- Paul Kelly (aka Lawrence Dunbar) -- vocals

- Clarence Reid & The Del-Mires

- The Spades

- The Valadeers

Genre: soul

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Title:  Stealing In the Name of the Lord

Company: Happy Tiger

Catalog: HT-1015

Year: 1974

Country/State: Miami, Florida

Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+

Comments: --

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 5926

Price: $50.00

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"Stealing In the Name of the Lord" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) 509   (Paul Kelly) - 2:54

2.) Hot Runnin' Soul   (Paul Kelly) - 2:31

3.) Funny   (Paul Kelly) - 2:12

4.) A Helpful Hand   (Paul Kelly) - 2:18

5.) Soul lLow   (Paul Kelly) - 3:33

6.) Try To Love Somebody   (Paul Kelly) - 3:04

(side 2)

1.) Poor But Proud   (Paul Kelly) - 3:08

2.) Comin' Comin' Comin'   (Paul Kelly) - 1:59

3.) The Day After Forever   (Paul Kelly) - 3:17

4.) Travelin' Man   (Paul Kelly) - 2:49

5.) What's Happening To Me and You   (Paul Kelly) - 3:13

6.) Stealing In the Name of the Lord   (Paul Kelly) - 3:36

Paul Kelly's Dirt was a solid but somewhat average LP by this journeyman soul singer, including his 1970 Top 50 single "Stealin' in the Name of the Lord." Put simply, the album is too similar in some respects to the emotional, sometimes socially conscious compassionate approach Curtis Mayfield was specializing in by the early '70s — and, to a lesser degree, the similar approach that Marvin Gaye was branching into — to qualify Kelly's work as belonging in the same kind of league as the one inhabited by those two giants. The resemblance goes beyond the material; the vocal embellishments Kelly uses are often much like Gaye's and Mayfield's as well. But there is a difference between being annoyingly derivative and pleasingly derivative. If you like that sort of early-'70s soul and can accept that this particular LP doesn't have the most original stuff along those lines, it's well done, and a decent listen. It might be Southern soul-pop at its core, but it's dressed up with some sharp bluesy guitar lines and rock and funk influences, though it's only on "Soul Flow" (which has some searing electric guitar) that those influences get too bold. "Stealin' in the Name of the Lord" is the track that got the most attention, in part because of lyrics that were interpreted as critical of the church. But the anguished "What's Happenin' to Me and You" is a more interesting highlight, with a bewildered outlook on social turmoil that can't help but sound inspired to some degree by the kind of songs Gaye sang on What's Going On. The 2006 CD reissue on Water adds historical liner notes.

Miami native Paul Kelly is a man who had the right sound for the wrong era. He's surely one of Southern soul music's finest exponents, but he fettered about with no-can-do little independent labels for a dozen years before hitching up with Warner Brothers in 1971. The popularity of Southern soul music climaxed in 1968 when Otis Redding's "(Sitting on) The Dock of the Bay" spent four weeks atop the pop charts, and it was downhill from there. Kelly didn't have a chance. His own records flopped, so he hoped others could make them hits. When his buddy Sam Moore (Sam & Dave) turned down his "Stealin' in the Name of the Lord," Kelly decided to record it after all. Recorded at Muscle Shoals and released by the Happy Tiger label in 1970, the rocker critiqued ministers who pimped their congregations. After initial resistance from the church community, it peaked at number 14 R&B and remains Kelly's best-selling record

Genre: soul

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Title:  Hooked Hogtied & Collared

Company: Warner Brothers

Catalog: BS-2812

Year: 1974

Country/State: Miami, Florida

Grade (cover/record): VG/VG

Comments: promo sticker on front cover

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 4291

Price: $15.00

Cost: $66.00

Kelly's third release for Warner Brothers may not be as immediately appealing as the two earlier albums, but has more than its share of winners.  Kelly's voice and writing talents have always appealed to us and that's the case on 1974's "Hooked Hogtied & Collared '.  Produced by Buddy Killen, Kelly deserves credit for having the willpower to avoid the seemingly irresistible push to record disco.  While the set doesn't exactly qualify as old school soul, that's the genre where Kelly shines.  Tracks such as 'Try My Love', 'I Believe I Can' and the Gospel flavored testifying on 'Holding On for Dear Life' are simply great.    Personal favorite, the surprisingly rocking opener 'Let Your Love Come Down'.  Check out the interesting cover art ...   

"Hooked Hogtied & Collared" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Let Your Love Come Down   (Paul Kelly) - 

2.) I Wanna Be Close To You   (Paul Kelly) - 
3.) Take It Away From Him   (Paul Kelly) - 
4.) Try My Love   (Paul Kelly) - 
5.) Till I Get To My Baby's Love   (Paul Kelly) - 
6.) Hooked   (Paul Kelly) - 

(side 2)

1.) You Make Me Tremble   (Paul Kelly) - 
8.) You Turned A Lion Into A Lamb   (Paul Kelly) - 
9.) I'm Gonna Be Loving You   (Paul Kelly) -    (Paul Kelly) - 
10.) I Believe I Can   (Paul Kelly) - 
11.) I'm Into Something I Can't Shake Loose   (Paul Kelly) - 
12.) Holding On For Dear Life   (Paul Kelly) -