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Paul Kennerley (born 1948) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer working in the American contemporary country music industry.

Biography

Kennerley was born in Hoylake, Cheshire, England in 1948. In 1976, he was living in London and working in advertising when he first heard country music — particularly, the song "Let's All Help the Cowboys Sing the Blues" by Waylon Jennings. "It really excited me," Kennerley recalls in his artist biography for Universal Music Group. "I immediately hunted down every Waylon record I could find."

Kennerley quit his job in advertising and allowed himself three months to develop his talents as a songwriter.

Recordings

In 1972, Kennerley recorded an album with a rock band called 'Holy Roller' at Virgin Records' newly opened Manor studio, with Tom Newman (Mike Oldfield, Tubular Bells etc.) and Philip Newell, and Newman subsequently sang all the songs on the demonstration tapes of the White Mansions album.

Kennerley's first project was White Mansions, a 1978 concept album set in the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. The project was picked up by A&M Records, with Glyn Johns producing. A number of notable artists recorded the music, including Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, Steve Cash of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils and Eric Clapton.

In 1980, a second concept album was released, The Legend of Jesse James, which featured more notable artists, including Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Charlie Daniels, Albert Lee and Levon Helm.

Misery with a Beat, his 1995 EP, featured Richard Bennett and Billy Bremner on guitar, Michael Rhodes on bass, and Chad Cromwell on drums with songs including "Love Match"; - "Heart Full of Rain"; - "Tryin' to Get Over You" (co-written with J Ford & Bobby Womack); - "She was Mine" - and - "The Heartbreak Kind" (co-written with Marty Stuart)

Songwriting

Neither White Mansions nor Jesse James were commercially successful, but they did establish Kennerley as a serious songwriter. Among his early compositions was "Born to Run", which Emmylou Harris recorded in 1981 for her album, Cimarron, and she continues to frequently perform the song in her concerts.

Kennerly continued to live in London while he wrote songs, but in 1983 moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he started working with Harris on her semi-autobiographical concept album, The Ballad of Sally Rose, co-writing and producing the album. Kennerley also collaborated with Harris on her albums Thirteen and Bluebird, and writing the songs "In My Dreams" and "Heartbreak Hill".

Kennerley also wrote songs for The Judds ("Young Love", "One Man Woman", "Let Me Tell You About Love", "Cry Myself to Sleep", "Have Mercy" and "Give a Little Love"), Marty Stuart ("Hillbilly Rock", "Western Girls", "Tempted", "Till I Found You", "Little Things"), Tanya Tucker ("Walking Shoes"), Sweethearts of the Rodeo ("Chains of Gold"), Patty Loveless ("Blue Memories"), Juice Newton ("Tell Me True"), The Everly Brothers ("The First In Line") as well as Carla Olson & John York (First In Line).

Personal life

Kennerley was married to Emmylou Harris from 1985 to 1993.

Awards

Kennerley was named Broadcast Music Incorporated Writer of the Year in 1989.

Songs used in television shows

Songs used in films

Top 20 songs on the Billboard Country Charts written by Kennerley

NOTE ( 18 of the above songs received BMI Awards, 15 of which were 1 million plays, 4 were 2 million plays and 1 was a 3 million play award )

Discography

Recordings

• 1978: White Mansions (A&M) all songs written by Kennerly and performed by other artists
• 1979: The Legend of Jesse James (A&M) all songs written by Kennerly and performed by other artists
• 1998: Misery With A Beat EP (Spinout)

As producer

• 1985: Emmylou Harris - The Ballad of Sally Rose (Warner Bros.)
• 1986: Emmylou Harris - Thirteen (Warner Bros.)

As composer

* Class of 55 (Carl Perkins; Jerry Lee Lewis; Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash)

References

1. Cornelius, Jim (20 March 2013). "The Legend of Jesse James". Frontier Partisan. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
2. Jana Pendragon. "Misery with a Beat: Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
3. Hurst, Jack (10 March 1985). "More Than A Hint Emmylou Harris Comes Out In `Ballad Of Sally Rose". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
4. Jerome, Jim (14 January 1991). "Emmylou Harris". People. Retrieved 1 May 2017.

External links

• Paul Kennerley at AllMusic
• Paul Kennerley discography at Discogs

• 1948 births
• Living people
• English expatriate musicians in the United States
• English country singer-songwriters
• English country guitarists
• English male guitarists
• English record producers
• People from Hoylake
• Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee
• British male singer-songwriters