This is intended to be a homage to very many musicians I've loved since I started listening to music. My intention is to tell what I know about them, hoping that those people who like them too, will help me fill numerous gaps, which I may have in their careers and discographies. Sorry, but there are no MP3 audio files here at all, just info (and love for the musicians).


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Wednesday 25 August 2010

Kelly Harland (vocals)


BANDS:
  • Lazy Racer
  • Annie Rose And The Thrillers
  • Michael Tomlinson Band

BIOGRAPHY:

Great vocalist, she started singing very soon, coming from a musical family (her father was a jazz drummer).


LAZY RACER


Lazy Racer was a studio band, assembled by producer Glyn Johns. He mixed musicians from UK (Renwick, Markee) with American singers and songwriters (Kelly Harland, Bill Lamb, Tim Gorman). The original lineup included drummer Kenny Jones:

LAZY RACER #1
?
Bill Lamb
vocals, guitar
Tim Renwick
guitar, vocals
Dave Markee
bass
Tim Gorman
keyboards, vocals
Kenny Jones
drums

But Jones was soon replaced by Henry Spinetti.

This was the new lineup:

LAZY RACER #2
?
Bill Lamb
vocals, guitar
Tim Renwick
guitar, vocals
Dave Markee
bass
Tim Gorman
keyboards, vocals
Henry Spinetti
drums

They released their first, self-titled, album, Lazy Racer. This is what Billboard magazine said about it in June 1979:

´Lazy Racer is a half-American, half-British band that has the capabilities of featuring four vocalists and four writers. The tempo of the album is low-keyed yet the music is packed full of superior musicianship. Female vocalist Kelly Harland gives an extra dimension to the vocals. The writing throughout the album is superior and the delivery, thanks to the muscle of guitarist Bill Lamb, keyboardists Harland and Tim Gorman, drummer Henry Spinetti, bassist Dave Markee and lead guitarist Tim Renwick brings the package together. Love ballads comprise a good portion of the album with enough doses of rock in between. Best cuts: ´Keep on running away´, ´Every other day´, ´One heartache´.´

This was followed by a second one, Formula II, recorded with the same lineup, plus help from Pat Donaldson, and minus Dave Markee. There was filmed a video promo for one of the songs, ´Heart of hearts´.

After moderate success of both albums, the band finally split, without having played any live gigs.


AND THEN...


She released one single of her own, ´All I wanna do´ (1982, Epic), taken from a never released album (produced by Michael Omartian and Bob Johnston, and featuring big names such as guitarist Dean Parks, sax Tom Scott, Robbie Buchanan, Steve Lukather and other members of Toto).

Kelly also appears in several albums. She has made sessions for big names such as Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, David T Walker, or Jennifer Warnes. She has also sung live backing Ray Charles, Etta James and Michael Tomlinson (also appearing in 3 of his albums).

But in 1997, she resumed his solo career releasing the fantastic album American songs. It´s full of covers of great songs written by people such as James Taylor, George Gershwin, Paul Simon, Cole Porter, Randy Newman or Jimmy Webb, to name a few. Think of what Rod Stewart (or Linda Ronstadt) has done in the last years. An exquisite and intimate album, where Kelly´s backed by the solid rhythm of Chuck Deardorf on bass, and the magnificent piano playing of Ted Brancato (what a taste!).

This was followed by two more albums (as far as I know), Twelve times romance and Long ago and far away - Kelly Harland sings Jerome Kern, obviously devoted to the Jerome Kern songbook (Kelly had already covered Kern´s ´Bill´ in American songs).

The albums can be obtained at Kelly's own website at http://www.kellyharland.com.

Kelly Harland book


Kelly has also published a book in 2002 called A will of his own - Reflections on parenting a child with autism.


DISCOGRAPHY: (19 albums known to me - Status: Quite advanced)

OWN ALBUMS (4 credits)
  • All I wanna do (SINGLE) - Kelly Harland (1982)

  • American songs - Kelly Harland (1997)

    • Members: Chuck Deardorf, Kelly Harland
    • Guests: Ted Brancato
    • My opinion: Fantastic, emotional album.
  • Twelve times romance - Kelly Harland (2002)

    • Members: Chuck Deardorf, Kelly Harland
    • Guests: Ted Brancato, Dean Hodges
    • Technical: Steve Carter
  • Long ago and far away - Kelly Harland sings Jerome Kern - Kelly Harland (06/2008)

ALBUMS AS A BAND MEMBER (5 credits)
  • Lazy Racer - Lazy Racer (1979)

  • Formula II - Lazy Racer (1980)

  • Still believe - Michael Tomlinson (1987)

  • Face up in the rain - Michael Tomlinson (1989)

  • Living things - Michael Tomlinson (1991)

    • Members: Kelly Harland
    • Guests: Chuck Deardorf (RIP: Howard Roberts)
SESSIONS (10 credits)
  • Empty nights - Tom Austin (1977)

  • In black & white - Bell & James (1981)

    • Guests: Gary Grant, Kelly Harland, Gary Herbig, Jerry Hey, Kim Hutchcroft, Bill Reichenbach, Neil Stubenhaus (RIP: Jeff Porcaro, Carlos Vega)
  • Kaddywompas - Tim Noah (1982)

  • Imagine that! - Jim Valley (1987)

  • Year ´round Christmas - Don Lanphere (1989)

    • Members: (RIP: Don Lanphere)
    • Guests: Chuck Deardorf, Kelly Harland, Dean Hodges
    • Comments: Recorded in October 1989.
  • Dinosaur ride - Jim Valley (1989)

  • My heart is home - Richard Palalay (1991)

  • Hearts and hands - Tickle Tune Typhoon (1991)

  • We have a dream - Jim Valley (1996)

  • Caracas - Bochinche ( - )


QUESTIONS:

01. Who is the bassist in the Lazy Racer video? Pat Donaldson or Dave Markee?

02. Was Kelly a member of Charlie Daniels Band?

03. Can someone give me info on the album where Kelly appears by David T Walker, Jennifer Warnes, Beach Boys, etc.?


RELATED WEBSITE LINKS: 2


Official site(s) - tell them you saw the link here:

RELATED VIDEO LINKS: 1
Disclaimer: I don´t own or upload any of the videos linked here. I just include links to live videos that are already available, in order to show the work of this musician. Anyway, if someone feels that some link shouldn't be included, please write me at the email address shown below. And if you know of more videos featuring Kelly Harland, please, also write me with the link.
THANKS:

Very Special Thanks to:
  • Kelly Harland: for her exquisite kindness and her music.

  • Thanks to:
  • Steinar Dahl: for info on Lazy Racer.

  • WHAT'S NEW:

    25/August/2010 - Page added to the blog.
    17/December/1999 - Original page written by me (in the old site).

    RELATED MUSICIANS:

    Kelly Harland mostly worked with these musicians: (name + number of credits)
    Chuck Deardorf (6)
    John Morton (6)
    Reed Ruddy (6)
    Richard Warner (6)
    Nick Moore (5)
    Michael Eads (4)
    Nancy Rumbel (4)
    Murl Allen Sanders (4)
    Sue Anderson (3)
    Summer Anderson (3)

    Page created by Miguel Terol on: 17/December/1999 - Last modified on: 26/August/2010. If you want to contribute with info, please write to: molympus1@gmail.com

    Please, note than you can check the indexes (musicians, bands, obituaries) at the top of this page.

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