Pat Kelly: How Long Will It Take

Summer is here, and no music feels more like summer to me than reggae. Pat Kelly was one of the first rocksteady pop stars in Jamaica. He started his career in the mid-60s as a member of a vocal group called The Techniques, but by 1968 he was a solo artist. Recording for legendary Jamaican producers such as Bunny Lee and Phil Pratt, Kelly produced a string of singles and albums from 1968 to 1972. He then worked as a producer for most of the ’70s before recording his own records again from 1978 to 2012. Kelly was a reggae artist who bridged the gap between ’60s soul and ’70s reggae. His smooth vocals were perfect for the sound of Jamaican radio in the late ’60s and early ’70s. His vocal delivery was reminiscent of Sam Cooke and some of his singles are as soulful as anything being produced in America during the ’60s, but with a rocksteady beat. Lee “Scratch” Perry engineered his 1968 debut album, Pat Kelly Sings, and it is a solid example of rocksteady reggae pop from that era. “How Long Will It Take” was released as a single from the album and was the best-selling Jamaican single of 1969. The work of Pat Kelly is not as important as Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley, or Burning Spear, but it is still worth a listen. Artists like Kelly laid the foundation for the reggae explosion of 1972-73.

To learn more about Pat Kelly, check out his Wikipedia page.

To listen to all of the songs of the day, check out the Radio Faux Show Song of the Day playlist.

• Uncategorized