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Ellen Shipley

American musician and songwriter (born 1949) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ellen Shipley (born March 24, 1949, in New York City, New York, United States) is an American musician and songwriter.

Career

At sixteen years old, Shipley got a NYC Cabaret license. She performed in a duo act in Greenwich Village, New York City, in the early 1970's with Steve Fields.[1] Shipley was noticed by a Tommy Mottola associate, in a jazz club in New York, Pearl’s Place, and signed to Mottola's company as a recording artist.[2]

From 1979 to 1983, she recorded three solo albums of her own songs (see discography below); Shipley has also collaborated with Ralph Schuckett, and appeared on December 13, 1980 on Saturday Night Live TV program.[3][4] Paste magazine archived, for playback, a 12-song performance by her at Paradise club in Boston on October 17, 1980.[5]

She is best known for her work with Rick Nowels.[6] Nowels, who had just gotten his big break writing songs with singer Stevie Nicks, one of his old friend,[7][8][9][10] approached Shipley in a Woodstock, New York cafe and asked her to write with him for Belinda Carlisle's first solo album.[11] Together they worked on the Carlisle's albums Belinda, Heaven on Earth, Runaway Horses, and Live Your Life Be Free.[12][13]

"My Song Was Played 3.1 Million Times on Pandora. My Check Was $39..."[14][15][16][17][18]

The couple had also written for other artists, such as English singer Kim Wilde.

Shipley also wrote, with Nicky Holland, the song "Will We Ever Learn", which was recorded for Oleta Adams, and included on Adams' album Circle of One, released in 1990.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25]

In 1994, Shipley was nominated for a Grammy Award (Best R&B Song) for "Body and Soul", written with Nowels for Anita Baker.[26][27][28] Also in the same year, in Great Performances episode September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill, she, together with Ralph Schuckett, David Johansen and Bob Dorough, sang "Alabama Song" in a beat-up old pickup truck in search of whiskey.[29][30]

In 2008, Shipley directed a stage play titled Desert Sunrise, by Misha Shulman,[31] in Los Angeles.[32][33][34]

Personal life

Shipley is from Canarsie, Brooklyn,[11] and married Ralph Schuckett.[35][36] She studied theater at Hunter College.[37]

Discography

Studio albums

Ellen Shipley (1979)

  • Track list and credits taken from U.S. vinyl pressing.[38]
  • Produced by Ralph Schuckett and Ed Sprigg.
More information No., Title ...
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Surrender"
4:24
2."Man of the World"
  • Shipley
  • Shuckett
3:35
3."Catch the Cobra"
  • Shipley
  • Shuckett
3:45
4."Heroes of Yesterday"
  • Shipley
5:08
5."Good Thing Goin'"
  • Shipley
  • Shuckett
3:31
6."I'm Jumping Out of My Skin"
  • Shipley
  • Shuckett
2:54
7."Little Sister"
  • Shipley
  • Shuckett
3:01
8."Last Tears"
  • Shipley
  • Shuckett
4:22
9."Stray Dog"
  • Shipley
  • Shuckett
4:34
10."Over the Edge"
  • Shipley
3:33
Close

Breaking Through the Ice Age (1980)

  • Track list and credits taken from U.S. vinyl pressing.[39]
  • Produced by David Tickle.
More information No., Title ...
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Heart to Heart"
  • Ellen Shipley
  • Ralph Shuckett
3:39
2."Fotogenic"
  • Shipley
  • Shuckett
3:32
3."Jamie"
  • Shipley
  • Shuckett
3:25
4."This Little Girl"
  • Shipley
  • Shuckett
3:32
5."Talk Don't Shout"
  • Shipley
  • Richie Cerniglia
  • Nicholas Lynn
3:43
6."Solo"
  • Shipley
4:04
7."Lost Without Your Love"
  • Shipley
  • Cerniglia
5:50
8."Promise to Keep"
  • Shipley
  • Shuckett
4:03
9."Living for the Tenderness"
  • Shipley
  • Shuckett
7:00
Close

Reissued on CD in 2018 with five bonus tracks:[40]

  • "We All Want What We Can't Have" – 4:07
  • "Sitting Duck" – 4:53
  • "It's All Over Now" – 3:30
  • "She Stands Alone" – 4:16
  • "Fever" – 4:37

Call of the Wild (1983)

  • Track list and credits taken from U.S. vinyl pressing.[41]
  • Produced by Morrie Brown.
More information No., Title ...
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Heart Out of Time"
  • Ellen Shipley
  • Morrie Brown
  • Lloyd Landesman
4:08
2."Love's Out On the Line"
  • Shipley
  • Brown
4:08
3."Stranded"
  • Shipley
4:25
4."I Come Undone"
  • Shipley
  • Brown
3:58
5."Look the Other Way"
  • Shipley
  • Sid McGinnis
3:12
6."Call of the Wild"
4:25
7."Let Me Take You Under"
  • Shipley
  • McGinnis
3:56
8."He's Not There" (The Zombies cover)
3:44
9."Fugitive Kind"
  • Shipley
  • Schuckett
4:13
Close

Reissued on CD in 2018 with eight bonus tracks:[42]

  • "Heart to Heart" (Live) – 3:44
  • "Fotogenic" (Live) – 3:45
  • "This Little Girl" (Live) – 4:15
  • "Solo" (Live) – 4:17
  • "I Surrender" (Live) – 4:40
  • "Promise to Keep" (Live) – 5:14
  • "Some Kind of Wonderful" (Live) – 11:15
  • "Catch the Cobra" (Live) – 4:30

Singles

  • "I Surrender"/"Little Sister" (1979)[43]
  • "Man of the World"/"Heroes of Yesterday" (1979)[44]
  • "Catch the Cobra"/"Little Sister" (1979)[45]
  • "This Little Girl"/"Promise to Keep" (1980)[46]
  • "Love's On the Line"/"Let Me Take You Under" (1983)[47]
  • "Heart Out of Time"/"I Come Undone" (1983)[48]

Songwriting

“Live Forever”, Midge Ure, Breathe (1996)

References

External links

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