Orion Discs Early Sessions

The following is an attempt to piece together what is known of Jimmy Ellis’ recording career before signing with Sun and Boblo Records. Although the amount of material is not as mammoth as what was done at Sun, finding the dates and who produced the recordings and whether anything else was done at those sessions is nearly impossible .
I have included some rumoured songs as well that I have been told do exist and people claim to have heard them (although I have not). So I am considering these still to be rumours. But they are being listed when some evidence suggest that they should be.

Much of this has been formatted by myself having several conversations with Gregg who has been a huge help. His knowledge of the music is considerable. Cliff has also been a great help in giving me some song titles. Jimmy Ellis’ long time personal friend, Steve Kelley, has been both a good friend and an aid in teaching me so many things about Jiimmy and his music.This early attempt at a sessionography could not have been possible without each one of them.

1964

Jimmy Ellis and The Apollo's

Dradco Master #001
Don't Count Your Chickens

Dradco Master #002
A Love is But A Love

These are Jimmy’s very first recordings. It’s rumoured he tried some Beatles songs but it’s not believed that anything else was actually recorded, as the band and Jimmy did not have much money to waste on tape. It is not even known if they actually recorded these two songs in a studio. They were a garage band for all intents and purposes, so it is quite possible they recorded the songs themselves and then Dradco put it out for limited release. Supposedly only a few hundred of these singles were ever pressed and valued at around $100.00 the last time a copy was made available. Jimmy Ellis as a result of this "session" was eventually offered a recording contract from Capricorn Records but his parents turned it down and he eventually went to college to work with horses for several years.

Echoes Of Love (Rumoured Recording)

Rumoured homerecording of Jimmy Ellis singing along to Echoes Of Love and comparing his vocal to Elvis with classmates (mentioned on Robert’s CD Downtime). It is not known if this recording exists or not. However it has been mentioned by several different sources close to Jimmy Ellis that they had heard the recording. It is likely that this was Jimmy playing the song done by Elvis Presley and recording his own vocal while singing along on his home tape recorder. The question is what happened to the recording and did he make any other home recordings prior to 1969? So far none have ever surfaced.

1969

Home Recordings Master #003

1. Whistling
2. What Will Mary Say
3. Milky White Way
4. Pocketful Of Rainbows
5. Just A Closer Walk With Thee
6. I Believe
7. I’ve Lost You
8. White Christmas
9. Silent Night

These first appeared on the Downtime bootleg CD. They were taped in late 1969 through 1970. The last four songs were recorded from at least August 1970 through possibly December, as Elvis did not record I've Lost you until August 1970 and Jimmy Ellis likely first heard this song through Presley.

Three other home recordings have been released and suspected to be from this session but may actually be from 1969 rather than during 1970.

Homerecordings Master #004

1. Just Call Me Lonesome
2. Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
3. The Fair Is Moving On.

I would guess these recordings were done in late 1969. The three home recordings here would be Presley songs and released on various albums between 1968 and 1969. The sound on all three lead me to believe they were recorded together and not at seperate recordings. All 3 of these appeared on the CD Bits and Pieces for the first time in 2001.These home recordings and any others that may in fact exist especially from this time period show a side to Jimmy Ellis rarely seen. This is Jimmy Ellis making music at home and singing the songs he loved to sing. Whereas in later years the songs he would sing would end up being mostly Elvis songs that friends and fans would request him to do these were songs he wanted to do. Even though the sound is not the best on these it is good enough to see that personal side to Jimmy and his music.
Were these all the home recordings done by Jimmy Ellis? Several sources indicate there may in fact be more out there, however this is all that has been released by any of these individuals at this time.

Finley Duncan Sessions In Valparisio Florida
By this time Jimmy Ellis had come into contact with Finley Duncan and this association would continue until late 1973. In this particular session several songs were taped. I have listed the songs that are known to have been actually sung and the songs that were rumored for this session. I have used my own master numbers for all of these early sessions as none seem to exist.

Number Master Number Artist Song Title
14. #005 Jimmy Ellis - That's All Right
15. #006 Jimmy Ellis - Blue Moon Of Kentucky
16. #007 Jimmy Ellis - Big Brother* (unreleased)
17. #008 Jimmy Ellis - Rockin' Robin** (unreleased)
18. #009 Jimmy Ellis - Poor Little Fool*** (unreleased)
19. #010 Jimmy Ellis - She**** (unreleased)

Master Take #005
That's All Right and #006 Blue Moon Of Kentucky were both sold to Sun in mid to late 1971, according to best sources, although it may have been as late as early 1972. Shelby Singleton wanted his own "Elvis sound" even then. It’s not known why he did not purchase the other recordings and use them? It’s not known exactly what happened to those recordings although some leads are being followed.

Master #007 Big Brother
This is a Vince Everett track that Jimmy Ellis supposedly recorded first. However that would probably pre date this session. But it has been rumoured to have been recorded at this session by several different sources. So Jimmy Ellis may have been mistaken as to who recorded it first.

Master #008 Rockin' Robin
Originally recorded by Bobby Day in the mid 1950's this is definitely the type of song Jimmy Ellis would have enjoyed wrapping his vocal chords around and considering the fact he did That's All Right and Blue Moon Of Kentucky that leads to some crediblity that this and the other songs may have also been recorded here.

Master #009 Poor Little Fool
Originally recorded by the late Rick Nelson it became a huge hit for him in 1958. No tape of this recording has surfaced to date but it has been mentioned in several song lists from 1969 - 1972, but most likely if it was indeed recorded here.

Master #010 She
This was recorded by The Monkees in the 60's so it is possible that Jimmy Ellis heard it, liked it and recorded it here. It is not known what became of these tapes or what happened to Finley Duncan. Even after putting this song list down this session is still a mystery to most fans. Further updates for this in the future as more details unfold. Stay Tuned.

One session that was supposedly done in 1971 for Finley Duncan, in Florida yet again, included several songs that to date have not been released in any shape or form. Most were covers.

Produced By Finley Duncan
Number Master Number Artist Song Title
20 #011 Jimmy Ellis - By The Time I Get To Phoenix (unreleased)*
21 #012 Jimmy Ellis - Galveston** (unreleased)
22. #013 Jimmy Ellis - Winter Wonderland (unreleased)***
23. #014 Jimmy Ellis - Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast (unreleased)****
24. #015 Jimmy Ellis - I Can't Stop Loving You (unreleased) *****
25. #016 Jimmy Ellis - That’s All Right (rumoured)

All of the above mentioned songs have never seen the light of day. However three titles, Master #011 Master #014 and Master #015, were mentioned by Jimmy Ellis himself in an old fan club newsletter. The other two songs are also rumoured to exist by several different fans, unfortunatly to date no tapes of this session exist, or if they do have not been released to the general public. In regards to That’s All Right, two sessions are mentioned for it. One is 1969, the other is this one in 1971. The book True Disbelievers states that Billy Walker was the producer for I Use Her To Remind Me Of You at Jack Clement’s Studios. However Jimmy to anyone’s best knowledge did not record at Jack Clement Studios until at least 1973. Between ‘73 and ‘75 he did several sessions for them, but it appears the comments in True Disbelievers may be inaccurate in regards to I Use Her To Remind Me Of You.
Also Daddy Dont You Walk So Fast, Jimmy claims he did it prior to Wayne Newton recording his version, which would make this session early 1971, as Wayne released his in late ‘71 I believe.

It is possible these songs are out there in a fans possession and that they may one day turn up in a future release. Lets all hope so.

In early 1972 Sun Records released the single Sun 45/1129 That’s All Right and Blue Moon Of Kentucky. The record got quite a bit of air time and became the number one song in several states, but never managed to make the jump to the national chart.
RCA sued Shelby Singleton and Sun over supposedly releasing two Elvis songs. For months this went on and stories differ as to whether or not Elvis himself actually learned about it. In fact Shelby Singleton, before he had issued the record, played it for Sam Phillips over the phone and asked him who he thought it was. Sam said Elvis. Eventually Shelby proved it was Jimmy Ellis and not Elvis and the law suit was later dropped. Apparently this furore over the record, although it was not a hit was enough to draw the interest of someone from MCA and The "McCloud" television series. Somehow Jimmy Ellis landed a deal to record two songs for MCA. There Ya Go was to be featured in the TV series as well.

Needless to say in late 1972 the following songs were done.

MCA Recording Session
Producer Joe Johnson
Arranger and Conductor Billy Walker
Number Master # Artist Song Title
26. #017 Jimmy Ellis - There Ya' Go
27. #018 Jimmy Ellis - Here Comes That Feeling Again

Both of these songs would be issued on both an MCA 45 and Challenger (which was no doubt a subsidiary of MCA). No other songs are known to exist from this session. By all best reports these were the only two songs authorized to be recorded. MCA also does not have the master tape to this session. It has been lost. Probably a collector has it. The session log I saw makes it appear as though both songs were completed in only a few takes as well.