The A – Z Recordings originate from a series of acoustic concerts by Australian rock musician, Paul Kelly starting in December 2004 with 100 songs performed alphabetically over four nights at The Famous Spiegeltent in Melbourne. In November–December 2006 Kelly undertook his A – Z Tour at the Brisbane Powerhouse, Melbourne's Spiegeltent, and at the Sydney Opera House.
On his A – Z Tours, over subsequent years to 2010, Kelly was often accompanied by his nephew, Dan Kelly, on guitar and vocals and sometimes by his then-girlfriend, Sian Prior, on clarinet and vocals. For some of his North American shows, he cut back his performance to only one or two nights, "the speed-dial version". Kelly would provide anecdotes or background for each song, which led to his writing a memoir, How to Make Gravy (named for the song of the same name), issued in September 2010.
The book contains a chapter per song with the lyrics supplied followed by Kelly's description of varied topics.
In January 2011 The Sydney Morning Herald's Bernard Zuel caught the first two nights of a four-night set, he disputed the "accepted wisdom that acoustic performances were the test of a song's lasting quality" and preferred when Kelly's nephew Dan "add[ed] colour guitar or extra vocals to particular songs" or when Prior "provided scattered 'furnishings', playing clarinet, briefly bringing some operatic vocals to the party and noticeably brightening proceedings". Zuel felt the first night was "lacking some energy, vocal and physical" and that "the show's highlights came in the purely solo songs about or from the perspective of women". Kelly's A – Z Tours continued until March 2012.
Track List:
A1. Adelaide
a2. Be Careful What You Pray For
A3. Cradle of Love
A4. Down To My Soul
A5. Everybody Wants To Touch Me
A6. Forty Eight Angels
B1. Going About My Father's Business
B2. How To Make Gravy
B3. I Keep On Coming Back For Me
B4. Just About To Break
B5. King Of Fools
B6. Luck
C1. My Way Is To You
C2. No You
C3. One More Tune
C4. Pretty Place
C5. (The Ballad Of) Queenie And Rover
C6. Rally 'Round The Drum
D1. Standing On The Street Of Early Sorrows
D2. They Thought I Was Asleep
D3. Until Death Do Them Part
D4. Winter Coat
D5. You Can Put Your Shoes Under My Bed
D6. Zoe
Media Condition: Mint (M)
Sleeve Condition: Mint (M)
Country: Australia
Genre: Rock
Style:
Gawd Aggie, Universal Music