Lorraine Ellison (March 17, 1931 – January 31, 1983) – Run To Me (1974)

The singer behind "Stay with Me" recorded this phenomenal unreleased Philly soul gem at Sigma Sound in 1974, produced by Bunny Sigler & mixed by Tom Moulton.

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Lorraine Ellison was a singer/songwriter who was responsible for what many have called the greatest vocal performance of all time on her 1966 record “Stay with Me.” She also recorded the original version of “Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)” which Janis Joplin later covered.

Marybelle Luraine Ellison was born in Philadelphia. She started singing in church when she was six and became a gospel singer in her twenties, performing with the Ellison Singers and the Golden Chords. In 1964 she turned to secular music and signed to Mercury Records. Her first single for that label was the beautiful love song “I Dig You Baby” (1965). She co-wrote it with her manager Sam Bell and producer Dennis Lambert.

Ellison’s second Mercury single was the superb upbeat jam “Call Me Anytime You Need Some Lovin',” released in 1966 and written by Lou Courtney who co-produced it with Lambert. Its B-side was the heartfelt “Please Don’t Teach Me To Love You,” written by Van McCoy.

Later that same year, Ellison switched labels to Warner Bros., where her first single was produced by famed soul songwriter and producer Jordan “Jerry” Ragovoy. After Frank Sinatra cancelled a recording session, the 46-piece orchestra already booked was offered to Ragovoy at no cost, but with only two days notice. He and arranger Gary Sherman created an orchestral arrangement for “Stay with Me,” a song he had co-written with George Weiss, and Ellison sang it live with the orchestra.

Released in October, 1966, it was an instant classic, becoming her biggest-ever hit and signature song. Critics raved and the single went to #11 R&B and #64 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The following year, Ragovoy wrote, arranged and produced another heartfelt slow jam for her, “No Matter How It All Turns Out,” which did not chart. In 1968, he co-wrote and produced her stellar “Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)” (later covered by Janis Joplin as the opening cut to her 1969 debut solo album I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!), b/w the beautiful “In My Tomorrow” which Ellison solely wrote.

In 1969 her second album Stay with Me came out, produced by Ragovoy. One of its highlights was an inspired cover of Irma Thomas’ 1965 single “I'm Gonna Cry Till My Tears Run Dry.” Another was the epic “You Don't Know Nothing About Love,” a cover of Carl Hall’s 1967 original, and its closing cut “Heart Be Still,” her 1967 follow up single to “Stay with Me” which reached #43 R&B.

Her self-titled third full-length album was issued by Warner Bros. in early 1974. According to Mark Jordan, who played piano on the LP, her stunning vocal on the opener “Walk Around Heaven” was cut on the twenty-first take. It also featured several of her own compositions, like the superb gospel-flavored “I’ll Fly Away.”

Later in 1974, Ellison left Warner Bros. and began recording a planned album at Sigma Sound Studios with producer Bunny Sigler for Philadelphia International Records. Three tracks were laid down and mixed by Tom Moulton, but the project was shelved and they remain officially unreleased to this day. However, in 2019 Moulton revisited his mixes, and the following year DJ Juan Negron posted all three on YouTube.

One was titled “Lost, Found In The Nick Of Time,” and co-produced by Sigler and Norman Harris, but appears to have been left unfinished. Another was her original version of “Touch & Go,” which was re-recorded by Barbara Roy’s Ecstasy, Passion & Pain a few months later but also stayed unreleased for two years until it finally came out on Roulette in 1976.

The last track was the phenomenal Philly disco soul jam “Run To Me,” writers unknown, although it was not a cover of the 1972 Bee Gees song of the same name. Even though her proposed album on PIR was cancelled, why this wasn’t at least issued as a single is a great unanswered question.

In 2006, the 3XCD compilation Sister Love: The Warner Bros. Recordings was released by Warner Bros. and Rhino Handmade in a limited edition of 5000 copies. It was compiled by veteran music journalist David Nathan of SoulMusic.com, aka the British Ambassador of Soul, whose recently launched newsletter on Substack is highly recommended.

The compilation included many unreleased gems recorded during the eight years Ellison spent at Warner Bros. from 1966-74, like the powerful jam “Let Me Love You,” written by Al Kooper, and songs she wrote like “Dear John” and the heartfelt “Haven't I Been Good to You.”

Ellison quit the music industry in the mid-seventies to take care of her ailing mother. She herself fell ill several years later and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which took her life in 1983, far too early at age 51.

Happy Heavenly Birthday to the great Lorraine Ellison.

Further info:

“A Rising Star Needs A Setting,” The New York Times, September 15, 1974.

“Lorraine Ellison,” interview by David Nathan, SoulMusic.com, 1974.

“A Soul-Singing Dynamo Gets Her Day," NPR, September 27, 2006.

“Looking Back at 'Sister Love': Lorraine Ellison on CD,” by Ed Ward, Fresh Air, NPR, July 24, 2007.

#soul #funk #JerryRagovoy #BunnySigler #LorraineEllison