Ways & Means (album)

Ways & Means
Studio album by
Paul Kelly
Released17 February 2004
GenrePop / Folk rock
Length95:26
LabelEMI
Cooking Vinyl
ProducerTchad Blake, Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly chronology
Nothing But A Dream
(2001) 		Ways & Means
(2004) 		Foggy Highway
(2005)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Rolling Stone magazine[2]

Ways & Means is a double album recorded by Australian artist Paul Kelly and originally released in February 2004,[3] which peaked at #13 on the ARIA Albums Charts.[4] It won the 2004 ARIA Music Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album. It was issued on EMI in Australia and Cooking Vinyl in the US. Kelly's backing band were later called The Boon Companions and consisted of his nephew Dan Kelly on guitar, Peter Luscombe on drums and his brother Dan Luscombe on guitar and keyboards, and Bill McDonald on bass guitar.[3] "Beautiful Feeling" was used as the theme song for the ABCTV series Fireflies (2004).

Paul Kelly & the Boon Companions released a DVD titled, Ways & Means later in 2004. It contained 31 tracks divided into three sections: 15 tracks subtitled, Live in Boston, 12 tracks subtitled, Musicmax Sessions - Live at the Sydney Opera House (recorded on 27 January), and four tracks subtitled, Film Clips.

Background

Ways & Means was released by Paul Kelly on 17 February 2004, which peaked at #13 on the ARIA Albums Charts.[4] Though identified as a solo record, it was more of a group effort, with a backing band later dubbed The Boon Companions co-writing many of the tracks. The Boon Companions consisted of Kelly's nephew Dan Kelly on guitar, Peter Luscombe on drums and his brother Dan Luscombe on guitar and keyboards, and Bill McDonald on bass guitar.[3] On 7 February, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation had started broadcasting the television series Fireflies which featured a score by Kelly and Stephen Rae.[5][6] The associated soundtrack CD Fireflies: Songs of Paul Kelly included tracks by Kelly, Paul Kelly & the Boon Companions, Professor Ratbaggy (containing Kelly and three earlier bandmates), Paul Kelly with Uncle Bill, and "Los Cucumbros" by the Boon Companions featuring Sian Prior,[7] which was later a track on Stardust Five by Stardust Five[8] (same line-up as Paul Kelly & the Boon Companions).

Track listing

All tracks are written by Paul Kelly, Dan Kelly, Peter Luscombe, Dan Luscombe and Bill McDonald (except as below)

Ways & Means disc 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Gunnamatta" 4:14
2."The Oldest Story in the Book"P Kelly, D Luscombe4:31
3."Heavy Thing"P Kelly, D Kelly3:26
4."Won't You Come Around"P Kelly3:52
5."These Are the Days"P Kelly4:02
6."Beautiful Feeling" 5:16
7."Crying Shame" 4:36
8."Sure Got Me (Where You Want Me)"P Kelly4:35
9."To Be Good Takes a Long Time (To Be Bad No Time at All)"P Kelly3:10
10."Can't Help You Now"P Kelly, D Kelly4:55
11."Nothing But a Dream"P Kelly7:36

All tracks are written by Paul Kelly (except as below)

Ways & Means disc 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Little Bit O'Sugar"P Kelly, D Kelly6:49
2."Forty Eight Angels" 4:43
3."Your Lovin' Is on My Mind" 3:38
4."You Broke a Beautiful Thing" 4:51
5."My Way Is to You"P Kelly, D Kelly4:22
6."Curly Red" 3:44
7."King of Fools" 2:55
8."Young Lovers"P Kelly, D Luscombe, D Kelly3:06
9."Big Fine Girl" 2:50
10."Let's Fall Again"P Kelly, D Luscombe, D Kelly, P Luscombe, B McDonald8:15

Personnel

Paul Kelly Band aka Paul Kelly & the Boon Companions Credits:[9]

Production details

Charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 13

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[11] Gold 35,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ "Paul Kelly: Ways and Means : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. 30 August 2008. Archived from the original on 30 August 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Nimmervoll, Ed. "Paul Kelly". Howlspace. White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd (Tom Denison). Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Paul Kelly - Ways & Means". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
  5. ^ "Fireflies (2004, pilot episode) - Full cast and crew". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
  6. ^ "Fireflies (2004, TV series) - Full cast and crew". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
  7. ^ "Fireflies: Songs of Paul Kelly soundtrack CD". allmusic. Retrieved 4 September 2008.[permanent dead link‍]
  8. ^ "Stardust Five [Import] by Stardust Five". Amazon. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
  9. ^ Holmgren, Magnus. "Paul Kelly". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  10. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Paul Kelly – Ways & Means". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  11. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2024 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. March 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2024.