John Ellison- West Virginia Music Hall of Fame – Class of 2018
Some Kind of Wonderful.
Mark Farner arrived at the airport in Charleston, WV on the afternoon of Saturday, October 24, 2018, and headed straight to the concert hall for a sound check and run through of that night’s upcoming big event. It had already been a tiring day, as the former frontman of rock and roll supergroup Grand Funk Railroad had to get on and off of three flights to get to West Virginia, but he was on a mission in service to a good friend. He had played in Charleston several times before with Grand Funk, but always at the Civic Center. This writer witnessed a memorable concert by the band in May of 1974 at that venue. But tonight’s show was at the West Virginia Cultural Center and Mark Farner was in town to induct John Ellison into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
When Montgomery, WV native John Ellison found out he was being honored by his home state with this tribute, he said there was only one person he would want to hand him his Hall of Fame award, and that was Mark Farner. It so happens that Ellison wrote a certain song in 1967 and recorded it with his Rochester, NY based group The Soul Brothers Six. Recorded in Philadelphia, “(She’s) Some Kind of Wonderful”, the full original title, did not do well for Ellison’s band. It only reached the national charts for one week on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart, topping out at #91.
In December of 1974 Grand Funk Railroad released their version of the song and that changed the world for John Ellison. With Mark Farner belting the song out in his soulful voice, Grand Funk took the song to #3 on the Hot 100 and it sold over a million copies, going platinum. John Ellison, besides being a legendary musician, has always been an astute businessman, and unlike many of his songwriting peers, he has always owned his songs. So in December of ’74, John Ellison got a Christmas gift from Mark Farner that has kept on giving. In fact, that song, now referred to as just “Some Kind of Wonderful”, has gone on to be recognized by Broadcast Music, Inc (BMI) as one of the most covered songs of all time, including versions by Rod Stewart, Huey Lewis, Joss Stone, Buddy Guy, and many others. With his royalties and publishing rights intact, John Ellison knows that song is truly some kind of wonderful.
The original version of “Some Kind of Wonderful” and Ellison’s band The Soul Brothers Six have been the source of much interest to many legendary rock critics and journalists. Peter Guralnick, in his influential book, Sweet Soul Music calls the Soul Brothers Six an influential working soul, show-band that wrote their own material and excelled on stage. He added:
“Not only has the trademark bass line in “Some Kind of Wonderful” been utilized by countless other artists for a variety of different songs, but the song has also earned the Soul Brothers Six a spot in music history. John Ellison wrote the songs and sang lead. The sky-high level of soulful intensity he brought to his songs came straight from church.”
Peter Guralnick
In The Heart of Rock & Soul-The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made, author, and Michigan native Dave Marsh posed the question about the fate of “Some Kind of Wonderful” on the national charts. He writes:
“How does a record make the nether regions of the Billboard charts and then disappear, in this case after but a single week? In the case of ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’ (which has nothing at all in common with the Drifters’ record of the same title), probably by becoming a hit on Detroit black stations and then crossing over to Top 40 without picking up any new cities. That doesn’t mean the song disappeared. I heard it on many Detroit stations in 1967. It sounded like a garage band crossed with a soul group. I loved it. In fact, within a year, almost every band with a shred of soul in Michigan was performing its four-square funk riff, though of course all of them replaced John Ellison’s gritty, gospel voice and shout with blasts of guitar raunch.” Marsh selected “Some Kind of Wonderful” as #596 in his list of “1001 greatest singles ever made”.
Dave Marsh
Marsh’s point was proven by Mark Farner at the Hall of Fame ceremony that October evening in 2018, when during his induction speech of John Ellison he explained how it was that Grand Funk Railroad came to record that fateful song. “I have always been a fan of that record. In fact, in our limo days, riding to a big show we would warm up our vocals a little by singing “Some Kind of Wonderful” in the back of the limo. We did that a lot. Finally one day, our manager at the time, Andy Cavalieri, turned around in the limo and asked ‘What is that song you guys keep singing? You need to record that song.’ And we did, and the rest is history.”
John Ellison’s life literally began on the banks of the Kanawha River in a house his father built out of driftwood. Born in 1941 in Montgomery, when he was just seven months old, there was a flash flood and his family lost everything and they moved to higher ground. This pattern of setback and perseverance is consistent throughout the life of John Ellison.
In the years that followed, his voice, spirit and determination, and that one song in particular, would take him to stages all over the world. John Ellison was raised in the mining community of Blue Heaven, McDowell County. His coal miner father would play guitar on weekends and at age 13 John taught himself a few chords and started imitating Chuck Berry, his first musical hero. At 14 he entered a junior high talent contest, and won. As he says in his auto-biography, “After I won that contest I was bit by the showbiz bug.”
In high school he worked for a time in Welch, WV at the Carter Hotel as a bellboy. In the 10th grade he made the decision to leave school, and two years later he quit his hotel job, and to pursue his musical dreams and ambitions. He bought a one-way ticket to Rochester, NY, and planned to live with a cousin who lived there while he found his way. After playing in a succession of bands and working as a hairstylist, he joined the Soul Brothers Six as the group’s lead singer, guitarist and songwriter. The band had a hard hitting sound that added a rock edge to an R&B feel and gospel harmonies.
It was in 1967, on a car ride to relocate himself and the band from Rochester to Philadelphia that John Ellison scribbled a song on a paper bag “that would change my life forever”. The inspiration for the song was the kindness of a girlfriend who had packed sandwiches for the band on the trip to Philadelphia. When they stopped to pick up their food, Ellison thanked her and told her, “You are some kind of wonderful”. That phrase stuck with him, and later in the day, he started scribbling the lyrics to “(She’s) Some Kind of Wonderful” and finished the song in 20 minutes.
But, as we have established, at the time, the song didn’t do very well for The Soul Brothers Six. It did become their calling card, and got them plenty of work in the clubs, especially in the Philadelphia area. However the original lineup broke up in 1969. Ellison later assembled another band by the same name and soldiered on, recording with Phil-LA of Soul Records during 1972-1973.
After the band broke up a second time, Ellison continued to record and perform. In 1993 he released his first solo album, Welcome Back, followed by Missing You in 2000, and Back in 2007.
Ellison released his autobiography, Some Kind of Wonderful: The John Ellison Story, in July of 2012. This work explores the racism and violence Ellison encountered and examines the relationship between these experiences and his songwriting.
In July of 2013, a site near his childhood home in Landgraff, West Virginia was cleared by Boy Scouts and other volunteers, as part of a service project connected to the 2013 National Boy Scout Jamboree. Plans are to build a replica of Ellison’s boyhood home to house a museum dedicated to his music and his early life in the coal camps.
In 2020 Ellison released the awareness single “Wake-Up Call (Black Like Me)”, with good reviews in Rolling Stone and Forbes Magazine, and a “Song of the Year 2021” nomination by Pop Awards.
On August 11, 2023 he released a new version of his classic “Some Kind of Wonderful”, which serves as the title track for an album featuring eleven new songs penned by Ellison.
John Ellison continues to impress with his music and voice and he is one of the few remaining soul and R&B legends that have made an essential contribution to the development of blues, gospel, funk, and soul music in a time of great social change. Despite his tragic family stories detailed in his autobiography, John is all about positivity, harmony and unity, and his personal and professional life is living proof of hard struggle, faith, and success.
John Ellison will be performing at The Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center on October 20, 2024 at 3:00pm
RECOMMENDED LISTENING – by the author.
Three Kinds of Wonderful.
1. Original version of “(She’s) Some Kind of Wonderful” by The Soul Brother Six, 1967. This is the song and the recording that started it all. From here, this song will go on to become one of the most covered songs in music history.
Soul Brothers Six – SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL (youtube.com)
2. Grand Funk Railroad. “Some Kind of Wonderful”. 1974. This sold over 1,000,000 copies and reached #3 on the Hot 100.
Some Kind Of Wonderful (youtube.com)
3. Huey Lewis and The News, live. “Some Kind of Wonderful”. 1994. Here’s just one example of the more than 70 cover versions of “Some Kind of Wonderful”. Good looking black & white video of Huey and his band rocking out on this song.
Huey Lewis And The News – She’s Some Kind Of Wonderful (Live 1994) (youtube.com)
Here are two selections from John’s most recent album, 2023’s Some Kind of Wonderful.
4. John Ellison – “West Virginia State of Mind”. This is a beautiful new song, celebrating West Virginia.
West Virginia State of Mind (youtube.com)
5. John Ellison – “If I Had Just One Wish”. This reggae influenced number will get your toes tapping and put a smile on your face.
If I Had Just One Wish (youtube.com)
Cover photos source: Rolling Stone Magazine and DISCOGS website
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