Kelly Jones
Wales | Rock / Britpop | 1974
Kelly Jones is a Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist and the lead singer of the band Stereophonics. Jones is noted for his gravelly voice and rather cynical view of fame.
Jones lived in the former pit village of Cwmaman, near Aberdare, where he became friends with neighbours, Stuart Cable and Richard Jones and they formed a covers band together. Showing a talent for writing in his youth, he considered being a scriptwriter before being a musician. The BBC showed an interest in some of his early work but, as the band progressed from a covers band to writing their original material, he decided to use his narrative side more towards writing lyrics.
Jones also flirted with the idea of boxing, and was a successful boxer at youth level. Much of his early life is documented in the Stereophonics debut album, including his account of his teen years on a market stall. These are wryly documented in More Life in a Tramps Vest from the Stereophonics first album released in 1997, Word Gets Around.
Only the Names Have Been Changed is the solo debut album by Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones.
As Jones explains, "we were recording the sixth Stereophonics album...and in-between takes I started doing these songs off the cuff. Three or four tracks in I realised that this could actually be something…strange how it's always little things that makes big things happen. We didn't wait - it was recorded January 7th and 8th and mastered by Friday the 12th...every song is a live take...we actively decided to make it a bit more filmic. In two days we put down 10 tracks with 10 different girls names…we wanted to do something in the vain of Nick Cave's Murder Ballads or Johnny Cash's Blood, Sweat and Tears.