Lorraine Ellison

Lorraine Ellison first drew notice as a deep soul vocalist after entering the world in 1931 in Philadelphia, PA. Her earliest sessions took place alongside the gospel ensembles the Ellison Singers, who cut material for Sharp/Savoy in 1962, and the Golden Chords, whose 1963 recordings appeared on CBS. By 1964 she had shifted into R&B, scoring an initial success with the 1965 R&B chart entry “I Dig You Baby,” a track Jerry Butler would later transform into a pop hit. She is most widely recognized, however, for the intense, symphonic-drenched ballad “Stay With Me,” written and produced by Jerry Ragovoy and released on the Warner label; the single climbed to number 11 on the R&B charts during the fall of 1966. Ellison also originated “Just a Little Bit Harder,” subsequently covered by Janis Joplin, and she remains a staple among U.K. Northern soul collectors. Additional singles from her catalog include “Heart Be Still,” “Don’t Let It Go to Your Head,” “Try,” and “I’ve Got My Baby Back.” With her manager Sam Bell of Garnet Mimms & the Enchanters she co-wrote songs that Mimms and Howard Tate would record. Her Warner albums comprise Heart and Soul (1966), Stay with Me (1969), and Lorraine Ellison (1974), while the 1976 compilation The Best of Philadelphia’s Queen gathered highlights from her tenure. Lorraine Ellison passed away on January 31, 1983.