John Ellison

John Ellison channeled the fervent, soul-deep power of his lead vocals with the Soul Brothers Six directly from his religious upbringing. What set his approach apart was the distinctive way he translated that fervor into the group’s secular recordings.

At 18 he left West Virginia’s coal mines for Rochester, NY, where he performed soul music and worked as a stylist before joining forces with brothers Sam, Charles, Harry, and Moses Armstrong plus bassist Vonell Benjamin. Functioning as a fully self-reliant ensemble, the Soul Brothers Six played their own instruments while singing. Their initial singles—“Move Girl” on Fine in 1965 and “Don’t Neglect Your Baby” on Lyndell the next year—overflowed with gospel-derived feeling yet failed to register commercially.

The six-piece outfit headed for Philadelphia, a move during which Ellison composed the standout “Some Kind of Wonderful.” Atlantic released the potent soul track in 1967; it reached the pop charts and remained the group’s sole hit. Subsequent Atlantic releases failed to match its impact, prompting the original lineup’s dissolution in 1969. Ellison later recruited a new version of the band and recorded for Phil L.A. of Soul in 1972–1973. Grand Funk Railroad’s 1974 cover of “Some Kind of Wonderful” became a major pop success.

Ellison’s career appeared largely settled after he relocated primarily to Canada. Then After Hours Records principals Marty Duda and Gregory Townson encountered the veteran singer sitting in with bluesman Joe Beard at a Rochester bar. The meeting resulted in the 1993 solo album Welcome Back, which returned Ellison to the U.S. market; two selections, among them a new version of “Some Kind of Wonderful,” reunited him with the Armstrong brothers.