Paul Kelly has excited fans by announcing a follow-up to his beloved album, How to Make Gravy.
The album SEVENTY features the highly anticipated sequel called Rita Picks Up a Letter, which has been almost 30 years in the making!
The announcement also comes 12 days before his first arena tour!
What is Rita Picks Up a Letter about?
The song, which has already been released, picks up where the 1996 hit left off, with Rita at the centre, and the famous Joe speaking from the grave.
“I’ve been mulling over the idea of a sequel to How to Make Gravy from Rita’s point of view for quite some time,” he said. “About five years ago, I wrote down the words, Rita Wrote a Letter, and thought, ‘There’s my title.’”
Then, it came to him after “scratching around fruitlessly” for years.
Once his nephew Dan sent him a recording of something he wrote on the piano with a melody, it snowballed from there.
“The words started rolling after that,” he said. “As often happens, they took me by surprise. You could say the song took a dark turn, but to my mind it’s a black comedy. A ghost story. You hear Rita’s voice loud and clear, but Joe talks even more. I couldn’t shut him up!”
What happened to Joe from How to Make Gravy?
Now, you might be thinking, Joe died?!
Indeed.
Earlier this week, Paul shocked fans when he published a death notice for the original song’s hero, Joe, in The Age.
In the notice, Joe’s death was due to “sudden misadventure”.
“We’ll miss you badly, Joe,” it read. “You loved life and went hard at it. You loved music, food, football, celebration, tall tales, and strong argument.
“We can still see you cooking up a storm in the kitchen at our family gatherings, pots and pans on the go, BBQ smoking outside, glass of wine in hand, your beloved reggae music on the stereo…You filling up everybody’s drinks and teasing the little ones.
“Christmas just won’t be the same this year without you. Who’s gonna make the gravy?”
It also added that his funeral would be on August 14, “followed by a wake to end all wakes!”
When is Paul Kelly’s album SEVENTY coming out?
Not only that, his album SEVENTY, which is due to be released on November 7, also marks his 70th birthday.
