Celebrated musician John Ellison inspired by Rochester woman to write ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — John Ellison wrote the song “(She’s) Some Kind of Wonderful” in 1967 as part of the Rochester group Soul Brothers Six. Since then, more than 70 other artists have covered the song including Huey Lewis and the News, Joss Stone, Rod Stewart and Grand Funk Railroad.

At 17, Ellison moved to Rochester from West Virginia in 1959. He was later inspired by his girlfriend Ann White to write the song. They had been dating for several years when Soul Brothers Six was invited to move to Philadelphia to record their music. Ellison admits he was not ready to settle down and wanted to pursue his music career full time.

“She wanted something more serious,” he said. But he says his girlfriend wished him well. “She said ‘here’s a lunch in case you get hungry’ and we were standing there hugging each other. I said, ‘you know what you’re some kind of wonderful and I’m going to write a song about you,'” Ellison recalled. “Somewhere around Syracuse, New York I got hungry so I ate the sandwich and then started writing on the bag.”

That song launched Ellison’s music career.

“It’s been a blessing for me. It’s been great that my song has been covered so many times. A lot of people don’t realize that the residuals from songwriting can be quite good so I have been blessed, ” he said. At 82 John has performed all over the world. As for his then girlfriend, he says they lost touch over the years, but she knew she was the inspiration for the hit record.

In May, Ellison was inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame. His story is similar to those of other Black musicians pursuing their dreams in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The sign of racism is a familiar refrain. He remembers being called a racial slur after outperforming the other singers during a contest in West Virginia.

“The two judges started arguing. ‘There’s no way we’re going to let that N____ win this contest.'” He describes how he felt in that moment. “It was like someone put a knife through me. I lost because of something I couldn’t change which was the color of my skin.”

Ellison says that encounter and countless others made him more determined.

“Word got around that John Ellison was a great songwriter.”

Currently, he receives royalties from about 300 songs he’s written over six decades. “I have achieved a lot and I give credit to the good Lord,” he proclaims.

Ellison’s creativity and talent include cooking. “I like to eat healthy and I found that I like my food to be flavorful so I find that a lot of seasonings are overloaded with salt and colors and things that are not good for you.” In 2000 he began producing his own seasoning for meats and other foods. Some Kind of Wonderful gourmet season is low in sodium, all natural and gluten and MSG free.

“It’s in 640 supermarkets. Every time I would tell someone that the product was called Some Kind of Wonderful they would say oh that sounds like the song and I would say yep I’m the guy that wrote that song,” he adds.

Ellison is working with a local entrepreneur to bring Some Kind of Wonderful Foods to grocery stores in Rochester.

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