The incredible blues voice of Jo Ann Kelly (1944-1990)

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Jo Ann Kelly. Source: Facebook.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Discography
3. Chronology / Music / Performance
4. Testimonies
5. Acknowledgements
6. References

1. Introduction

When it comes to British female blues singers from the 1960s through to the 1980s, one tends to think of Maggie Bell (b.1945) and her band Stone the Crows, or Christine McVie (1943-2022) of Chicken Shack and Fleetwood Mac. However, another candidate for the title of top British blueswoman is the oft forgot Jo Ann Kelly (5 January 1944 - 21 October 1990). This powerful, vocalist and acoustic blues slide guitar player was heavily involved in the British blues scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s, appearing on numerous recordings and live gigs, including festivals in the UK, Europe and United States. Whilst sticking throughout her career to acoustic Delta blues, at various points Kelly played with rock bands, most notably the Yardbirds in 1963, Tramp in 1969 and 1974, with the latter featuring members of Fleetwood Mac - Dany Kirwan, Mick Fleetwood and Bob Brunning. She was also at various stages invited to join the US band Canned Heat and tour with legendary albino electric blues rock guitarist Johnny Winter. She declined both offers, preferring to stick with solo performances, or alongside her brother Dave Kelly (b.1947), and based in the UK, though also regularly touring Europe and the US amongst ever increasing family commitments. Kelly's vocals and slide guitar playing was unique for a white person as it replicated to an uncanny degree the traditional American Delta blues style of the 1920s and 1930s, in the vein of Robert Johnson (1911-1938), Memphis Minnie (1897-1973) and Charlie Patton (1891-1934), to name a few. 

When the present author, who lives in Australia, first heard Jo Ann Kelly's voice on 15 June 2023, performing Death Letter Blues at the 6-8 June 1969 4th Memphis Blues Festival in the United States, he thought it belonged to one of the old Black bluesmen on the bill. It was subsequently something of a shock to realise, instead, that the musician was a petite, 25 year old Londoner, who happened to look more like a bespeckled school teacher rather than a world weary dispenser of the traditional American blues idiom. A clip of Kelly’s performance at the Memphis festival in 1969, only re-discovered and re-released in 2021 (it was originally shown on US television during 1969), reveals her unique and stunning talent:

 Jo Ann Kelly & "Backwards" Sam Firk, Death Letter Blues, 4th Memphis Blues Festival, Tennessee, 6-8 June 1969, duration: 3.17 minutes.

Kelly was born in London in 1944, began performing around 1959, and died of a brain tumour in 1990, leaving behind partner Peter Emery and two daughters. She released her first solo LP in 1969 and went on to issue a number of solo, collaborative and guest recordings over the years leading up to her early death at the age of 46. Some of those works are listed and linked to below. There is no documentary at present available presenting the life and times of Jo Ann Kelly. However, during 2020, Jeremy Clyne organised a Zoom meeting with various friends, associates and family members which sought to expand upon what is known and freely available on her life and musical output. It is available below.

Apart from a brief Wikipedia entry, there is also a Facebook Jo Ann Kelly appreciation page available to new and old fans, along with numerous discographies, many of which are listed, or linked to, below. With just over 100 members, the Facebook fan site points to the fact that Kelly remains little known, despite her obvious and unique talent, and record of achievement during her more than three decades as a musician and performer. This blog seeks to assist in altering that by bringing together freely available biographical information and links to her music and performance.

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2. Discography

For a detailed, illustrated discography, see Stefan Wirz' American Music - Jo Ann Kelly Discography webpage. It is a very comprehensive work and covers the wide variety of her music that was recorded, both in the studio and through live performance. LP and CD covers are also illustrated, along with disc labels and recording information, including locations and musicians involved. Below is a brief list of Kelly's major releases:

• Jo-Ann Kelly: Blues & Gospel (No label, 1968) – EP with four songs, pressing limited to 99 copies. All original recordings are included on Retrospect 1964-72.
  
• Jo-Ann Kelly (Epic, 1969)
• Same Thing on Their Minds (Sunset, 1969) – With Tony McPhee.
• Jo Ann Kelly With John Fahey, Woody Mann, John Miller, Alan Seidler (Blue Goose, 1972)
• Do It (Red Rag, 1976) – With Peter Emery.
• Just Restless, The Jo Ann Kelly Band (Appaloosa, 1984)
• Jo Ann (Open, 1988)
• Woman in (E)Motion Festival (Tradition & Moderne, 1995) – Recorded in Germany, 1988.

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3. Chronology / Music / Performance

The following chronology lists Jo Ann Kelly material available online, through sites such as YouTube, Facebook and various websites. It includes recordings and performance ephemera. Only three videos of live performance have been located to date: (1) Memphis 1969, (2) France 1976 and (3) Bristol 1989.

* 1944: Jo Ann Kelly born 5 January 1944, at Streatham, South London, England.

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* 1954: Jo Ann "flips out" over Little Richard's Lucille and the 12 bar blues format.

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* 1957: Jo Ann starts playing the guitar, having been taught three chords "in the skiffle era" by her younger brother Dave. 

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* 1959: Performance - Jo Ann Kelly, Corton Holiday Camp, Summer 1959, photograph (Moody 1988). Aged 15.

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* 1960: Performance - The Skiffle Group, Corton Holiday Camp, 1960, photograph. Included Jo Ann and Dave Kelly, plus another (Moody 1988).

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* 1961: Jo Ann begins enmeshing herself in the American Delta blues musical tradition from this point.

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1963

* 1963: Performance - Jo Ann Kelly sits in with the early Yardbirds at a rehearsal, Crawdaddy Club, Richmond, featuring Eric Clapton. She sings Baby What You Want Me to Do (Moody 1988).

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1964

* 1964: Recording - Jo - Ann Kelly: Blues & Gospel, 4 track EP, recorded at Bridge House Club, Elephant & Castle. Tracks: Long Black Hair (2.13), Boyfriend Blues (3.43), New Milkcow Blues (2.53) and I looked down the line and wondered (3.05). Recorded by Tony McPhee.

* 1964+: Recording - Jo Ann Kelly Retrospective 64-72, CD, 1990, duration: 82.14 minutes. Includes her earliest recorded releases.

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1966

* 1966: Recording - New Sounds in Folk, LP, Harlequin, 1966. The two following tracks feature Jo Ann Kelly: Black Rat Swing (3.02) and Buddy Brown Eyes (4.34). Live at the Laughton Folk Club, Essex. Performers: Jo Ann Kelly, vocal and guitar; Steve Rye, harmonica; Gil Kodilyne, piano.

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1967

* 1967: Recording - Blues Anytime Vol. 1 - An Anthology of British Blues, LP, Immediate, 1967. Includes two tracked by Jo Ann Kelly: I Feed So Good (2.53) and Ain't Seen No Whiskey (2.58). 

Tracks: 00:00 John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers - I'm Your Witchdoctor 02:13; Eric Clapton - Snake Drive 04:43; T. S. McPhee - Ain't Gonna Cry No More 07:48; Savoy Brown Blues Band - I Tried 10:52; Eric Clapton - Tribute To Elmore 13:02; Jo-Ann Kelly - I Feel So Good 15:55; John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers - Telephone Blues 19:53; T. S. McPhee - You Don't Love Me 22:18; Eric Clapton - West Coast Idea 27:37; Jo-Ann Kelly - Ain't Seen No Whisky 27:35; Stone's Masonry - Flapjacks 30:18; Savoy Brown Blues Band - Cold Blooded Woman.

* 1967: Performance - Western Daily Press, Bristol, Thursday, 11 May 1967. Notice re first public appearance of Jo Ann Kelly alongside her brother Dave Kelly at the Sunday Folk Blues Bristol and West event, Old Duke, Bristol in June.

* 1967: Performance - Folk Blues Bristol and West, 2 July 1967. Source: Facebook, 29 August 2022. Flyer.

Ian Anderson reminiscences: Our first guest in our new premises was Dave Kelly’s big sister, the late and much-missed Jo Ann Kelly. In those days, audiences were used to female singers being Joan Baez clones, and this small blonde girl in spectacles didn’t look awfully like a blues person. She unpacked her frightfully cheap-looking guitar from a soft case, sat down, and immediately became an unholy mating between Memphis Minnie and Charley Patton as she piled through Moon Going Down and Nothing In Rambling. Hey, not even blokes could do Charley Patton that well (this was 1967, remember, and men were not so liberated). In Bristol, a star was born …

* 1967: Performance - Western Daily Press, Bristol, Thursday, 14 September 1967.  

The Flowerpot - Folk, Blues and Beyond .... I [Gertrude] went up to the folk club at Putney last Monday and caught one of the finest blues sessions I've heard in years. Dave and Jo Ann Kelly, the two artists so popular with the local blues fans were there, as was the Chicago-style group Dave leads, the John Drummer Blues Band...

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1968

* 1968: Recording - Blues Like Showers of Rain - A Compendium of the Finest British Country Blues Artists, LP, Matchbox, 1968. Tracking featuring Jo Ann Kelly include: Ain't Nothing in Ramblin (2.56) and Black Mary (2.32).

* 1968: Recording - Keep Your Hand Out of My Pocket and No Chance With You.

* 1968: Performance - Hornsey College of Arts. The photograph below shows Kelly playing a large body acoustic guitar with slide, and by her side a steel bodied National Reso-phonic Style 1 Tricone Silver German resonator guitar.

Jo Ann Kelly, Hornsey College of Art, 1968. Source: Facebook, 28 August 2022.

* 1968: Recording - Me and the Devil: The Anthology of British Blues, LP, Liberty, 1968. Recorded at Marquee Studios, London, 7, 17 & 18 September 1968. Tracks include: Rollin' and Tumblin' (2.22), Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor, Buy You a Diamond Ring, and Same Thing on My Mind.

* 1968: Performance - 1st National Blues Convention, Conway Hall, London, 7-8 September 1968, flyer.

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1969

* 1969: Performance - Blues Scene '69 festival, Colston Hall, England, Sunday, 9 February 1969.

* 1969: Performance - Mississippi Fred McDowell tour, High Wycombe Town Hall, Saturday, 1 March 1969.

* 1969: Performance & recording - Mississippi Fred McDowell tour, Mayfair Theatre, London, Saturday, 8 March 1969.

* 1969: Recording - Standing at the Burying Ground, Mississippi Fred McDowell, live at the Mayfair Hotel, London, LP, 8 March 1969, duration: 6.24 minutes, vocals: McDowell, guitar - Jo Ann Kelly. See also When I Lay My Burden Down (4.14) where Kelly plays and sings alongside McDowell.

Comment (Ian Johnson, YouTube, 2022): The gig with Jo Ann was on a Sunday night [8 March 1969] at the Little Mayfair theatre. Fred played the previous Thursday at the Bridge Tavern in Southwark. I was at both. Don’t think Fred did any other gigs in London.

* 1969: Performance - Jook Joint, Thornbury, Bradford, Sunday, 30 March 1969.

* 1969: Performance - 4th Memphis Blues Festival, Tennessee, 6-8 June 1969. Jo Ann Kelly appears on the bill, which is filmed and broadcast on local television. Refer clip above.

* 1969: Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 28 June 1969. TV guide for Sunday, 9pm, channel 13: Sounds of Summer, The Memphis Birthday. Highlights of the Memphis Blues Festival... Among the stars seen tonight are .... vocalist Jo Ann Kelly.

* 1969: Performance - 9th National Jazz and Blues Festival, Sussex, Sunday, 10 August 1969.

* 1969: Performance - National Blues Convention, Conway Hall, 20-21 September 1969, poster.

 

* 1969: Recording - Jo Ann Kelly, LP, Epic, UK & US, October 1969, duration: 32.20 minutes. First solo LP.

Tracks: 01. Louisiana Blues — 3:29 ; 02. Fingerprints Blues — 3:25; 03. Driftin’ And Driftin’ — 2:38; 04. Look Here Partner — 2:34; 05. Moon Going Down — 4:01; 06. Yellow Bee Blues — 3:45; 07. Whiskey Head Woman — 1:50; 08. Sit Down On My Knee — 2:42; 09. Man I’m Lovin’ — 2:42; 10. Jinx Blues — 2:30; 11. Come On In My Kitchen — 2:48.

Liner notes: Four years after the Beatles rescued rock from tired clichés, another English find has miraculously restored the original immediacy and authority of the country blues. She is Jo-Ann Kelly, the first and only white blues singer of sufficiently awesome skills to make the listener lose all sense of time, color, place, or sex. Jo-Ann is young, British, and feminine. Her sounds are brawny, black, and Southern. They transport one to distant worlds, far removed from the quiet pubs at which she plays three nights a week. Her art is not only a throwback to what has become a lost art among blacks themselves, but reflects the essence of the latest rock trends. The re-creation of country blues artistry by white musicians has been the very touchstone of rock, the only common denominator between the Presleys, Dylans, and Rolling Stones of the past fifteen years. Although the tradition of whites miming blacks is as old as the campy minstrel show, and continued through the classic blues era of the 1920s, something was always lost in the white translation. As the great Big Bill Broonzy once wrote: "There is even a few white men who can play the blues.... Sometimes we blues singers would call them Negroes too, but they wouldn't mind at all... they could play as well as a Negro, but they couldn't sing the blues. They could say the blues and words and some of the blues they could sing was the kind that we call big-city blues and dressed-up blues, but not the real Mississippi blues." Until Jo-Ann Kelly arrived, no white ever truly mastered the real Mississippi blues. This failure was so acute that the proverbial put-down of the blues-oriented white performer was simply: "He's white." To offset their handicap, whites not only copied Negro inflections, but synthesized blues, rock, and even jazz. Although Jo-Ann herself sometimes sings with rock bands, she prefers to deliver her message on her own guitar, which she plays with the force of a Delta bluesman. To really get Jo-Ann's message it must be remembered that the country blues was never primarily an instrumental art, but carefully balanced singing against guitar-playing. The guitar "spoke" and was considered a "second voice." In mastering only this second voice, the usual blues interpreter was left with a lop-sided or one dimensional product. Side 1 - Louisiana Blues (Jo-Ann Kelly) (3:31), Fingerprints Blues (Jo-Ann Kelly) (3:26), Driftin' And Driftin' (Jo-Ann Kelly) (2:39), Look Here Partner (Jo-Ann Kelly) (2:35), Moon Going Down (Jo-Ann Kelly) (4:02).Side 2 - Yellow Bee Blues (Jo-Ann Kelly) (3:46).,Whiskey Head Woman (Tommy McClennan) (1:50) ,Sit Down On My Knee (Jo-Ann Kelly) (2:45), Man I'm Lovin' (Jo-Ann Kelly) (2:44), Jinx Blues (Jo-Ann Kelly) (2:30), Come On In My Kitchen (Jo-Ann Kelly) (2:50).All songs published by Yellow Bee Music (BMI), a division of Yellow Bee Productions, Inc., except "Whiskey Head Woman," which is published by Duchess Music Corp. (BMI). Engineer: Nick Perls.But Jo-Ann Kelly does more than simply ape the country blues to perfection. She is also a strikingly original talent who both creates her own compositions and gives her versions of traditional blues their own flavor. In this way she resembles her favorite blues greats, like Memphis Minnie. In the fashion of traditional bluesmen she approached the blues as a performing art, not a studio project. A trend-setter rather than a follower, she developed and perfected her skills independently of the blues revival which swept England in the early 1960s. Five years of woodshedding in pubs not only seasoned her art, but made her a legend. It was said that no commercial company could entice her. Indeed, when producer Nick Perls glimpsed her at work and casually expressed his interest in recording her, she returned an unprintable comment. But Perls was patient and persistent. Having logged three thousand miles to rediscover Son House in 1964, he regarded the obstacle course a mere occupational hazard. He also knew that Jo-Ann Kellys appeared only once a generation. So he bided his time in England. He wooed Kelly not with money - a commodity to which she is singularly indifferent - but with blues reissue albums, and generous helpings of jive. Finally, convinced of her would-be promoter's good faith, she consented to be recorded. On her own terms. Instead of boxing her in a studio, Perls shadowed her from pub to pub with his recording equipment. He operated on the assumption that she needed neither studio gadgetry nor helping hands of any kind to knock out an audience. It was a calculated risk. He thinks it paid off. So do we. Try cutting Kelly with today's rock sounds. She definitely mixes. Or take her straight. Call her a "classic blues singer," Britain's answer to Janis Joplin, the Sixties' answer to Bessie Smith, an outrageously brilliant mimic. Or lay on Broonzy's load of jive and call her a Negro. She wouldn't mind at all. - Stephen Calt. Photographs: Valerie Wilmer. Manufactured by Epic Records / CBS, Inc. 51 W. 52 Street, New York City. Reg. "Epic," Marca Reg. T.M. Printed in U.S.A. Epic stereo records can be played on today's mono record players with excellent results. They will last as long as mono records played on the same equipment, yet will reveal full stereo sound when played on stereo record players.

* 1969: The Village Voice, New York, 23 October 1969.

* 1969: Daytona Beach Morning Journal, 16 November 1969. Review of Jo Ann Kelly LP.

Jo Ann Kelly Makes Breakthrough. .... a white singer who deliberately tries to copy black blues quality is apt to end up sounding ridiculous. That is why it is startling to stumble unawares on a record called Jo Ann Kelly (Epic BN 26491). The record spins, the needle slides into the groove and you hear a singer with guitar accompaniment. The inflection, the phrasing, the attack of both singer and guitarist are completely in the tradition of the Deep South country blues. But when you pick up the sleeve to find who this is, it turns out that the singer - who is also the guitarist - is about as far removed from the tradition of the country bluesman as you could imagine. This singer guitarist is young, white, English and girl. That fact that the singer is a girl is the real shocker. Jo Ann Kelly, in addition to having mastered the intonation and style of the country bluesmen in a manner that makes these qualities seem completely natural to her, has also managed to develop a vocal texture that does not immediately identify her sex. This could amount to nothing more than an interesting trick, a very skillful job of imitation. But an important element in Miss Kelly's successful assimilation of the country blues style is that she avoids imitation. As least, she does on this disk. Presumably she started out as a copyist but she is by now so far into this idiom that she is singing her own material, which relieves here of the straight jacket imposed by following a set model. The only song in the collection which is not her own composition (or her own variation) is Tommy McClennan's "Whiskey Headed Woman." The extent to which Miss Kelly has gotten beneath the surface of this music is emphasized by a somewhat similar collection by Tim Williams .....

* 1969: Recording - John Dummer Blues Band - Cabal, LP, Mercury, 1969. Jo Ann Kelly provides vocal on: No Chance With You (3.08) and Baby Please Don't Cry. Members of the band during its life included Dave Kelly, Tony McPhee and Jo Ann's future partner Pete Emery.

* 1969: Recording - John Dummer Band, LP, 1969, duration: 41.35 minutes. Features the vocals of Dave and Jo Ann Kelly.

* 1969: Recording - Dave Kelly, Keep it in the Family, LP. 1969. Jo Ann Kelly vocals on: Finger Print Blues and Where's My Good Man At. 

* 1969: Recording - Tramp album, 1969, featuring the following: Fleetwood Mac musicians (Danny Kirwan on lead guitar, Bob Hall on piano, Bob Brunning on bass, Mick Fleetwood on drums, plus Jo Ann Kelly and Dave Kelly on vocals. Tracks: (1) Own Up (2.47) and (2) Baby What You Want Me to Do (4.00). Jo Ann supplies vocals as Memphis Lil.

* 1969: Recording - Jo Ann Kelly and Tony McPhee, Same things on their mind, LP, Sunset Records, 1969, duration: 39.25 minutes.

Tracks: A1 Rock Me 0:00; A2 Death Letter 2:45; A3 Make Me A Pallet 7:00; A4 Gasoline 10:25; A5 Same Thing On My Mind 15:18; A6 Buy You A Diamond Ring 17:09; B1 Rollin' And Tumblin' 19:24; B2 Me And The Devil 21:54; B3 Dust My Blues 25:50; B4 Oh Death 28:24; B5 No More Doggin' 31:42; B6 Don't Pass The Hat Around 35:31. Vocals are shared between Kelly and guitarist McPhee. The album is primarily acoustic, though includes some electric material as well.

* 1969: Recording - I asked for water, she gave me ... gasoline, Liberty, 1969. Jo Ann Kelly appears on O Death, Rock Me and Dust My Blues.

* 1969: Recording - Blues Leftovers, LP, 1Immediate, 969. Jo Ann Kelly appears on: Backwater Blues and Keep You Hands Out of My Pockets.

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1970

* 1970: Performance - 16 May 1970, Cashbox. Review of concert at the Capital Theatre, Port Chester, New York State, headlined by James Taylor:

.... British blues singers Jo Ann Kelly is an exceptional guitarist and interpreter of music. Her rendition of "Walking the Dog" was only one highlight of a distinguished stirring set.

* 1970: Performance - The Montreal Gazette, 22 May 1970. Rock concert, Sunday, 24 May 1970, The Autostade, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Jo Ann Kelly performs alongside artists such as Jefferson Airplane, Mountain, Jethro Tull, Van Morrison, Johnny & Edgar Winter.

* 1970: Recording - Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts, LP, Sonet, 1970. Jo Ann Kelly appears on Shave Em Dry (7.42). Recorded at Orange Studios, London. Jug band performance.

* 1970: Recording - Brunning Sunflower Blues Band: I Wish You Would, LP, Saga, 1970. Jo Ann Kelly appears on Broken Hearted.

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1971

* 1971: Recording - Brunning / Hall Sunflower Blues Band, LP, Gemini, 1971. Jo Ann Kelly appears on Gotta Keep Running, Put a Record On, and Bogey Man.

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1972

* 1972: Recording - Dave Kelly, LP, 1972. Features Jo Ann Kelly on vocals, alongside her brother Dave, including: Gotta Keep Running, No Fun For Me, The Fields of Night, Brooklyn Bridge, Get Right Church.

* 1972: Recording - Jo Ann Kelly, LP, Blue Goose, 1972, duration: 2.57 minutes. Recorded in New York, with John Fahey, Woody Mann, John Miller and Alan Seidler.

*  1972: Recording - Jo Ann Kelly with Dick Wellswood, Germany, 1972, BBC Radioplay Music (1975), duration: 16 minutes. 

Tracks: Two-Nineteen Blues (0:00), Make Me A Pallet (3:09), Key To The Highway (6:41), You've Got To Move (8:30), Blackrat Swing (10:56), Baby What You Want Me To Do (13:48).

* 1972: Recording - Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers: Kings of the Robot Rhythm, LP, 1972, duration: 40.22 minutes. A country style album.

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1973

* 1973: Recording - Try Me One More Time, WGTB, Georgetown University radio station, November 1973. Recording available on Soundcloud, duration: 4.57 minutes.

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1974

* 1974: Recording - Jo Ann Kelly interview, Folkscene Radio, Los Angeles, 11 April 1974, duration: 39.02 minutes. Soundcloud. Plays the following songs: (1) Morning Coming Down, (2) Robert Johnson's Come On In My Kitchen.

* 1974: Recording - Tramp, Put a Record On, LP, 1974, duration: 36.03 minutes. Features Jo Ann Kelly and her brother Dave on vocals, along with Dave Brooks, sax; Bob Hall, piano; Danny Kirwan, guitar; Bob Brunning, bass; Mick Fleetwood, drums; Ian Morton, percussion.

Tracks: 1. Too Late For That Now [0:00], 2. Now I Ain't A Junkie Anymore [4:54], 3. What You Gonna Do [8:03], 4. Like You Used To Do [11:12], 5. You Gotta Move [15:24], 6. Put A Record On [18:12], 7. Funky Money [21:28], 8. Beggar By Your Side [27:18], 9. Maternity Orders (Keep On Rolling In) [31:02], 10. It's Over [33:29].

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1976

* 1976: Performance - In France, YouTube, duration: 6.42 minutes. Jo Ann sitting on some stairs singing and playing, whilst various French men speak to her, and speak over her whilst she is playing.

* 1976: Recording - Do It, from the Do It LP, 1976, duration: 1.37 minutes. With Dave Kelly.

Comment: (David Christopher Dowse, Facebook, 2022) Saw her a number of times, most memorably the night before my son was born, that night she was on at the Mean Fiddler. Fantastic gig and an amazing artist. I wanted to call my son Jo Ann but under pressure settled on Thom. For his 18th birthday I bought him a mint copy of the LP ‘Do It’. Inside the sleeve, it had quite a few flyers and notices of her appearances throughout the country, one of which was in Oldham. Just checked and it’s worth a fortune now. No doubt it’s in one of his ex girlfriends’ record collection, neglected. A great album and a heartbreaking title track.

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1977

* 1977: Performance - Jo Ann Kelly and fan Sjef Hermans, Zeeuws Vlaanderen, Holland, 1977. Source: Facebook, 26 March 2017. Getting an autograph.

* 1977: Recording - Stefan Grossman and Jo Ann Kelly, One Kind Favor, duration: 6.08 minutes. See also Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues (3.51).

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1978

* 1978: Article - Stefan Grossman, Jo Ann Kelly - British Queen of 6- and 12-string Country Blues, Guitar Player, 12(8), August 1978.

Called by some critics the British Queen of Country Blues, Jo - Ann Kelly was first exposed to the Mississippi music of Ford “Snooks” Eaglin, Robert Johnson, and Memphis Minnie McCoy in 1963, when the Swing Shop, a local blues and jazz specialty record store in Bristol, England, began featuring their music. She found a particular affinity for the powerful voice and formidable guitar style of Memphis Minnie; 15 years and thousands of performances later, Jo - Ann still performs Minnie’s songs in concert. In 1969 Jo - Ann Kelly [Epic, 63841] was released, and since then Jo - Ann has recorded two more solo albums, and her vocal and 12 - string guitar work has appeared on over a dozen others, with such diverse acts as John Fahey, the John Dummer Blues Band, Tramp, guitarist Tony McPhee, and Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers.

Jo - Ann first became interested in music when the Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, and the Skiffle music of England’s Lonnie Donegan were aired on British radio. When she was 14 she began playing guitar. “In the very beginning,” she says, “my brother Dave was learning Skiffle from a guy down the road. Dave showed me three or four chords, and once I got the basic, workable materials that I needed to play, I pretty much taught myself by ear. By the time I was 15 we were playing Everly Brothers stuff in talent competitions”

Jo - Ann accompanied her brother to the Swing Shop when she was 19, and there discovered her first taste of American country blues. “They were playing Skip James, and I didn’t like it at first,” Jo - Ann remembers. “But as I became more exposed to this kind of music, Snooks Eaglin and Robert Johnson became my favorites.”

A year later Jo - Ann met Tony McPhee, lead guitarist for the Groundhogs, while she was in the Swing Shop. “Money was tight in those days,” Jo - Ann says, “and Dave and I would each buy an album and take it home and listen to it. McPhee bought a Memphis Minnie album from the shop and came over, saying ‘Listen to this—it’s terrific. This music will really suit you.’ I clicked with Memphis Minnie’s music immediately, and felt quite a n affinity for it. I think you can trace a line between Snooks Eaglin, Robert Johnson, Memphis Minnie, and Charley Patton - they are all strongly rhythmic. I didn’t much like Skip James and Blind Lemon Jefferson when I first heard them - they were a little bit too esoteric.”

1964 found Great Britain in the midst of a surge of interest for American blues; in May the Rolling Stones released their first album, featuring songs written by Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed, and in October the Animals released House Of The Rising Sun. The Yardbirds, whose first album would appear in June 1965, had just replaced the Rolling Stones as the house band at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, and their repertoire included faithful renditions of blues classics by Sonny Boy Williamson and Muddy Waters.

“In Bristol there was a country blues revival going on at this time,” Jo - Ann says, “and there were a lot of young musicians playing electric blues too - Chicago stuff. This was the year the blues boom happened in England, and you could pick Newcastle, Bristol, and London as the three cities with the strongest interest. Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Jimmy Reed came over, and the Groundhogs used to back them up at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go in Newcastle, and I’d go and listen to them.”

Jo - Ann began performing acoustic sets in pubs, Colleges, and folk Clubs around Bristol and London when she was 21. “I’ve always had a deepish voice," she says, “and I think that when I started I was definitely trying to copy Memphis Minnie. I’d sit at home trying to sing ‘Nothing In Rambling’ exactly as she sang it. But I think you lose the definitive version you’ve copied as you play it more and more. It changes because you’re yourself, not the person you’ve copied. On guitar, I was trying to do bottleneck things in Fred McDowell and Robert Johnson styles. McPhee could sit down and learn a Charley Patton number absolutely note-perfect; mine was always much more an interpretation. Although I tried to copy Memphis Minnie’s voice because I liked the sound of it, my guitar was always much more of an approximation - a much rougher thing.”

One night Giorgio Gomelsky, manager of the Yardbirds, listened to Jo - Ann and invited her to rehearse with the group. “I went down to the rehearsal,” Jo - Ann re - members, “and Eric Clapton was there. I had a background of Everly Brothers, and the song we did was ‘Baby, What You Want Me To Do,’ which is a Jimmy Reed tune. At the rehearsal I did an Everly Brothers swing while Clapton’s guitar work just knocked me out.’’

Jo - Ann recorded several sessions for Liberty Records that were released on blues sampler albums during the middle Sixties, as well as Same Thing On Their Minds [Liberty/UA, SLS 50209], in collaboration with Tony McPhee. She attended several National Blues Conventions in London, including one that featured Canned Heat. Jo - Ann recalls: “1 had a little jam with Al Wilson - their guitarist, who was then playing harp - and Bob Hite, Heat’s singer, came up and said, ‘We really enjoyed that stuff - would you like to join the band? I approached the whole thing with a totally non-business attitude, and turned them down. I now think it would have been great to do a year with Canned Heat, because then I would have had the experience and made my name. I was just so much into acoustic blues - a bit of a purist, I’m afraid.”

On the strength of her 1969 Epic album, Jo - Ann was invited to attend the Memphis Blues Festival later that year. At the festival she met Johnny Winter. Several months later CBS flew Jo - Ann back to the U.S. to perform at their record convention in Los Angeles. “The people at CBS said, ‘All we want you to do is come over, and then we’ll fly you to Johnny Winter’s house in New York and you two can see what you can do together,’” Jo - Ann recalls. “Johnny and I sat down and played some acoustic blues and that was great, but again I was very much out of a band scene. I was very keen to do a tour, though. The idea was that I would start the show with an acoustic set by myself, and then Johnny would play a couple of acoustic numbers with me at the end of my set. Then his band would come on and at some point in their set I would go on and do some numbers with the band. But my record background was strictly country blues, and I wasn’t very well acquainted with what you could do with a band. Anyway, when it came to the crunch, CBS offered me $80 a week for the tour. I said, ‘Man, that won’t even take care of my plane fare, let alone my hotel.’ I really didn’t know what was going on - I had no idea that a manager pays for the tour, or about management of anything like a tour - I had steered clear of all that. So the tour didn’t come off, largely because they weren’t prepared to sink any money into it, and they expected the management to. They were lazy about the whole thing, really, and I was too ignorant to push for anything.”

Jo - Ann recorded Jo - Ann Kelly With John Fahey, Alan Seidler, Woody Mann And John Miller [Blue Goose (245 Waverly Pl., New York, NY 10014), BG 2009] in 1972. “I had met Nick Perls [director of Blue Goose] several years before, when I was helping to run a Club in England,” Jo - Ann says. “John Lee Hooker and Big Joe Williams used to come down there to play, and we had some good sessions with them. A friend of mine brought Nick down to see me singing, and Nick asked me to sign a record contract. In those days I was still very much non-business - there was a common attitude at the time that said big business is on one side of the fence, performers are on the other, and never the twain shall meet. Now that kind of division is gone, thank goodness. I said no to Nick, and yet he is probably one of the straightest people when it comes to dealing on the level. He talked me into recording live in clubs; he made a special trip to England with a Revox recorder and made the tapes - but I think the CBS album that resulted from them isn’t too good.”

Jo - Ann recorded in a studio in the U.S. for the Blue Goose album, and the sessions were not without difficulties. “I was just singing then,” she says, “and I really didn’t like Nick’s attitude very much on those songs - saying things like, ‘Okay, Kelly, get in the studio and sing, you made a mistake there, you were out of tune,’ and things like that - it really wasn’t a very happy session at all. I enjoyed playing guitar with Woody Mann, because Woody’s a really easy person to get along with; I particularly like his music. I would like to do something in the future with Woody. There wasn’t a great deal of time in which to do the album, and I think we were all having personal problems at the time. I enjoyed working with John Fahey - his blues are kind of rhythmic and basic, and his picking stuff is not very complicated. All in all, though, it was a very difficult session.”

Later in 1972 Jo - Ann founded Spare Rib, a rock band which included Bruce Rowlands, who had previously been Joe Cocker’s drummer, and Roger Brown - who had formed the original Steeler’s Wheel with Gerry Rafferty - on vocal harmonies. The band lasted a year. “It really would have been good had it continued,” Jo -Ann says, “and had I been more together at the time.’’

Jo - Ann returned to the U.S. in 1973 and traveled as a solo act with Taj Mahal and Larry Coryell. Recently she has been featured on Tramp’s Put A Record On [Musicman, S R L P 112], and has broadcast on London’s Capital Radio. She performs concerts with accompanist Pete Emery (former lead guitarist of the John Dummer Blues Band), with whom she recorded Do It [Red Ragg (Carmel - Ragg Agency, 268 Kingston Rd., Teddington, Middlesex, England), R R R 006] in 1976. Included on this album are four songs by Memphis Minnie and an unaccompanied field holler.

Jo -Ann’s 6 - string and 12 - string acoustic guitars were made by Tony Zemaitis [108 Walderslade Rd., Chatham, Kent, England; see GP, Apr. ’75], and she favors bronze light - gauge strings and sometimes uses a flatpick. “I’ve tried to stop using finger picks in the last year or so,” Jo - Ann says, “because then you’re closer to the guitar. I think my style generally used to be pretty much a thrashing thing - you know, use picks on anything and thrash like hell all the way through it. People loved it; they’d say, ‘Wow, she’s really strong for a guitar player.’ I still use finger picks on certain numbers - I guess I’m just being more discriminating about when I use picks. I use three fingers for some things, though I still mainly use two. Recently I started chicken picking - the sort of thing that Jerry Reed does, which is really country style.”

Jo - Ann has considered forming another band, but, she says, “It’s just so difficult these days to get the right people - people you can get along with personally and musically. And you’ve got to get the money, roadies, a van, and the PA, none of which we’ve got. Then I kind of rethought this and decided that since people like what I do on guitar - acoustic stuff - that’s what I’ll do. So I’ve learned a lot of the old blues stuff and some new numbers, and I’ve rearranged them a bit. The possibility of a band is still there, however. It would be a natural progression for us.”

1983

* 1983: Recording - Help Me Through the Day, Jo Ann Kelly Band, Appaloosa, LP, 1983, duration: 4.28 minutes. Track from the Just Restless LP. Personnel: Peter Emery - guitar, Tex Comer - bass, Les Morgan - drums and percussion, Geraint Watkins - keyboards, Mick Paice - saxophone.

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1984

* 1984: Performance - Glasgow Herald, 6 April 1964.

Third Eye Centre, Glasgow. Jo-Ann Kelly Band. It was instant foot-tapping rhythm ' n ' blues here last night, a bright evening with the audience providing whatever effects were demanded of them by Jo-Ann Kelly. She has a strong, rich, earthy voice, and was backed by two excellent players, Peter Emery on guitar and John Cleary on piano. Jo-Ann occasionally added an extra guitar, sometimes John Cleary gave us a New Orleans solo and once or twice all three formed a striking vocal trio - Jonah in the Belly of the Whale is the one that sticks. We had a potted history of the blues with songs from the twenties to the present day - Bessie Smith, of course, Memphis Minnie, Billy Holiday, Chuck Berry ... with some revealing headlines read out by Jo-Ann to remind us of the trials and tribulations of the negro population of America and their music. The accent was on rhythm and the Glasgow audience was particularly at home with the Gospel songs, forming a rhythmic and vociferous congregation when required and providing not so many "alleluias" but plenty of meaningful, moaningful moans. It was a thoroughly reviving evening, and I left wondering how long Jo-Ann and her band would be detained by enthusiastic demands for encores and with one song particularly in my head, a solo dug up from a cotton field by a folk song collector. Death Have mercy is the very essence of blues. I'd have liked more of this.

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1988

* 1988: Peter Moody, Jo Ann Kelly - Part 1: Striking a Chord, British Blues Review, 1, April, 1988:

Jo Ann Kelly - Part one: Striking a Chord. 'British Queen of the Country Blues' is how British Blues followers regarded Jo Ann Kelly by the mid-'seventies. Involved with the music from the early 'sixties and continuing through two major Blues booms, Jo Ann Kelly is still wearing the crown. This first part covers her formative years.

To set the scene, we need to go back to the turn of the century, by which time Skiffle-type bands had become part of American rural life. This exciting musical form was played mainly by southern negroes, who, determined to play Jazz but unable to afford proper instruments, made music with something less expensive, such as a washboard, kazoo, jug, home-made string bass, along with guitar, banjo and sometimes fiddle. It was Jazz of sorts, but labelled 'Hokum' - American Indian for 'imitation'. Skiffle was on its way.

By the early 'fifties, a Traditional Jazz scene had become established in Britain. Throughout the country a strong Jazz Club circuit regularly presented live performances. Some of these bands, such as Ken Colyer's Jazzmen and the Crane River Jazz Band, began experimenting', by presenting a Skiffle set within their repertoire. Another band pioneering this idea was the Chris Barber Jazz Band. The band added a mixture of traditional Skiffle and work song material to their Jazz sets. Lonnie Donegan, the band's banjo player, would switch to guitar and sing the vocals for this part of the program- me. He'd be backed by Chris Barber on string bass and Beryl Bryden on washboard. Lonnie's subsequent rise to stardom became a musical inspiration for much of Britain's of Britain's youth.

In the Kelly family home in Streatham, South London, where Jo Ann grew up along with her younger sister Susan and brother Dave, musical development had already started with Rock and Roll. Skiffle records were soon added to the environment. One of Jo's influential musical memories was formed in the late 'fifties. Returning home from a Summer holiday camp the family stopped at a cafe. As Jo entered, she heard the sound of a juke box, around which was gathered a group of local "Teddy' boys and girls. Fourteen-year-old Jo, intrigued by the sound, asked them about the music. It was 'Lucille' by Little Richard. After this, the record collecting began - Little Richard, Buddy Holly, early Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers. The following Summer, at the same holiday camp, the Kellys took the opportunity to perform in the talent competition, where they did Everly Brothers songs. Dave had learned some guitar from a school friend who led a local Skiffle group. Dave taught Jo a few chords and she picked up the rest herself. With their home practice and spurred on by the holiday camp action, each was started on the path of a musical career. Jo got into Skiffle music and next Summer, 1960, again at the holiday camp talent competition, they performed 'Rock Island Line'. Lonnie Donegan's brand of Skiffle had become a major influence. It had Blues roots. It had rhythm. It had the aura of stardom.

At the same time, Dave was learning trombone at school and, in search of Jazz records for his studies, found himself in Dave Carey's Swing Shop in Streatham. Specialising in imported American records, the Swing Shop had established an enthusiastic clientele since the 'forties. At these record shop visits, Dave found the music for his studies Jelly Roll Morton, Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. Before long Jo and Dave were digging deeper into the more obscure records, unearthing Robert Johnson, Son House and Charley Patton Delta Blues. Another regular visitor to the shop was Tony McPhee who was already playing guitar and collecting these same Blues records.

Tony soon got to know the Kellys. By swapping records, they were able to hear more Blues - money was tight - they couldn't buy them all. Tony bought 'Blues Classics by Memphis Minnie' (the first issue of Chris Strachwitz's legendary Blues label) and lent it to Jo knowing she would like it. Here was a woman singing and playing guitar with tremendous style. The dazzling guitar runs and duets with her husband, Little Son Joe, introduced Jo to America's foremost downhome woman of the Blues. Minnie's songs like 'Nothing In Rambling' and ‘In My Girlish Days' were a style of the Blues which Jo could really identify with. Jo Ann's Blues singing and guitar playing, developed during these formative years, were to last her in good stead. 

In 1962 Bob Glass, who worked in the Swing Shop, introduced Jo Ann to Bob Hall who was already an accomplished piano player. They were the ideal partners for an acoustic Blues duo. The Trad Jazz scene was continuing its 'fifties momentum, but Skiffle sets were changing the music scene. The Interval Spots which previously the Jazz musicians themselves had performed, were now being taken over by other musicians; musicians who had taken Skiffle a stage further. Jo Ann and Bob Hall were two such performers and, with their combined talents, they reproduced the classic Blues songs of Bessie Smith and Rossetta Tharpe, with Bob on piano, and Jo on vocals.

By 1963 Trad Jazz clubs were tailing off. "This Blues' had caught on. Rhythm and Blues clubs began to spring up, not only at established Jazz outlets, but also at specific R&B venues. The Kelly/Hall duo had become long-established Interval performers at one such Jazz club, the 'Star' public house in Croydon. This was one of the pubs which R&B promoter Giorgio Gomelsky was interested in as another possible venue for his 'Crawdaddy' club. By the Summer of 1963 the 'Star Crawdaddy' had opened. Giorgio had brought to Croydon his 'most blues-wailing Yardbirds', electric Chicago Blues. The R&B scene hadn't developed from the Skiffle bands overnight. In fact Barber-Band-associates, Cyril Davis and Alexis Korner, were major catalysts and in playing their brand of Chicago Blues, had led the way for the next generation.

The Yardbirds' music at the Star was loud, hypnotic and authentic. Jo's reaction was that 'It was wonderful stuff.' The acoustic sets with Bob continued, but Jo's immediate ambition was to try an amplified performance with the Yardbirds. Manager Giorgio Gomelsky gave her the opportunity to sit in with them at their Star residency. Her singing was received enthusiastically by Keith Relf. Jo can vividly remember Giorgio taking her to a practice session with the Yardbirds in 1963 at the Richmond Crawdaddy. The Yardbirds had done their rehearsal for the day but ran through 'Baby What You Want Me To Do', playing it the Jimmy Reed way, whilst Jo sang the Everly Brothers' arrangement. Eric Clapton, in a somewhat joking mood, was driven to mimic the Everly Brothers.

The Yardbirds were 'going places'. Jo too was on her way, but in another direction - towards the next stage of her Blues career. Part two of 'Jo Ann Kelly', by Pete Moody, will appear in our next issue. Don't miss it!

* 1988: Performance and recording - Jo Ann Kelly Live in Germany, duration: 54.31 minutes. Recorded at Kassenhalle / Sparkasse am Brill, Bremen, Germany, 20 September 1988. The "women in (e)motion" festival series celebrated the contribution of women to Jazz, Blues, Gospel and related fields. Since 1988, it has presented musicians ranging from the traditional to the modern. Accompanied by Pete Emery.

Tracks: 1 Where My Good Man At, 2 Moon's Going Down, 3 Death Have Mercy, 4 Weekend Blues, 5 2-19 Blues, 6 Ain't Nothing But Ramblin, 7 Jonah In The Belly , 8 Come See About Me, 9 Try Me One More Time , 10 Sugar Babe, 11 Bollweevil Blues, 12 Love Blind, 13 Wide Open Road, 14 God Bless The Child, 15 Black Rat Swing, 16 Boney Maroney.

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1989

* 1989: Performance - The First Burnley National Blues Festival, 23-27 March 1989.

* 1989: Performance - Me and My Chauffeur Blues, The Albert Hole, Bristol, 5 May 1989, live, duration: 3.24 minutes. Accompanied by Paul Godden on slide guitar. See also Where is my good man at (5.25) and Moon Going Down (3.29) from the same gig. This was recorded following her brain tumour surgery and a year before her death. Terrific guitar playing by Jo Ann. There are a number of recordings from this gig.

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1990

* Jo Ann Kelly dies as a result of a brain tumor, 21 October 1990. She is aged 46.

* 1990: Obituary - Jo Ann Kelly, The Times, London, 25 October 1990:

Jo Ann Kelly, British country blues singer , died on October 21 aged 46. She was born on January 5, 1944, in Streatham, south London. Kelly's father, William, a chef de cuisine, played the drums semi-professionally and there was always a wide range of music on the family's 78 rpm radiogram. Aided by her younger brother, Dave Kelly, later a guitarist in the Blues Band and a solo performer in his own right, Jo Ann became interested in playing guitar and singing during the skiffle craze of the Fifties. She went to Streatham grammar school and spent her spare time hanging round Dave Carey's Swing Shop record store in Streatham Hill, with her brother Dave, and Tony McPhee, later guitarist with the Groundhogs.

"In 1961 the only blues things around were Leadbelly and Big Bill Broonzy," Dave Kelly recalls. "When Jo Ann and Tony and I first started playing we thought we were the only people in the country playing country blues. We'd hang around waiting for records to come in by John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Ho p - kin s and all the others."

After leaving school, Jo Ann announced her intention of becoming a professional folk singer, although she quickly found that the earthier sound of rural acoustic blues, as sung by such greats as Memphis Minnie, was her true metier. The big time appeared to beckon when she secured a recording contract with CBS records in 1969. Her debut album, Jo Ann Kelly, was well received, but the British blues boom was tailing off. CBS sent her to America where rehearsals with the albino wunderkind Johnny Winter stopped short of the recording studio, and a poorly-financed college tour left her exhausted. An appearance in 1969 on the same bill as her childhood heroes Bukka White and Mississippi Fred McDowell at the Centenary Blues Festival in Memphis was a happier affair. She duetted with McDowell on his 1969 album, Standing,at the Burying Ground, recorded live in London that year. She made several albums during the Seventies, most notably her 1972 release, Jo Ann Kelly with Fahey, Mann & Miller, which remains the best recorded example of her acoustic country blues singing. Other projects, such as her group Spare Rib, were dogged by mismanagement and financial problems, while her famously honest and direct attitude was something of a liability when it came to the shifting sands of record company politics. But she never lost her feel for her music and in the Eighties she toured and recorded with an electric band, achieving her best results on the album Just Restless. She also worked with Pete Emery , her partner since the early Seventies and father of her daughter Ellie. In 1988 she underwent an operation to remove a malignant tumour on the brain. Her condition was diagnosed as incurable, but she carried on working. She played her final shows this summer with her brother Dave at the Cambridge Folk Festival and at Colne in Lancashire where she won the British Blues Federation Award for Female Singer of the Year.

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1991

* 1991: Michael Prince, My personal reflections of Jo Ann Kelly, Blues Review, March 1991.

My personal reflections of Jo Ann Kelly. The first time I heard Jo Ann Kelly sing was on a radio programme presented by Alexis Korner some time in the middle sixties. She sang Jimmy and Mama Yancey's 'Make Me A Pallet On The Floor', backed by Bob Hall on piano. Not unnaturally when listening to a radio show, I formed a mental picture of the lady with such an amazingly big blues voice - this had to be a big, fat, middle-aged woman who wore dresses that resembled tents because nothing else would fit her. How wrong I was and little did I know at that time, listening to my parents' big old valve radio back home in a little Yorkshire village, that I would eventually get to see and hear this wonderful blues singer many times in many settings. Even less did I realise that Jo Ann Kelly would eventually become a personal friend. I heard Jo again on Mike Raven's R&B show during the late sixties and then some college friends bought a compilation of British country blues artists called 'Me And The Devil' which featured Jo's photograph on the sleeve. Shortly after, we went to see her play in Bradford and for the first of many times to come, experienced 'that' voice, live. For some unknown reason, I still remember that she wore a smart, grey outfit maybe because the gig represented such a milestone to me as a blues fan.

In 1969 I travelled with the same college friends to London (quite an expedition) to see Mississippi Fred McDowell play at the Mayfair Theatre, and Jo Ann was on the same bill. The highlight of that show was certainly the duet between Fred and Jo, 'When I Lay My Burden Down', which was to appear much later on record when Red Lightnin' put out an album of Fred's performance. The track has also subsequently appeared on the Connoisseur compilation of Jo Ann's work which was released last year. I think this is one of the finest examples of her recorded work and, in itself, well-worth the cost of the album. Then in the early seventies, I moved to London and was able to see Jo Ann live quite often, at various venues. I was a regular at the Sunday afternoon sessions at Ken Colyer's Club Studio 54 in Great Newport Street and got to know Jo Ann, her brother Dave Kelly, Sam Mitchell, Steve Rye and many others. I also took great delight in going to Les Cousins in Greek Street. I'd get there early so I could sit in the front row and nearly get knocked off my chair by her superb voice - which had no need for PA. I also remember going to a pub somewhere in North London to see Jo Ann play with her band Spare Rib, which featured founder member of Stealers Wheel, Roger Brown, (with whom Jo Ann collaborated on some songwriting), and Adrian 'Putty' Pietryga on lead guitar. Shortly after this I left London, firstly for Canterbury and then to the little Sussex town of Rye, where I still live.

After the relatively short-lived electric band, Jo Ann teamed up with Pete Emery and I was able to keep up my connections with the blues scene by giving them bookings down in Rye. On one occasion, Jo and Pete were due to play a gig as part of the Rye Festival. They drove from Cornwall and didn't get here until about 10.30pm. In spite of their fatigue, they went on stage and played a fine set. During the eighties they came to play in Rye more frequently, becoming favourites of the landlord of the then best music pub in the area, as well as the regular crowd. It was in this relaxed atmosphere that Jo Ann chose to play her first gig after recovering from the operation to remove a brain tumour two years ago. In spite of the severity of the illness and seriousness of the operation, that famous voice was not diminished and she sang and played the guitar as well as ever. For me, one of the highlights was Jo singing 'Come On In My Kitchen', backed by Roger Hubbard on slide guitar. She couldn't remember all the words but that didn't matter we were hearing a superb rendition of Delta blues. The last gig she played down this way was at the Hastings Festival of the Natural World last summer. Apart from her own set, she also joined John Pearson to add her distinctive vocals to 'Jesus On The Mainline', which must stick in the memories of all those who listened.

When Jo Ann Kelly died on 21st October, we lost one of the finest blues singers who ever trod this earth and my family and I lost a good friend. The highlights of her career have been fairly well documented in this magazine and others. But, sadly, she had to be dead before getting coverage in the national quality press; even The Times ran an obituary. We are mostly familiar with stories of how she shunned the big time, such as offers from Canned Heat and Johnny Winter, but there is something else I want to mention. Her willingness to help other musicians, especially blues musicians. Kevin Brown has told me that when he first arrived in in London, from Lancashire, in the early seventies, Jo Ann was one of the few people who went out of their way to be of assistance to him. She was also instrumental in getting Nick Perls to record Roger Hubbard and other British bluesers and I saw her digging out names and addresses for John Pearson. This was, of course, part of her down-to-earth openness, kindness and honesty. She will be greatly missed in many quarters, both as an outstanding blues singer and as a person. Although none of her recordings can, in my view, match the live experience of hearing her sing, we should be grateful for them now that she is gone. Michael Prince

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4. Testimonies

Whilst browsing the web and various social media sites I noticed the extraordinary accolades given to Jo Ann Kelly by fans. Many refer to seeing her in live performance, whilst others / all react to the quality of her music. Some are listed below.

* Paul Jones, Retrospective 64-90 liner notes, 1990.

This is a remarkable woman. Her entry in Sheldon Harris's Blues Who's Who (and the first remarkable thing is that a white English woman has an entry in it at all) tells us that Jo Ann Kelly's recorded performances have been released on labels like Epic and Columbia, as well as Blue Goose and Red Rag. Also that she has worked extensively in America in addition to Britain and continental Europe. And it quotes Ian A. Anderson (of 'Folk Roots' magazine) as expressing the opinion that Jo Ann is 'unquestionably the queen of British country blues singers'.

* kraboline, YouTube, 2015:

Listening to this with an old friend over a long, lazy lunch of cheese & wine. He used to hear Jo Ann in the 60s at blues clubs down around the South West, I was a student at London College of Printing late 60s and used to go to Bunjies Folk Cellar Thursday nights, run by Jo Ann. She was wonderful to listen to and very supportive of a young, just learning guitarist. Her partner Dave used to work at Dobell's in Charing Cross Rd. and would play me old blues records, all part of that.

* Oliver Stack, YouTube, 2016:

I had the privilege to see and hear the wonderful Jo-Ann Kelly in a Blues bar in Portswood, Southampton, on a Sunday night In February 1990. An unforgettable performance.

* Colin Charman, YouTube, 2018:

Saw her at Cambridge Folk Festival about 1969/1970. A tiny figure that no-one had ever heard of. She opened (I think) with Walking the Dog. It brought the house (tent) down. Absolutely magnificent.

* Amandine Guise, YouTube, 2018:

Saw her perform a couple of times at The Fox in Islington, together with her brother Dave, some time in the mid sixties. A somewhat unusual booking for The Fox, but knock-out. There are four tracks of hers on the 1968 LP "Me & the Devil", produced by Mike Raven, together with numbers by Dave Kelly, Andy Fernbach, Simon Praeger and Tony McPhee. I still have it!

* haanashim, YouTube, 2018:

Certainly the greatest female white blues artist ever. Pity she died so young.

* Rickman_CR, YouTube, 2018:

Hard to believe she's been gone for 27 years. You are something special when Bonnie Raitt says of you, "It was hard to do Walking Blues for instance, but I was not born with a voice like Mavis Staples or Jo Ann Kelly."

* Lawrence Cohn, Facebook, 2018 / 2019:

I signed her in 1969. We lost greatness, when she passed. I provided many opportunities for JA (Jo Ann), when I signed her to Epic Records: record whatever she wanted, showcased her in front of thousands at a CBS International Convention, set her up with a Johnny Winter tour, etc., etc. Bottom line: she did not want to be a star, she did not want to play large venues and felt more at home, more secure playing small venues, pubs, etc. She was, indeed, a GREAT artist and I miss her to this day!

* Bob Coleman, Facebook, 2019:

I got to back her on bass for some engagements back in Nov 1973 in Washington DC. She was so talented, and such a nice, warm-hearted person. RIP dear lady.

* Natural Resting Face, YouTube, 2019:

Most authentic British blues singer ever. I first heard her through Jazz FM and thought she was black so I went down to HMV Oxford Street and found the name but not the stereotype in my head but bought the CD anyhow and wow, so much good stuff. My dad remembers her in the late 60s at the Marquee as he played there too.

* TheophiliusBoone, YouTube, 2022:

Jo Ann Kelly was the real item. Real blues singer. I found out about her way back, seventies, when I heard a few cuts with Stefan Grossman. I wish more had been captured. She showed that a white woman from UK could sing the blues like anyone—like Minnie, or Mama Thornton, lots of others. Nobody has a lock on the blues. It just pops up anywhere that someone really feels it. Jo Ann Kelly felt it.

* Bonie Moronie, YouTube, 2022:

Met her once at the 2nd National Blues Convention in 1969 at the Conway Hall, London. My first time seeing her perform, loved every moment, She looked more like a school teacher than a blues guitarist/singer but loved every moment.

* Ken Pustelnik, Facebook, 2022:

Proud to have known this lady and to have had the occasional magic moment when she fronted The Groundhogs for a few songs while we were on tour with her and John Lee Hooker amongst others.

* Chris Nickson, Jo Ann Kelly, All Music Guide [webpage], accessed 15 June 2023.

The rock era saw a few white female singers, like Janis Joplin, show they could sing the blues. But one who could outshine them all -- Jo Ann Kelly -- seemed to slip through the cracks, mostly because she favored the acoustic, Delta style rather than rocking out with a heavy band behind her. But with a huge voice, and a strong guitar style influenced by Memphis Minnie and Charley Patton, she was the queen. Born January 5, 1944, Kelly and her older brother Dave were both taken by the blues, and born at the right time to take advantage of a young British blues scene in the early '60s. By 1964 she was playing in clubs, including the Star in Croydon, and had made her first limited-edition record with future Groundhogs guitarist Tony McPhee. She expanded to play folk and blues clubs all over Britain, generally solo, but occasionally with other artists, bringing together artists like Bessie Smith and Sister Rosetta Tharpe into her own music. After the first National Blues Federation Convention in 1968 her career seemed ready to take flight. She began playing the more lucrative college circuit, followed by her well-received debut album in 1969. At the second National Blues Convention, she jammed with Canned Heat, who invited her to join them on a permanent basis. She declined, not wanting to be a part of a band - and made the same decision when Johnny Winter offered to help her. Throughout the '70s, Kelly continued to work and record solo, while also gigging for fun in bands run by friends, outfits like Tramp and Chilli Willi - essentially pub rock, as the scene was called, and in 1979 she helped found the Blues Band, along with brother Dave, and original Fleetwood Mac bassist Bob Brunning. The band backed her on an ambitious show she staged during the early '80s, Ladies and the Blues, in which she paid tribute to her female heroes. In 1988, Kelly began to suffer pain. A brain tumor was diagnosed and removed, and she seemed to have recovered, even touring again in 1990 with her brother before collapsing and dying on October 21. Posthumously, she's become a revered blues figure, one who helped clear the path for artists like Bonnie Raitt and Rory Block. But more than a figurehead, her recorded material -- and unreleased sides have appeared often since her death - show that Kelly truly was a remarkable blueswoman.

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5. Acknowledgements

In the compilation of this blog I would like to acknowledge the work of Stefan Wirz, creator of the illustrated discography webpage referred to above, and the Jo Ann Kelly Facebook site. I would also acknowledge all those fans who have had input into the latter.

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6. References

Jo Ann Kelly, All About Blues Music [webpage], accessed 16 June 2023.

Jo Ann Kelly, AllMusic [website], accessed 15 June 2023.

Jo Ann Kelly, Discogs [website], accessed 16 June 2023.

Jo Ann Kelly, Wikipedia, accessed 16 June 2023.

Jo Ann Kelly - Click & Listen Audio/Video, Wix.com, accessed 16 June 2023.

Jo Ann Kelly appreciation page, Facebook, accessed 16 June 2023.

Moody, Peter, Jo Ann Kelly - Part 1: Striking a Chord, British Blues Review, 1, April, 1988.

Wirz, Stefan, Stefan Wirz' American Music Jo Ann Kelly Discography [webpage], 12 August 2019. Accessed 16 June 2023.

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Last updated: 20 June 2023

Michael Organ, Australia