Jonathan Kelly (Side 1) – Incredibly Rare 1970 UK Parlophone Debut Folk LP £250

So hard to find a copy of this LP released on Parlophone in 1970 Jonathan Kelly`s debut LP (PCS 7114) with `Textured` Sleeve and relevant EMI Inner, this LP slipped well `under the radar` it wasn’t till his RCA follow up (Twice Around The Houses) that people latched on to his music, an excellent copy sold for 255 pounds in 2005, truly Mint copies (very hard to find due to white sleeve) are certainly worth owning. Doesn`t look like it has ever been issued on CD either Side 1 1. Denver 2. Son Jon 3. Tom Bodey 4. Sailor 5. Mrs Gilbert 6. Don`t You Be Too Long Jonathan Kelly had a reasonably successful career during the 1970s as a London-based singer/songwriter, and his four albums for the RCA label have all been reissued on CD. His debut Parlophone LP from 1970, however, has bizarrely never received the digital treatment. The album itself is a more sparse, acoustic based collection than his later work, and bears comparisons to artists of the era like Cat Stevens or Donovan. There is a consistency from Kelly’s earlier singles through to the LPs reflective ballads, with his wry and strongly anti-war lyrics remaining just as relevant today. Kelly was the artist formerly known as Jon Ledingham, Drogheda-born leader of Irish pop group ‘The Boomerangs’ who released one single on the Pye label in 1966. This was followed by two solo singles credited to Jon Ledingham, also on Pye, before he reinvented himself as a folk singer on the London scene. There he was discovered by ex-Bee Gee Colin Peterson who managed him during the next phase of his career. Peterson attracted a lot of publicity for Kelly but it failed to translate into sales. During the second half of 1970 Peterson and Kelly formed the short-lived group ‘Humpy Bong’ (named after a school Peterson and the Gibb brothers had attended in Australia) along with ex-Smile (. Queen) singer Tim Staffell, and made two appearances on Top of the Pops. Kelly’s breakthrough finally happened two years later with his Twice Around The Houses LP. The Boomerangs excellent, debut single and its b-side were included on the out-of-print CD collection Ireland’s Beat Groups 1964-69, but none of the other recordings from this era are available except on original vinyl. Of the three solo singles on Parlophone, only the tracks ‘Make A Stranger Your Friend’ and ‘Billy’ didn’t appear on the album, but the Jon Ledingham and Humpy Bong singles featured different recordings of some of the album tracks, so there is the potential here for a really comprehensive digital release someday.