Ellington Jordan (1940 – June 18, 2020), also known as Fugi, was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer based in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Career

Ellington Jordan was originally from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

but moved to Detroit to start his music career. He began playing music in Detroit in the 1960s and collaborated with various local

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

musicians as a songwriter and sideman. In 1967 he co-wrote the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

song "

I'd Rather Go Blind "I'd Rather Go Blind" is a blues song written by Ellington Jordan with co-writing credits to Billy Foster and Etta James. It was first recorded by Etta James in 1967, released the same year, and has subsequently become regarded as a blues and so ...

" for

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...

, based on his recent experiences in prison. The song was later covered by many artists including

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

and Beyonce. In the late 1960s Jordan recorded as a one-man

psychedelic funk Psychedelic funk (also called P-funk or funkadelia, and sometimes conflated with psychedelic soul) is a music genre that combines funk music with elements of psychedelic rock. It was pioneered in the late 1960s and early 1970s by American acts l ...

act called Fugi, and released the song "Mary Don't Take Me on No Bad Trip" on

Cadet Records Cadet Records was an American record label that began as Argo Records in 1955 as the jazz subsidiary of Chess Records. Argo changed its name in 1965 to Cadet to avoid confusion with the similarly named label in the UK. Cadet stopped releasing ...

(a subsidiary of

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock an ...

) in 1968. A full album of the same title was recorded, but was not released until 2005. It included Fugi's own version of "I'd Rather Go Blind". He was backed on the album by Black Merda, who were later signed to Chess at Jordan's suggestion. As Fugi, he signed with 20th Century Records in 1972 for a possible new album, though it was never released. Jordan left music for several years and eventually relocated to

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

. In 1994 he released a

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

-oriented album called ''The Cold-Blooded City They Call the ‘No’'' locally in Fresno under the Fugi name. In the early 2000s, interest in his music was revived when fans of lesser-known early funk music rediscovered "Mary Don't Take Me on No Bad Trip", and he benefited from his association with Black Merda when that band experienced a similar resurgence in popularity. In 2005, the full album ''Mary Don't Take Me on No Bad Trip'' was released for the first time by

Tuff City Tuff City Records is a New York–based record label founded by journalist Aaron Fuchs in 1981.Verna, Paul (1994)Tuff City Records Moves Forward and Looks Back" ''Billboard'', July 16, 1994, retrieved 2010-08-29 Initially concentrating on hip hop ...

, and in the same year he released the new

neo-soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contem ...

album ''Almost Home''. Jordan returned to occasional live performances, and collaborated with former members of Black Merda on new material in 2016-17. He died at age 80 in Fresno on June 18, 2020.

Discography

*''The Cold-Blooded City They Call the ‘No’'' (1994) *''Mary Don't Take Me on No Bad Trip'' (2005; recorded 1968) *''Almost Home'' (2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Ellington 1940 births 2020 deaths Place of birth missing Psychedelic funk musicians American male songwriters American record producers