Jonathan Kelly (born Jonathan Ledingham, 8 July 1947 – 2 May 2020) was an Irish

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

singer-songwriter, who enjoyed a varied career in music, playing with many musicians and groups, including Eric Clapton and Tim Staffell. He formed Jonathan Kelly's Outside in 1973.

Biography

Born in Drogheda, County Louth, he attended

Drogheda Grammar School Drogheda Grammar School is an Irish co-educational multi-denominational school, located on Mornington Road, Drogheda, County Louth. History Drogheda Grammar School was founded under Royal Charter in 1669 by Erasmus Smith and is one of the ol ...

. He played bass guitar for Humpy Bong which featured former Bee Gees drummer

Colin Petersen Frederick Colin Petersen (born 24 March 1946) is an Australian drummer, record producer and former child actor. He played as a member of the bands Steve and the Board, the Bee Gees and Humpy Bong. In August 1969, he left the Bee Gees and he wa ...

. The band did not progress but released one single, "Don't You Be Too Long". Kelly would then retain Petersen as his manager and release two albums through

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

, ''Twice Around the Houses'' and ''Wait til They Change the Backdrop''. Outside was made up of Kelly,

Snowy White Terence Charles "Snowy" White (born 3 March 1948, Barnstaple, Devon) is an English guitarist, known for having played with Thin Lizzy (permanent member from 1980 to 1982) and with Pink Floyd (as a backing guitarist; he was first invited to tour ...

and Chas Jankel on guitars, Dave Sheen on drums and Trevor Williams (ex- Audience) on bass guitar. White went on to play with Pink Floyd and

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or som ...

before a successful solo career, and Jankel later played with

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was a British singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Ian Dury and the Blockheads ...

and the Blockheads. One album was recorded, '' ...Waiting On You'', in 1974, with an accompanying single "...Waiting On You"/"Outside", before the band members went their separate ways. Kelly stopped performing in 1976. However, between 2004 and 2007, he returned to performing a few solo acoustic concerts at small venues. Kelly died on 2 May 2020, after a long illness.

Discography

Albums

*Jonathan Kelly: LP ''Jonathan Kelly'' (Parlophone PCS 7114) – (1970) *Jonathan Kelly: LP ''Twice Around The Houses'' (

SF 8262) – (1972) *Jonathan Kelly: LP ''Wait Till They Change The Backdrop'' (RCA SF 8353) – (1973) *''as Jonathan Kelly's Outside:'' LP '' ...Waiting On You'' (RCA LPL 15022) – (1974) *Jonathan Kelly: LP ''Two Days In Winter'' (RCA SF 8415) – (1975)

Singles

*''as The Boomerangs:'' 7" single "Dream World" / "Upgraded" ( Pye 7N 17049) – (1966) *''as Jon Ledingham:'' 7" single "Without An E" / "She's Got Me" (Pye 7N 17422) – (1967) *''as Jon Ledingham:'' 7" single "Love Is A Toy" / "Thank You Mrs. Gilbert" (Pye 7N 17488) – (1968) *Jonathan Kelly: 7" single "Denver" / "Son John" (

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

R 5805) – (1969) *Jonathan Kelly: 7" single "Make A Stranger Your Friend" / "Daddy Don't Take Me Down Fishing No More" (Parlophone R 5830) – (1970) *Jonathan Kelly: 7" single "Don't You Believe It" / "Billy" (Parlophone R 5851) – (1970) *''as Humpy Bong:'' 7" single "Don't You Be Too Long" / "We're Alright 'Til Then" (Parlophone R 5859) – (1970) *Jonathan Kelly: 7" single "Madeleine" / "Sligo Fair" (RCA 2223) – (1972) *Jonathan Kelly: 7" single "Let The People Stay" / "Mother Moon" (RCA 2370) – (1973) *''as Jonathan Kelly's Outside:'' 7" single "...Waiting On You" / "Outside" (RCA LPBO 5030) – (1974)

References

External links

* as Jonathan Kelly * as Jon Ledingham {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Jonathan 1947 births 2020 deaths People from Drogheda Irish songwriters Irish record producers Irish male singers Musicians from County Louth