''So Much Water So Close to Home'' is an album by Australian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Paul Kelly and the Messengers Paul Maurice Kelly (born 13 January 1955) 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 ar ...

and was originally released in August 1989. The title comes from a short story of the same name by author

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He contributed to the revitalization of the American short story during the 1980s. Early life Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mi ...

. Carver died in August 1988. Kelly co-wrote the score for the 2006 Australian film ''

Jindabyne Jindabyne () is a town in south-east New South Wales, Australia that overlooks Lake Jindabyne near the Snowy Mountains, in Snowy Monaro Regional Council. It is a popular holiday destination year round, especially in winter. This is due to its p ...

'', which was also based on the same story. The entire album was recorded in the U.S. with producer

Scott Litt Scott Warren Litt (born March 10, 1954) is an American record producer who mostly works with artists in the alternative rock genre and is best known for producing six R.E.M. albums in the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s during the band's most suc ...

, best known for his work with

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

It was released on

Mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...

/White Records in Australia & New Zealand and

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

for the rest of the world. The album peaked at #10 on the ARIA album charts, but none of its singles, " Sweet Guy", " Careless" and "Most Wanted Man in the World" had any Top 40 chart success. All tracks for the album were written by Kelly, Note: requires user to input song title e.g. YOU CANT TAKE IT WITH YOU who provided

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

and also co-produced with Litt.

Background

Paul Kelly had formed Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls in 1985, named for a group mentioned by

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

in " Walk on the Wild Side". For international releases from 1987 on, they used the name Paul Kelly and the Messengers to avoid possible racist interpretations. They released ''

Gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...

'' in 1986 on

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mu ...

in Australia and in 1987 on

for international release. '' Under the Sun'' was released in 1987 in Australia and in 1988 internationally. Their next album, ''So Much Water So Close to Home'' was released in 1989 as by Paul Kelly and the Messengers in all markets. It peaked at #10 on the ARIA album charts, but none of its singles reached the ARIA Top 40 Singles charts. The entire album was recorded in the U.S. with producer

, best known for his work with

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. ''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. The title comes from a short story of the same name by author

. Album track, "Everything's Turning to White" is based on Carver's short story, 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. Kelly would go on to co-write the score for the 2006 Australian film ''

'', which was also based on the same story. In 1991 Paul Kelly and the Messengers released their next album ''

Comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

''.

Track listing

All tracks written by Paul Kelly. Side 1 # "You Can't Take It with You" – 2:43 # " Sweet Guy" – 3:38 # "Most Wanted Man in the World" – 3:38 # "I Had Forgotten You" – 2:59 # "She's a Melody (Stupid Song)" – 4:31 # "South of Germany" – 3:16 Side 2 # " Careless" – 2:57 # "Moon in the Bed" – 3:03 # "No You" – 4:19 # "Everything's Turning to White" – 4:11 # "Pigeon/Jundamurra" – 2:03 # "Cities of Texas" – 3:40

Personnel

Paul Kelly and the Messengers * Michael Barclay —

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

* Peter Bull —

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Steve Connolly —

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

* Paul Kelly — guitar, vocals,

* Jon Schofield —

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Additional musicians *

Steve Berlin Steven M. Berlin (born September 14, 1955, Philadelphia) is an American saxophonist, keyboardist and record producer, best known as a member of the rock group Los Lobos and, before that, Top Jimmy & the Rhythm Pigs, the Blasters, and the Flesh ...

—

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

(track 2) *

Lenny Castro Lenny or Lennie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Lenny (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lennie (surname), a list of people * Lenny (singer) (born 1993), Czech songwriter Arts and entertainment Music * ''L ...

—

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

s (track 5) * Paulinho da Costa —

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(tracks 5, 7, 8) * John Logan — harmonica (track 12) *

Lucky Oceans Lucky Oceans (born Reuben Gosfield, 21 April 1951) is an American pedal steel guitarist and a former member of country and Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel. From 1995 to 2017 he was a broadcaster in Perth, Western Australia with the Austr ...

—

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

(track 6) Recording details * Producer —

, Paul Kelly * Engineer — Scott Litt ** Assistant —

Clif Norrell Clif Norrell is an American record producer, recording engineer, music mixer, and musician. He has worked with many prominent artists including Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Jeff Buckley, No Doubt, Rush, Faith No More, Shania Twain, Mick Jagger, ...

, Jim Dineen * Sequencer — David Russo (tracks 5, 9, 10) * Studio —

Ocean Way Studios Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, California, Nashville, Tennessee, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates record ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

** Mastered — Precision Lacquer ** Mixed — The Grey Room

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1989 albums Albums produced by Scott Litt Paul Kelly (Australian musician) albums Mushroom Records albums