First Listen: Darryl Johnson knows "What You Got" on fun single
(January 31, 2022) The Soul Brothers Six made the kind of music that is prized by collectors and lovers of rare groove and Northern Soul music. Brothers Sam, Harry, Moses, Charles and Gene Armstrong formed the Soul Brothers Five in Rochester, New York in the 1960s, and they changed their name to the Soul Brothers Six when vocalist and songwriter John Ellison. Ellison, who was born in West Virginia, wrote the band’s biggest hit “Some Kind of Wonderful,” which cracked the Top 100, peaking at 91 in 1967. Grand Funk Railroad scored a Top Five hit with their rock and blues infused cover of the tune in 1974.
First Listen: Darryl Johnson knows "What You Got" on fun single
(January 31, 2022) The Soul Brothers Six made the kind of music that is prized by collectors and lovers of rare groove and Northern Soul music. Brothers Sam, Harry, Moses, Charles and Gene Armstrong formed the Soul Brothers Five in Rochester, New York in the 1960s, and they changed their name to the Soul Brothers Six when vocalist and songwriter John Ellison. Ellison, who was born in West Virginia, wrote the band’s biggest hit “Some Kind of Wonderful,” which cracked the Top 100, peaking at 91 in 1967. Grand Funk Railroad scored a Top Five hit with their rock and blues infused cover of the tune in 1974.
Grand Funk’s cover version is the one you will hear if you tune into oldies radio. The Soul Brothers Six never repeated their minor chart success, despite the fact that they made music with Ellison as lead singer for another decade. However, the band’s gritty and funky sound and Ellison’s soulful vocals that fuse R&B, gospel and a hint of country likely make the Soul Brothers Six vinyl records prized among music collectors and soul music lovers such as vocalist and label executive Darryl Johnson. Johnson is someone comfortable with putting his creative signature on canons from the Northern and Southern Soul music vaults, and he moves into ground rarely trod with his cover of the Soul Brothers Six’s “What You Got.”
His cover of “What You Got” captures the rollicking, good time soul music of the original, as well as “Some Kind of Wonderful.” Ironically, “Some Kind of Wonderful” was The Soul Brothers Six’s first single the released after signing with Atlantic Records, and “What You Got” was the band’s final release on the label. In Johnson’s capable hands, it hard to understand why this tune didn’t chart.
Instead of trying to decipher the unpredictable nature of musical tastes, sit back and enjoy Darryl Johnson’s revival of this great soul tune.
By Howard Dukes
Darryl Johnson – “What You Got”