Some Kind of Wonderful (Soul Brothers Six song)

For the song by the Drifters, see Some Kind of Wonderful (The Drifters song).

"(She's) Some Kind of Wonderful" is a song written by Canadian-American musician John Ellison^[2] and first recorded by his R&B group, Soul Brothers Six, in 1967, peaking at number 91 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.^[3]

"Some Kind of Wonderful"
Single by Soul Brothers Six
B-side	"I'll Be Loving You"
Released	May 1967
Recorded	March 30, 1967
Studio	Atlantic Studios, New York City
Genre	Soul[1] funk[1] gospel[1]
Length	2:38
Label	Atlantic 2406
Songwriter(s)	John Ellison
Soul Brothers Six singles chronology
"Don't Neglect Your Baby" (1966) "Some Kind of Wonderful" (1967) "You Better Check Yourself" (1967)

The best known version is by American rock band Grand Funk Railroad from 1974 which reached number 3 on the same chart.

Grand Funk Railroad version

"Some Kind of Wonderful"
Single by Grand Funk
from the album All the Girls in the World Beware!!!
B-side	"Wild"
Released	December 9, 1974[4]
Recorded	1974 at the Swamp[5]
Genre	Rock
Length	3:22
Label	Capitol 4002
Songwriter(s)	John Ellison
Producer(s)	Jimmy Ienner[5]
Grand Funk singles chronology
"Shinin' On" / "Mr. Pretty Boy" (1974) "Some Kind of Wonderful" (1974) "Bad Time" (1975)

In 1974, American rock band Grand Funk recorded the song for their album All the Girls in the World Beware!!!; it reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 on February 22, 1975.^[6] It also ranked number 6 on Billboard's Hot 100 year-end chart for 1975 as shown on the December 27, 1975, print edition of Billboard, which contained the Hot 100 for 1975.^[7] This is the official list still shown on Billboard magazine website.^[8]

Their version of the song appeared in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the fictitious radio station K-DST.

Other notable versions

• The Fantastic Johnny C covered the song in 1968, reaching number 87 on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[9]
• Joss Stone covered the song in 2003, for her debut album, The Soul Sessions.

Charts

Year	Artist	Chart	Peak position
1967	Soul Brothers Six	U.S. Billboard Hot 100[10]	91
1968	The Fantastic Johnny C	U.S. Billboard Hot 100[9]	87
1975	Grand Funk Railroad	U.S. Billboard Hot 100[6]	3
		Canada RPM Top Singles	6
1994	Huey Lewis and the News	U.S. Billboard Hot 100[11]	44
		U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary[12]	7
		Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[13]	37
2002	Toploader	UK Singles Chart[14]	76

Certifications

Grand Funk Railroad version

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[15]	Platinum	1,000,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Marsh, Dave (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Plume. pp. 389–390. ISBN 0-452-26305-0.
2. "Some Kind of Wonderful - Grand Funk Railroad | Song Info". AllMusic. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
3. "Some Kind of Wonderful (song by Soul Brothers Six) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. June 24, 1967. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
4. Tedds, David K. (2006). Greatest Hits (CD liner). Grand Funk Railroad. Hollywood, California, United States: Capitol Records. 509992-34915-26.
5. All the Girls in the World Beware!!! (Vinyl sleeve). Grand Funk. Capitol Records. 1974. SO-11356.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
6. "Some Kind of Wonderful (song by Grand Funk Railroad) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. December 14, 1974. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
7. Top Records of 1975, Billboard, Section II, December 27, 1975. p. 38. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
8. Records of 1975, Billboard, Retrieved March 20, 2021.
9. "(She's) Some Kind of Wonderful (song by The Fantastic Johnny C) • Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. November 16, 1968. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
10. "Soul Brothers Six | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
11. "Huey Lewis | Awards". AllMusic. July 5, 1950. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
12. "Country Singles : Billboard". Nl.newsweek.com. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
13. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. June 7, 1994. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
14. "Some Kind of Wonderful (song by Toploader) • Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
15. "American single certifications – Grand Funk Railroad – Some Kind of Wonderful". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 12, 2022.