Rhino’s Got You Covered: Roy Redmond, The Stovall Sisters, Lorraine Ellison, and Stoneground

It’s Wednesday, so it must be time to take another dip into the Rhino catalog and trot out a new quartet of cover songs that you may or may not have heard before. Let’s get started, shall we?

•    Roy Redmond, “Good Day Sunshine” (1967): If you don’t know Redmond’s work, the fact of the matter is that you can familiarize yourself with the sum total of his recorded output in... Well, without actually doing the math, we’re still comfortable with saying that you wouldn’t even need 15 minutes. Signed to the Warner Brothers subsidiary label Loma Records, Redmond released a grand total of four songs: “A Change is Gonna Come,” “Ain’t That Terrible,” “That Old Time Feeling,” and this Beatles cover. Frankly, there’s not really a lot known about him, so if you can offer any insight, we’re all ears.

•    The Stovall Sisters, “Spirit in the Sky” (1971): Lillian, Netta, and Joyce Stovall were a gospel trio who recording several albums while also serving as studio and backup singers for a number of high-profile artists. This cover is particularly notable because the Stovall Sisters sang backup on Norman Greenbaum’s original version of “Spirit in the Sky,” but their own version appears on their self-titled debut album for Reprise Records.

•    Lorraine Ellison, “Caravan” (1971 / 1994): Ellison’s biggest success on the charts came in 1966, when she released the #11 R&B hit “Stay With Me,” but she had a few other successes as well, including “I Dig You Baby” (#22) and “Heart Be Still” (#43). This Van Morrison cover was recorded at some point during the ‘70s, but it didn’t see release until the mid-1990s, when it turned up as a bonus track on an Ichiban reissue of her 1969 album STAY WITH ME. Go figure. Anyway, it can now be found on Rhino’s collection of her entire Warner Brothers output, so you’re welcome.

•    Stoneground, “Rainy Day in June” (1971): Sal Valentino came to fame in the ‘60s as a member of the Beau Brummels, but after the band called it a day (for the first time) after the release of 1968’s BRADLEY’S BARN, Valentino went on to found a new band called Stoneground, which lasted for three albums. This Kinks cover can be found on their self-titled 1971 debut.