WV’s John Ellison, Who Wrote ‘Some Kind of Wonderful,’ Honored in Welch

John Ellison, best known for writing ‘Some Kind of Wonderful,” returns to Welch

The City of Welch welcomed one of their own back to the coalfields of McDowell County. John Ellsion, the songwriter and musician best known for penning the 1967 classic “(She’s) Some Kind of Wonderful,” will be returning to the place that raised him for John Ellison Appreciation Day. 

The day began at Mount View High School, where Ellison will share his life experiences with elementary, middle, and high school students. A VIP luncheon at the Jack Caffrey Arts & Cultural Center was next, followed by a parade through the City. Capping off the day will be a free, black tie dinner at the National Guard Armory, featuring a special performance from Ellison.

Humble beginnings

John Ellison was born in Montgomery on the banks of the Kanawha River, in a two-room shack his father built out of driftwood. The date was Aug. 11, 1941.

“My mother told me that when I was two years old, she woke up in the middle of the night because the house was moving,” Ellison told the Gazette-Mail on Wednesday. “She stepped out of bed, and water came up almost to her knees.”

Within a matter of moments, Ellison’s family home was washed away down the Kanawha River. And while the family escaped the flood unharmed, everything they owned was gone.

“I grew up in total poverty,” Ellison said. “My father earned $600 a year working in the coal mines. I looked at how hard he worked but still never had anything. My mother kept a lock on the refrigerator so we couldn’t go in. The only time we could only eat was when they took the lock off.”

At just 17-years-old, and dissatisfied with the life choices available to a poor, Black teenager in mid-twentieth century West Virginia, Ellison bought a one-way ticket to Rochester, New York to pursue his dream of becoming a musician. The year was 1959.

Some Kind of Wonderful

While in Rochester, Ellison became a founding member of Soul Brothers Six. And while the band enjoyed a fair amount of regional success through the mid-1960s, it was an opportunity for them to go to Philadelphia in 1967 that would change Ellison’s world. 

“I was seeing a woman in Rochester,” John recalled. “We knew with me going to Philadelphia, that would be the end of our relationship. The day I had to go, she drove me to the airport, and gave me some sandwiches she made me to take on the plane. And I just thought to myself, ‘Baby, you are some kind of wonderful.’ And that’s where the song came from. I think I wrote the rest of it on the plane.”

The song was a hit for the Soul Brothers Six in 1967, reaching number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1974, Grand Funk Railroad covered (She’s) Some Kind of Wonderful, dropping the “(She’s)” for their version. It reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 this time, and opened the floodgates of other artists recording and releasing versions of their own. Among the better known versions are those recorded by Rod Stewart, Huey Lewis, and The Fantastic Johnny C. 

Some Kind of Wonderful has been recorded by 74 artists since 1967, and has become one of the most frequently played songs in the history of American radio. As Ellison never sold the rights to the song, he has received a percentage of the royalties for every version commercially released. Nowadays, Ellison uses the name for his line of Some Kind of Wonderful Seasoning, which is widely available at grocery stores in West Virginia. 

West Virginia state of mind

Returning home to McDowell County, John said, is always special. After the home of Ellison’s birth was lost in the flood, the family relocated to Landgraff, just outside the Welch city limits. Ellison was two-years-old then, and his formative years were spent watching the coal trains come in and out of town. 

However, Ellison didn’t come home for just a simple visit. Ellison came back to Welch so the entire city can celebrate all 84 years of his life together with him. 

“I’m very honored that they’re doing this,” Ellison said. “It was something completely out of the realm of my imagination. What I hope it does is inspire the young people coming up that anything is possible. You can be whoever or whatever you want to be in your life as long as you believe in yourself, and trust in the man upstairs.”