Lorraine Ellison (17 March 1931 – 31 January 1983) was an
American soul singer, best known for her recording of the song "Stay with
Me" (sometimes known as "Stay With Me Baby") in 1966. 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.
fans-and the occasional rock and pop buyer.
Ellison was born Marybelle Luraine Ellison in North
Philadelphia and began singing gospel with her family at age six. She sang
professionally with a local group named the Sylvania Singers & the Golden
Chords before forming the family group The Ellison Singers in the late
'50s/early '60s. The Ellison Singers recorded for the Sharp imprint, releasing
2 singles, namely 'In The Upper Room' b/w 'He’s Holding Me' (in 1962) and 'This
Is The Day' b/w 'Open Up Your Heart' (in 1963).
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).
Jerry Butler).
She signed with Warner Bros. Records, and in 1966
recorded "Stay with Me" at a last minute booking, following a studio
cancellation by Frank Sinatra. The story goes Lorraine Ellison was working with
producer/composer Jerry Ragovoy at a major NY recording studio when someone
popped in to say that the 46 piece orchestra lined up for the Frank Sinatra
session was available next door as Sinatra had cancelled. Ragovoy up-scaled the
arrangement, making lead sheets for the grumpy musicians who'd been expecting
to schmooze Frank and now "demoted" to this obscure R&B canary.
Then upon the first and ONLY take: standing ovation for Lorraine from the Big
Band boys.
"Stay with Me" reached number 11 in the U.S.
Billboard R&B chart and number 64 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. The
song was written and produced by Jerry Ragovoy. Later releases were on the
subsidiary soul music record label, Loma. Her follow-up single was "Heart
Be Still" a minor hit in 1967. Lorraine never charted 
again, however, she
released 'Try Just A Little Bit Harder' in 1968, which rock singer Janis Joplin
later remade with great success.
again, however, she
released 'Try Just A Little Bit Harder' in 1968, which rock singer Janis Joplin
later remade with great success.
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).
Ellison composed many of her own songs (solo and with
manager Sam Bell) and had her own compositions recorded by several other
artists, including Jerry Butler, Garnet Mimms, Howard Tate and Dee Dee Warwick.
Twice-married and using the surname Gonzalez-Keys,
Lorraine Ellison gave up the music business in order to take care of her
mother, before her death in January 1983 from ovarian cancer at the age of 51. (Info edited from numerous sources, especially Wikipedia)
7 comments:
For “Stay With Me: The Best Of Lorraine Ellison” go here:
https://www.mediafire.com/?8iuukecb0vu8hyu
1. Stay With Me
2. A Good Love
3. I've Got My Baby Back
4. I'm Over You
5. No Matter How It All Turns Out
6. I Want To Be Loved
7. Heart Be Still
8. Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)
9. In My Tomorrow
10. I'm Gonna Cry 'Til My Tears Run Dry
11. Only Your Love
12. You Don't Know Nothing About Love
13. Time Is On My Side
14. Doin' Me Dirty
15. Caravan
16. I'll Be Home
17. Many Rivers To Cross
18. The Road I Took To You
19. Walk Around Heaven
20. Stormy Weather
21. Do Better Than Your Doin'
22. I'll Fly Away
23. No Relief
The definitive compilation: 23 songs from 1966-1973, including three non-LP singles, three unreleased cuts from an aborted 1970 session at Muscle Shoals, her only two charting singles ("Stay with Me" and "Heart Be Still"), 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 Jerry 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. Includes the original version of "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)," covered by Janis Joplin. ~ Richie Unterberger
I've heard that story about the recording session before. The only thing I question is that Sinatra never recorded in New York between 1952 and the summer of 1967.
Cool stuff -- thanks for the post. The Barbara McNair link is dead. Any chance of a re-up? Thanks again.
Thanks for the input Mike. I have often seen the questionable information regarding the Sinatra cancellation myself but as it was feasible considering the year in question was 1966 and according to Franks sessionography he did record in new York 10 Sep 1965 for the Soupy Sales Show. So if indeed the session in question was cancelled he therefore didn't record there at that year!
Still looking for more info on this matter, but needs someone with more time on their hands.
Regards, Bob
Hello DOBA, Your new link awaits you on Barbara McNair's page.(Active for 30 Days)
Regards Bob
A Sinatra session had been scheduled for July 22, 1966 at Phil Ramone's A&R Studios in New York City, but was cancelled and reassigned to Warner Bros. recording artist Lorraine Ellison. The October 8, 1966 "Cash Box" reported the following. ...
"Lark Lorraine Ellison, under contract to Warner Bros. Records, may inadvertently owe her unique sound to Frank Sinatra. The singer's waxing of 'Stay With Me,' now in the Top 100, was recorded with a forty piece orchestra. Sinatra had been scheduled to record and had to cancel his appearance at the recording session. The musicians called for the Sinatra date could not be cancelled, and the songstress made use of the orchestra."
Recollections from producer Jerry Ragovoy and Lorraine Ellison appear in the booklet notes of the 1995 CD "Stay With Me: The Best Of Lorraine Ellison" (Ichiban/Soul Classics, produced under license from Warner Bros.) and Ellison's 2006 Rhino Handmade 3-CD set, "Sister Love: The Warner Bros. Recordings." ...
JR: "I was in the middle of writing for Lorraine's first session and I'd already anticipated using a twenty to twenty-five piece orchestra for her. Just a few days later, I got a call from a senior executive [Mike Maitland] at Warner Brothers about a Frank Sinatra session that had been arranged...but had to be cancelled with very short notice. Back in those days, union rulings being what they were, the musicians had to be paid if there was not enough time to cancel. Anyway, this executive asked if I had anyone coming up to record. I found out there was going to be a 46-piece orchestra for the session so I figured I might as well use it on Lorraine!"
LE: "Jerry called up and told us we had the studio for three numbers... Garry Sherman was the conductor... No one had told the orchestra that Frank Sinatra had cancelled... When the time came for me to come out and record, the guys just fell apart – Frank sure had changed!"
At the session, Ellison recorded "I Got My Baby Back," "Stay With Me," and "A Good Love."
"That's Life" may have been intended for FS's July 22nd session. "Billboard's" November 26, 1966 article "Sinatra's R&B Disk a High Flyer" stated that the song was meant to be the follow-up to "Strangers In The Night," but "the session never came off" because his marriage to Mia Farrow (July 19th) and a trip to London to resume filming for the movie "The Naked Runner" delayed its recording. Instead, "Summer Wind" was plucked from the "Strangers In The Night" LP as the follow-up single.
(From www.sinatrafamily.com)
Thanks for the input Doctor Soul.
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