Post is the first solo album by Australian singer-songwriter rock musician, Paul Kelly. Kelly had moved to Sydney by January 1985, after leaving his Melbourne-based Paul Kelly Band and the breakup of his marriage to Hilary Brown.
The album was produced by Clive Shakespeare (Sherbet guitarist) and Kelly, and was released in May 1985 by the independent White Records label, leased to Mushroom Records. The album failed to chart in Australia, with only one single, "From St Kilda to Kings Cross", released in April which also failed to chart. Kelly has described Post as a concept album dealing with addictions – not necessarily heroin addiction – but various forms, he has also denied that the songs were autobiographical but that he wrote about the world around him. with Michael Barclay on drums and guitarist Steve Connolly (The Zimmerman), guest performers on the album included bass player Ian Rilen (Rose Tattoo, X), Peter Bull (Flaming Hands, Grooveyard) on keyboards and guitarist Graham Lee. They spent two weeks recording at Clive Shakespeare's studio, Shakespeare engineered the album and co-produced with Kelly, it was released in May 1985 on the independent label White Label Records, and licensed to Mushroom Records.
According to Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, Post is a stark, personal collection of acoustic songs that highlight Kelly's broadly based song writing skill. Both the album and the one single released from it, "From St Kilda to Kings Cross", failed to chart. The album is thought by some critics to be more of a demo recording, as four tracks were re-recorded by Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls for their debut album Gossip in 1986. However, according to others it is like Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, where there is a beauty and delicateness in this raw production, with the emphasis on the words, the melodies, the song structures that are the defining elements of Kelly as a songwriter.
Track listing
Personnel
- Paul Kelly – guitar, vocals
- Steve Connolly – guitar
- Michael Barclay – drums
Additional musicians
- Chris Coyne – saxophone (tenor) (tracks 1 & 9)
- Ian Rilen – bass guitar (track 2)
- Peter Bull – keyboards (tracks 8, 9 & 11)
- Graham Lee – electric 12 string guitar (track 8), Dobro guitar (track 10)
- Toni Allayis – vocals (track 11)
- Jimmy Niven – piano accordion (track 11)
Recording details
- Producer – Clive Shakespeare, Paul Kelly
- Engineer – Clive Shakespeare
Art work
- Cover, Sleeve Design – Yanni Stumbles
- Photography – Francince McDougall, Laurie Markham, Tom Takacs