Download or Listen To Pat Kelly – Cool Operator from a White Label JA 7″

**Thanks Charles who pointed out that the Pat Kelly record was really Delroy Wilson! The white label/ record sleeve was really wrong! This does happen, and hopefully I can dig up some Pat Kelly for all of you. A huge thanks to a guy who’s been listening to Reggae for 40 year! Sorry for the confusion folks!

As Fatboy Slim once said: “The weekend starts here……” Here we are folks at the end of another grinding week. I hope you all enjoyed the Funky Soul of Miss Betty Harris mid week. Before I get into an extremely cool record from Jamaica, I wanted to shout my man Devil Dick out for his birthday. The old dog has made it through another year, and hopefully got himself a pair of new Pop Pop shoes for the digging season. I hope your day was great my brother, many more to you! As I was writing this I got a call from the Old Dog and we hit up the best sushi restaurant around with the JJB. There was some company missing, but there will be a next time. Before I go on and on about good friends some more, let’s jump into this record. I’m really excited about this side. Here’s Pat Kelly with “Cool Operator” on a white label 7″ from Montego Bay.

Born in 1949 in Kingston, Jamaica, Kelly was a notable Rocksteady artist of his time. He was known as the Curtis Mayfield of Jamaica, and soon went on to front The Techniques, who formed in 1966. Consequently, this Curtis Mayfield sound alike and his new band liked to do Impression covers, and they did them well. He split from the Techniques in 1968, only to reunite with them again and have a series of Soul covers done Reggae that were hits in JA. From Mayfield to The Impressions to The Temptations to James Carr to George Harrison, Kelly has really covered a lot of Soul in his own way. He’d go on to work with Hopeton Lewis and Winston Riley among others, while also recording for Lee Perry and Bunny Lee, who I believe this side was recorded for. Kelly continued to make music on Pama Records and it’s subsidiary Gas Records. He collaborated with Phil Pratt on the Cool Breezing Lp, and remained in the game until the late 70’s.

“Cool Operator” is a great Rocksteady side, where Kelly professes his infatuation and love to a certain woman. I don’t have a lot of information on this side, other than it’s hand stamped label that reads: Record City, 26 James street, Montego Bay, and a hand written “Cool Operator” on the label with pen. This side is definitely associated with Bunny Lee, as there is a B.L. etched into the vinyl. I’ve got not much more to say, except this goes out to a real Cool Operator, you know who you are. I’ll be back Monday with more goodness. Keep Diggin’!