{{Short description|English blues singer and guitarist}} {{distinguish|text=the Canadian actress [[Joanne Kelly]]}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox musical artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Jo Ann Kelly | honorific_suffix = | image = Jo Ann Kelly.jpg | image_upright = | image_size = 220px | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = | caption = Jo-Ann Kelly and Pete Emery on a record for ''Folk-Blues'' | background = solo_singer | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1944|01|05|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Streatham]], [[South London]], England | origin = | death_date = {{Death date and age|1990|10|21 |1944|01|05 |df=y}} | death_place = | genre = [[Blues]] | occupation = | instrument = [[Singing|Singer]], Six and [[Twelve-string guitar|12-string]] [[guitar]], [[Slide guitar|bottleneck guitar]] | years_active = 1962–1990 | label = {{Flatlist| * [[Blue Goose Records|Blue Goose]] * [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] * [[Epic Records|Epic]] * [[Immediate Records|Immediate]] * Red Rag }} }}
'''Jo Ann Kelly''' (5 January 1944 – 21 October 1990) was an [[English people|English]] [[blues]] singer and guitarist. She is respected for her strong blues vocal style and for playing [[country blues]] guitar.
==Early life== Kelly was born in [[Streatham]], [[South London]], [[England]] on 5 January 1944.<ref name=timesobit>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Jo Ann Kelly |url=http://tinyurl.gale.com/tinyurl/BdVUg9 |accessdate=7 September 2019 |work=[[The Times]] |agency=The Times Digital Archive |date=25 October 1990 |ref=thetimes |location=London |page=18}}</ref><ref name="moody1">{{cite journal |last1=Moody |first1=Pete |title=Jo Ann Kelly, Part one: Striking a Chord |journal=British Blues Review |date=April 1988 |issue=1 |pages=6–7 |url=http://www.britishbluesarchive.org.uk/Docs/Blues_Review/Blues_Review-April88.pdf |accessdate=28 July 2019}}</ref> She had two younger siblings, Susan and Dave. Her early interest in performing music grew out of hearing [[the Everly Brothers]], [[Elvis Presley]], [[Little Richard]] and [[Skiffle#Revival in the United Kingdom|skiffle]] in the late 1950s.<ref name="moody1" /><ref name="grossman1">{{cite magazine |last= Grossman|first= Stefan|date= August 1978|title= Jo-Ann Kelly: British Queen of 6- and 12-String Country Blues|url= http://www.wirz.de/music/kelly/gp.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150912171925/http://www.wirz.de/music/kelly/gp.pdf |url-status= dead|archive-date= 2015-09-12|magazine= [[Guitar Player]]|publisher= Future US, Inc.|publication-date= August 1978|volume= 12|issue= 8|page= 28|issn= 0017-5463}}</ref><ref name="harris">{{cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Sheldon |title=Blues Who's Who: A Biographical Dictionary of Blues Singers |date=1994 |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=New York |isbn=0-306-80155-8 |pages=301–302 |edition=January 1994 paperback |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3plJvwEACAAJ |language=en}}</ref> She learned three or four guitar chords from her brother, [[Dave Kelly (musician)|Dave Kelly]].<ref name="moody1" />
==Career== She appeared on several [[compilation album]]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]] before releasing her first solo album titled ''Jo-Ann Kelly'' (1969), this was issued on [[CBS]] in the UK and [[Epic Records]] in the US. She was also a core member of the band [[Tramp (band)|Tramp]] along with her brother [[Dave Kelly (musician)|Dave Kelly]].
Jo-Ann and Dave Kelly helped raise donations for [[Memphis Minnie]] in the 1960s.<ref name="schwartz">{{cite book |last1=Schwartz |first1=Freund, Roberta |title=''How Britain Got the Blues: The Transmission and Reception of American Blues Style in the United Kingdom'' |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317120940 |page=207 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4pAWDAAAQBAJ&q=How+Britain+Got+the+Blues:+The+Transmission+and+Reception+of+American+Blues+Style+in+the+United+Kingdom+by+Roberta+Freund+Schwartz |quote=The British blues community rallied around the cause of blueswoman [[Memphis Minnie]], purportedly the first of the Chicago artists to play electric guitar and one its finest instrumentalists. By the time researchers found her she was living in a nursing home in Memphis, paralyzed by a debilitating stroke. Jo-Ann and Dave Kelly began playing benefits on her behalf and soon other musicians and clubs arranged charity concerts to help the impoverished singer cover her medical expenses. Jo-Ann Kelly also sold pictures of Minnie, which provided the blueswoman with some badly needed income, and letters and cards from her British fans gave her some comfort and satisfaction in her last years. |accessdate=28 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
[[Canned Heat]] and [[Johnny Winter]] 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 (guitarist)|Terry Smith]] Blues Band.<ref name="moody3">{{cite journal |last1=Moody |first1=Pete |title=Jo Ann Kelly, Part three: Ladies and the Blues |journal=British Blues Review|date=October 1988 |issue=4 |pages=8–9 |url=http://www.britishbluesarchive.org.uk/Docs/Blues_Review/Blues_Review-Oct88.pdf |accessdate=30 July 2019}}</ref>
==Death== In 1988, Kelly began to suffer from headaches.<ref name="nickson">{{cite web |last1=Nickson |first1=Chris |title=Jo Ann Kelly {{!}} Biography & History |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jo-ann-kelly-mn0000133377/biography |website=AllMusic |accessdate=27 July 2019 |language=en-us}}</ref> In 1989 she had an operation to remove a malignant [[Brain tumor|brain tumour]].<ref name="martin">{{cite web |last1=Martin |first1=Terry |title=Jo Ann Kelly |url=http://www.martin-kingsbury.co.uk/articles/jo-ann%20kelly.htm |website=Martin & Kingsbury |accessdate=27 July 2019}}</ref> She died on 21 October 1990 in England, aged 46.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Colin|last1=Larkin|title=Kelly Jo Ann|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195313734.001.0001/acref-9780195313734-e-14812;jsessionid=2C287CDD138B61760EEE73CEE75ACF49|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=1 January 2009|isbn=978-0-19-531373-4|via=www.oxfordreference.com|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195313734.001.0001/acref-9780195313734-e-14812}}</ref>
Obituaries for Kelly appeared in major UK newspapers, including ''[[The Independent]]'',<ref name="independentobit" /> ''[[The Times]]'',<ref name=timesobit /> and ''[[The Guardian]]''.<ref name="guardianobit">{{cite news |last1=Denselow |first1=Robin |title=Streatham blues: Obituary of Jo Ann Kelly |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=26 October 1990}}</ref> Remembrances and obituaries also appeared in contemporary [[Blues]] magazines such as ''[[Blues & Rhythm]]''<ref name="balfour">{{cite journal |last1=Balfour |first1=Alan |title=Obituaries: Jo Ann Kelly |journal=[[Blues & Rhythm]] |date=December 1990 |issue=57 |page=17}}</ref> and the ''British Blues Review''<ref name="bbrobit">{{cite journal |last=Prince |first=Michael |date=March 1991 |title=My personal reflections of Jo Ann Kelly |url=http://www.britishbluesarchive.org.uk/Docs/Blues_Review/Blues_Review-March91.pdf |journal=BBR Boogie |issue=16 |page=7 |accessdate=26 September 2019}}</ref>
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".<ref name="independentobit">{{cite news |last=Dallas |first=Karl |date=23 October 1990 |title=Obituary:Jo Ann Kelly |work=[[The Independent]] |location=London |quote=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 of as 'their' genre.}}</ref>
==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''.<ref name=bluesgospelliner>{{Cite AV media notes |title=''Blues & Gospel: Rare and Unreleased Recordings'' |year=2004 |url=https://archive.org/download/mbid-9e414d66-1375-4851-b451-957eac2fdc4d/mbid-9e414d66-1375-4851-b451-957eac2fdc4d-20863916689.jpg |access-date=25 October 2019 |first=Peter |last=Moody |pages=2-3 |type=liner notes |publisher=[[Blues Matters!]] |id=BMRCD 20041 }}</ref> * ''Jo-Ann Kelly'' ([[Epic Records|Epic]], 1969) * ''Same Thing on Their Minds'' ([[Sunset Records|Sunset]], 1969) – With [[Tony McPhee]]. * ''Jo Ann Kelly With [[John Fahey (musician)|John Fahey]], [[Woody Mann]], John Miller, Alan Seidler'' ([[Blue Goose Records|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 Records|Mooncrest]], 1999) * ''Talkin' Low: Rare And Unissued Recordings 1966-1988, volume 2'' (Mooncrest, 2000) * ''[[Tramp (band)|Tramp]] 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!]], 2004) * ''Do It & more'' ([[Manhaton Records|Manhaton]], 2008) – Songs from ''Do It'' (1976) plus additional songs. * ''I Asked For Water, She Gave Me Gasoline'' ([[Imperial Records|Imperial]] – LP-12455 1969)
===Featured=== * ''Standing At The Burying Ground'', [[Mississippi Fred McDowell]] (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]] (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.
==See also== * [[List of British blues musicians]] * [[British blues]] * [[Tony McPhee]] * [[John Dummer Band]] * [[Tramp (band)]]
==References== {{Reflist}} <!--These are citations to be added. I'm making them hidden for now, to be deleted as added.
<ref name="moody2">{{cite journal |last1=Moody |first1=Pete |title=Jo Ann Kelly, Part two: Memphis Bound |journal=British Blues Review |date=June 1988 |issue=2 |pages=4-5 |url=http://www.britishbluesarchive.org.uk/Docs/Blues_Review/Blues_Review-June88.pdf |accessdate=30 July 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="williamson">{{cite book |last1=Williamson |first1=Nigel |title=The Rough Guide to the Blues |date=2007 |publisher=Rough Guides |location=New York, NY |isbn=9781843535195 |pages=230-231 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AgE8AQAAIAAJ |language=en}}</ref>
<ref name=timesobit>{{cite news |title=Jo Ann Kelly |url=http://tinyurl.gale.com/tinyurl/BdVUg9 |accessdate=7 September 2019 |work=[[The Times]] |agency=The Times Digital Archive |date=25 October 1990 |ref=thetimes |location=London |page=18}}</ref>
<ref name=brody>{{cite magazine |last=Brody |first=Patricia |date=May 1977 |title=Bonnie Raitt: A Talent in Transition from Blues to Rock |url=https://www.bonnieraitt.eu/bonnie-raitt-a-talent-in-transition/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929210150/https://www.bonnieraitt.eu/bonnie-raitt-a-talent-in-transition/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2019-09-29 |magazine=[[Guitar Player]] |location=New York City, New York |publisher=[[Future US]] |quote=It was hard to do "[[Walkin' Blues|Walking Blues]]" (on ''[[Bonnie Raitt (album)|Bonnie Raitt]]'') for instance, but I was not born with a voice like [[Mavis Staples]] or Jo Ann Kelly who sounds uncannily like [[Memphis Minnie]], or any ballsy, chesty blueswoman.}}</ref>
* Used - discography<ref name=bluesgospelliner>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Untitled |year=2004 |url=https://archive.org/download/mbid-9e414d66-1375-4851-b451-957eac2fdc4d/mbid-9e414d66-1375-4851-b451-957eac2fdc4d-20863916689.jpg |access-date=25 October 2019 |first=Peter |last=Moody |pages=2-3 |type=liner notes |publisher=[[Blues Matters]] |id=BMRCD 20041 }}</ref>
<ref name="jakelly"> {{Cite AV media notes |title=Mississippi Fred McDowell, Standing at the Burying Ground |year=1984 |url=http://www.wirz.de/music/redlight/grafik/0053b4.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309120251/http://www.wirz.de/music/redlight/grafik/0053b4.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 March 2016 |access-date=10 October 2019 |first= Jo Ann|last=Kelly |type=Liner notes, vinyl LP. |publisher=Red Lightnin Ltd }}</ref>
<ref name="garon">{{cite book |last1=Garon |first1=Paul |last2=Garon |first2=Beth |title=Woman with guitar: Memphis Minnie's blues |publisher=City Lights Publishers |location=San Francisco, CA |isbn=9780872866218 |pages=138-39 |edition=Revised and expanded |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IerXAwAAQBAJ |accessdate=26 October 2019}}</ref>
Most of Russell can be sourced elsewhere. The lack of actually naming the "obituarist"'s name isn't really confidence building on reliability. So I'm removing it but leaving it hidden here. <ref name="russell">{{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=Tony |title=The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray |date=1997 |publisher=Schirmer Books |location=New York |isbn=9780028648866 |page=130 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DfAjIAAACAAJ |accessdate=7 August 2019 |language=en}}</ref> -->
==External links== * [http://www.wirz.de/music/kellydsc.htm Jo Ann Kelly] illustrated discography * {{Discogs artist}} * {{MusicBrainz artist|id=25c782fb-7ce9-481a-a7f6-006fa09b4c5c}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Jo Ann}} [[Category:1944 births]] [[Category:1990 deaths]] [[Category:People from Streatham]] [[Category:20th-century English singers]] [[Category:English blues guitarists]] [[Category:English blues singers]] [[Category:English women guitarists]] [[Category:Deaths from brain cancer in England]] [[Category:Musicians from the London Borough of Lambeth]] [[Category:Place of death missing]] [[Category:20th-century English guitarists]] [[Category:20th-century English women singers]] [[Category:Tramp (band) members]] [[Category:John Dummer Band members]] [[Category:20th-century women guitarists]] [[Category:Singers from the London Borough of Lambeth]]