Stolen Apples is the twenty fifth album by Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly[1] and was released in July 2007 on EMI Music. The album was Kelly's first solo album since Ways & Means in 2004, and features religious themes throughout. It peaked at No. 8 on the ARIA Albums Chart.[2]
"Tex and I were doing a gig in Melbourne at the Famous Spiegeltent and Paul was playing later on the same day. After our gig, we were standing around and Paul was saying how much he loved the old album. - Owen "We said, 'Oh yeah, we're doing a new one. You haven't got any songs, have you?' A few days later, he turns up at my house with a little cassette." - Perkins[3]
The song was subsequently included on their 2005 album All is Forgiven.
"Tex sang it beautifully and we had to work to find a way to reclaim the song that didn't just sound like an imitation of their version. We tried it three or four different ways and had almost given up on it until we hit on doing it as a waltz. Now my favourite line in the song is the one where Tex changed the lyric to improve on what I had written." - Kelly[4]
On "The Ballad of Queenie and Rover" Kelly tells the story of acclaimed Aboriginal artists Queenie McKenzie and Rover Thomas, from the Warmun community in the East Kimberley.
"Rover came to painting in later life and Queenie was a stock camp cook for many years before she took up painting and they both rose to prominence. I heard the story about how Queenie saved Rover’s life as a young man when he was kicked in the head by his horse and she sewed him up with needle and thread. When the doctor arrived he said, 'I don’t need to do anything else, it’s been beautifully done.'" - Kelly[5]
For the tour on the back of this album, Paul decided to play the entire album in full and then play a collection of his greatest hits. In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Kelly stated that the idea was inspired by the setlist structure of Neil Young's concert tour supporting the 2003 album Greendale.[1]
