Lorraine Ellison: Stay with Me - The Best of Lorraine Ellison (1995) ... plus

With an incredible vocal power, range, and intensity that was perhaps too heavy for the record-buying masses, Lorraine Ellison never made it big, except of course in the hearts of committed soul fans-and the occasional rock and pop buyer. Ellison was born in North Philadelphia and began singing gospel with her family at age six. She sang professionally with a local group named the Sylvania Singers before forming the family group The Ellison Singers in the late '50s/early '60s. By 1964, she began recording R&B music, and her first hit was the 1965 R&B hit 'I Dig You Baby' (later made into a pop smash by Jerry Butler). One year later, she released her signature song, the intense, symphonic-drenched ballad 'Stay With Me,' written and produced by Jerry Ragovoy and issued by the Warner label. It hit number 11 on the R&B charts in the fall of 1966. Some of her other singles were 'Heart Be Still,' 'Don't Let It Go to Your Head,' and 'I've Got My Baby Back.' Songs that she wrote with her manager Sam Bell (of Garrett Mimms & the Enchanters) were recorded by Mimms and Howard Tate. Ellison's Warner LPs include Heart and Soul (1966), Stay With Me (1969), and Lorraine Ellison (1974) and the compilation The Best of Philadelphia's Queen (1976). Lorraine Ellison died on August 17, 1985 from ovarian cancer at the young age of 51. This set containing 23 songs from 1966-1973, includes three non-LP singles, three unreleased cuts from an aborted 1970 session at Muscle Shoals, her only two charting singles, and even an Al Kooper song from an obscure 1970 soundtrack. These are among the foremost examples of the collision of soul, gospel, and pop, with the accent on the soul and gospel. The first half of the program, consisting of 1966-70 sides produced by Ragovoy (who also wrote most of those songs), have the edge over the early-'70s sessions. But Ellison's vocals are hard to fault anywhere. It also includes the original version of 'Try (Just a Little Bit Harder),' covered by Janis Joplin. I added 2 extra tracks from the Stay with me album which were omitted from this compilation. You can find her first Lp here. http://www.allmusic.com/, http://www.rhinohandmade.com/

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