020, with their retrospective 'Akilotoa: Anthology (1994-2006).
"From Little Things Big Things Grow" is a protest song recorded by Australian artists Paul Kelly & The Messengers on their 1991 album Comedy, and by Kev Carmody on his 1993 album Bloodlines. It was released as a CD single by Carmody and Kelly in 1993 but failed to chart. The song was co-written by Kelly and Carmody, and is based on the story of the Gurindji strike and Vincent Lingiari as part of the Indigenous people's struggle for land rights in Australia and reconciliation.
The discography of Paul Kelly, an Australian rock artist, includes solo releases, those from various bands that Paul Kelly has led, and material from the related projects. Paul Kelly, under various guises, has released twenty-eight studio albums, sixty four singles, forty-two music videos, and contributed to ten film / television soundtracks and scores.
"Dumb Things" or "I've Done all the Dumb Things" is a song by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls, released as the fourth single from their second album, Under the Sun. It was released by Mushroom Records imprint White Label Records in January 1989 and reached No. 36 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Singles Chart. In the US, it was released under the band name, Paul Kelly and the Messengers, which reached No. 16 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. A music video, directed by Larry Williams, was provided for the single – a still from the clip is used as the single's cover.
"Sweet Guy" is a song by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Messengers released in June 1989 as the lead single from the studio album, So Much Water So Close to Home. The song was written by Kelly – his first from a woman's point of view. He co-produced the track with Scott Litt. The single was released in June 1989 on the Mushroom Records label. It reached No. 53 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and the Top 40 in New Zealand. The song was later covered by Renée Geyer on Difficult Woman (1994), Adalita Srsen on Before Too Long.
"Careless" is a song by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Messengers, released in October 1989 as the second single from their 1989 studio album, So Much Water So Close to Home. The song was written by Kelly and co-produced with Scott Litt. The single was released in October 1989 on the Mushroom Records label. It peaked at number 116 on the ARIA singles chart. The song was later covered by Renée Geyer on Difficult Woman (1994), Angie Hart on Women at the Well (2002), and Ozi Batla on Before Too Long (2010).
"Last Train to Heaven" is a song written by Paul Kelly for the album, Gossip, which was performed by his group, Paul Kelly & the Coloured Girls. It was re-written as "Last Train", a dance-orientated remake, and is the first single released by Christine Anu. Anu and Kelly performed "Last Train" as a duet, which was issued on 20 September 1993 and peaked at No. 93 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart in the following month. It was listed at No. 61 on national radio, Triple J's Hottest 100 for 1993.
Goin' Your Way is a live album collaboration recorded by Neil Finn and Paul Kelly during a performance at the Sydney Opera House on 10 March 2013. It was released on 8 November as a stand-alone 2× CD, Blu-ray or DVD; or in a Limited Edition Deluxe version with all three formats. From 18 February to 18 March, Finn and Kelly undertook a joint tour of Australia, they performed tracks from their respective careers, including re-interpreting each other's work. The CD album peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart while the DVD reached No. 1 on the related Music DVD Chart.
Katie Brianna Garfoot is an Australian musician and singer-songwriter-guitarist who performs as Katie Brianna. Previously an alt-country performer she expanded her repertoire to include rock and power-pop.