Life and Career
Born Marybelle Luraine Ellison, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ellison originally sang with two gospel groups, the Ellison Singers (who recorded for Sharp/Savoy in 1962) and the Golden Chords (who recorded for CBS in 1963), before moving to R&B in 1964. Her first chart entry was "I Dig You Baby" in 1965 on Mercury Records, which reached #22 on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart chart.
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. "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. Ellison also recorded "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)", a song later covered to more success by Janis Joplin.
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.
Read more about this topic: Lorraine Ellison
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