The Very Best Of John Ellison And The Soul Brothers Six (1995) Forevermore Music + 31 Bonus Tracks (MP3 411MB) Rare Soul

One of the greatest voices in Soul music is that of John Ellison frontman of The Soul brothers Six. You can recognise his unique voice as soon as you hear him. These guys have packed the floors of the Northern Scene for years only releasing 25 x 45,s and no albums apart from this compilation and another. This multi talented hard hitting soul group formed in Rochester, NY, consisting of the multi-talented Willie John Ellison, along with Lester Freeman, Vonell Benjamin, and Charles, Moses, Sam, and Harry Armstrong. (That's seven, but one of the Armstrong brothers' bounced early.) Joe Beard was also a founding member on bass and vocals, so that's eight! They debuted with "Stop Hurting Me" on Fine Records (1965) and another on Lyndell Records (1966) typo-credited to the Sold Brothers Six. A Philly DJ introduced them to Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records, and they had a small hit with "Some Kinda Wonderful" (written by Ellison) in 1967, it was their most successful record, making it into the Top 100 at number 91. The Fantastic Johnny C took it four slots higher the following year & Grand Funk Railroad outdid 'em all by rocking it to number three spot in 1974. John Ellison, a coalminer's son, was born in 1941 & grew up in West Virginia not far from Bill Withers . He learned to play guitar and wrote his first songs when he was 13, later moving to New York City and then Rochester where he teamed up with The Soul Brothers Six cutting two records on two tiny labels before inking with Atlantic on the strength of Ellison's "Some Kinda Wonderful." But sales of follow-ups -- "You Better Check Yourself," "Your Love Is Such a Wonderful Love," "Thank You Baby for Loving Me," and "Drive" were poor and Atlantic dropped the group before the end of the decade. Around this time, Joe Johnson, James Johnson, Charles Pevy, and Eddie Reno replaced the Armstrong Brothers, who left disgusted and soured by the Atlantic ordeal. This new lineup waxed three singles on Phil La of Soul from 1972 to 1974, there are many unreleased tracks included here from that label that were shelved and i would say we have the entire output of this fabulous group with live tracks included. None of the released Phil L A tracks hit nationally but the band continued to work steadily throughout the country anyway. A substantial royalty check from Grand Funk Railroad's rendition of "Some Kinda Wonderful" revitalized Ellison's songwriting juices. He secured a deal with a small label in Rochester, and scored a Carolinas beach hit that did some business in Europe as well. John went onto record 4 solo albums the rest of the band seems to have faded away...Wonderful legendary Group!!!

AMM

 

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