Jo Ann Kelly (5 January 1944 – 21 October 1990) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

singer and guitarist. She is respected for her strong blues vocal style and for playing

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

guitar.

Early life

Kelly was born in

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 5 January 1944. She had two younger siblings, Susan and Dave. Her early interest in performing music grew out of hearing

the Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close-harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly and Phillip "Phil" Everly, the duo combined elements of rock and roll, country, ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

and

skiffle Skiffle is a music genre, genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. ...

in the late 1950s. She learned three or four guitar chords from her brother, Dave Kelly.

Career

She appeared on several

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s with her first in 1966 being ''New Sounds In Folk'' and then two years later on ''Blues Anytime Vol. 1: An Anthology Of British Blues'' (1968)

Immediate Records Immediate Records was a British record label, started in 1965 by The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Tony Calder, and concentrating on the London-based blues and R&B scene. History Immediate Records was started in 1965. Signe ...

before releasing her first solo album titled ''Jo-Ann Kelly'' (1969), this was issued on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

in the UK and

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

in the US. She was also a core member of the band

Tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English '' ...

along with her brother Dave Kelly. Jo-Ann and Dave Kelly helped raise donations for

Memphis Minnie Lizzie Douglas (June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973), better known as Memphis Minnie, was a blues guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter whose recording career lasted for over three decades. She recorded around 200 songs, some of the best known being " ...

in the 1960s.

Canned Heat Canned Heat is an American blues rock band that was formed in Los Angeles in 1965. The group has been noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists. It was launched by two blues enthusiasts, Alan Wilson and ...

and

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums, live performances, and slide guitar playing from the late 1 ...

both tried to recruit Kelly, but she preferred to stay in the United Kingdom. She expanded to the European club circuit, where she worked with guitarist Pete Emery and other bands. In the early 1980s, she was a member of the Terry Smith Blues Band.

Death

In 1988, Kelly began to suffer from headaches. In 1989 she had an operation to remove a malignant

brain tumour A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cancero ...

. She died on 21 October 1990 in England, aged 46. Obituaries for Kelly appeared in major UK newspapers, including ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Remembrances and obituaries also appeared in contemporary

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

magazines such as ''

Blues & Rhythm ''Blues & Rhythm'' is a British music magazine dealing with all aspects of blues and gospel music. Founded in July 1984 it is - along with its American counterpart ''Living Blues'' - considered to be the premier magazine for all aspects of resear ...

'' and the ''British Blues Review'' The obituary in ''The Independent'' remarked, "To many American performers Jo Ann Kelly was the only British singer to earn their respect for her development of what they would be justified in thinking as 'their' genre".

Discography

Primary 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 Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

, 1969) * ''Same Thing on Their Minds'' (

Sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...

, 1969) – With

Tony McPhee Anthony Charles McPhee (23 March 1944 – 6 June 2023) was an English guitarist and singer. He was the founder of the British blues and rock band the Groundhogs. Career McPhee was given the name "T.S." — standing for "Tough Shit" — whe ...

. * ''Jo Ann Kelly With John Fahey,

Woody Mann Haywood Lee Mann (December 30, 1952 – January 27, 2022) was an American guitarist. Biography He was born in New York, where he studied acoustic guitar with blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis from 1968–72. From 1973–78, he continued pri ...

, 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.

Compilations

* ''Retrospect 1964-72'' (Connoisseur Collection Document, 1990) * ''Key To The Highway: Rare And Unissued Recordings 1968-1974'' ( Mooncrest, 1999) * ''Talkin' Low: Rare And Unissued Recordings 1966-1988, volume 2'' (Mooncrest, 2000) * ''

1974: Rare And Unissued Recordings, volume 3'' (Mooncrest, 2001) * ''Black Rat Swing: The Collectors' Jo Ann Kelly'' (Castle, 2003) * ''Blues & Gospel: Rare and Unreleased Recordings'' (

Blues Matters! ''Blues Matters!'' is a bimonthly British blues magazine. History ''Blues Matters!'' was founded by Alan Pearce in 1999. It is published on a bimonthly basis. Alan King and Darren Howells (until 2009) previously served as the magazine's editor-i ...

, 2004) * ''Do It & more'' ( Manhaton, 2008) – Songs from ''Do It'' (1976) plus additional songs. * ''I Asked For Water, She Gave Me Gasoline'' ( Imperial – LP-12455 1969)

Featured

* ''Standing At The Burying Ground'',

Mississippi Fred McDowell Fred McDowell (January 12, 1904 – July 3, 1972), known by his stage name Mississippi Fred McDowell, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist of hill country blues music. Career McDowell was born in Rossville, Tennessee. His parents we ...

(Red Lightnin', 1984) – Recorded live at the Mayfair Hotel, London, UK, 8 March 1969, featuring Jo Ann Kelly, liner notes by Jo Ann Kelly. * ''Hard Cash'', (1990) * ''Been Here And Gone'', Woody Mann, Jo Ann Kelly and

Son House Edward James "Son" House Jr. (March 21, 1902 – October 19, 1988) was an American Delta blues singer and guitarist, noted for his highly emotional style of singing and slide guitar playing. After years of hostility to secular music, as a prea ...

(Acoustic Music Records, 1999) – Recorded 1971–72, Kelly plays on eight songs. * ''Memphis 69': The 1969 Memphis Country Blues Festival''. Concert film. Kelly played one song accompanied by guitarist "Backwards" Sam Firk. Directed by Joe LaMatting, Produced by Bruce Watson and Lisa LaMattina. Executive Producers: Mathew Johnson, Bruce Watson, Gene Rosenthal. Fat Possum Records, 2019.

References

External links

Jo Ann Kelly
illustrated discography * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Jo Ann 1944 births 1990 deaths People from Streatham 20th-century English singers English blues guitarists English blues singers English women guitarists Deaths from brain cancer in England Musicians from the London Borough of Lambeth Place of death missing 20th-century English guitarists 20th-century English women singers Tramp (band) members John Dummer Band members 20th-century women guitarists Singers from the London Borough of Lambeth