Pat Kelly, the man with the golden voice, ended his earthly experience and is winging his way to join that ever-expanding orchestra in the Great Beyond.
He left the world a much richer place than he found it.
Born in 1949 in Kingston, Jamaica, Pat Kelly was one of the island's leading purveyors of the rocksteady genre. The Curtis Mayfield sound-alike took Slim Smith's place alongside Bruce Ruffin & Winston Riley in the Techniques around 1966. The group recorded some fine covers of soul music especially Impressions tunes. The new Technique lineup debuted with "You Don't Care" a remake of the Impressions'"You'll Want Me Back," which they later recorded under the correct title. "Minstrel & Queen," another Impressions oldie, followed, and the Techniques were rolling with chain of hits that included "My Girl" and "Love Is Not A Gamble."
Kelly was born in Kingston in 1949. After leaving school, he spent a year studying electronics in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States during 1966, before returning to Jamaica.[1] In 1967, when Slim Smith left The Techniques, Kelly was brought in to replace him, recording for Duke Reid in the rocksteady era when Reid's Treasure Isle studio/label was dominating Jamaican music.[1] Kelly's falsetto voice, strongly influenced by the American soul singer Sam Cooke, in combination with Winston Riley and Bruce Ruffin, maintained the success that The Techniques had enjoyed with Smith.[1] The Techniques first record with Kelly, "You Don't Care", adapted from Curtis Mayfield's "You'll Want Me Back", spent six weeks at number one in the Jamaican singles chart, and was followed by further hits with "Queen Majesty", "My Girl", "Love Is Not a Gamble", "It's You I Love", and "Run Come Celebrate".[1][2]