Excerpts from John Ellison's amazing auobiograpahy, Some Kind of Wonderful. See Soul Brothers Six for more music and more information.
In 1954 I began working part time trying to help support our family. Although I was only thirteen years of age I was doing the work of an adult. At age sixteen I took a job in a hotel working from 11 pm until 7 am, seven nights a week, to help support our family. I earned $120.00 a month and kept only what I needed for bus fare. I went to school during the day but eventually this proved to be more than my body could take, forcing me to drop out of school. My teenage years were very depressing, to say the least.
In 1959 I packed my clothing in a grocery shopping bag and bought a one-way ticket to Rochester, New York. I arrived in Rochester with only my hopes, my dreams and $3.25 in my pocket.
It would take another six years before my dreams would begin to unfold. In 1965 I joined a band. We called ourselves The Soul Brother's Six. I was lead guitarist, singer and songwriter for the group.
Together we carved our name into the pages of musical history when we recorded a song I wrote called “(She's) Some Kind Of Wonderful,” which was released on Atlantic Records in 1967.
Little did we know that this song would become one of the most recorded songs in history, and one of America's all time favorite songs among fans. In 1995 I received a citation of achievement award from Broadcast Music Incorporated for writing the third most played song in the world. The Soul Brothers Six was recognized as pioneers of Soul Music in a book entitled Sweet Soul Music written by Peter Guralnick in 1987. The group was listed as one of America's top influential groups that set the trend for modern day music.
Although I have experienced many setbacks and disappointments during my musical career I have never let it get the best of me and like a true champion I continue to fight the battle and refuse to give up . I have based my life around my father's quotes. One was, “You can't stay down always and even a drowned person will come to the top sooner or later.” My favorite quote was, “If you keep betting, sooner or later you're bound to win .” So I guess I have earned the title of being a true champion because I am still going strong and I refuse to give up.
