Since first hitting the national scene with his Alligator Records debut, GEORGIA BLUE, in 1988, Ellis has toured non-stop and continued to release one critically acclaimed album after another. His stellar guitar work, always a staple of his live shows and CDs, is matched by his strong songwriting and powerful, soulful vocals. Tinsley's hometown paper, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, calls his music, "a potent, amazing trip through electric blues-rock."
Ellis made five critically acclaimed albums for Alligator between 1988 and 1997 before recording for the Capricorn and Telarc labels. His high-energy LIVE-HIGHWAYMAN, the long-awaited live album his fans have been demanding for years, marked his return to Alligator records. "Tinsley is one of the finest younger generation blues rockers. He's made great albums for us in the past, and we're excited to have him back in the Alligator family. He's great in the studio, but even better live, so I'm really excited about this recording," said Iglauer.
Ellis' latest release on Alligator, MOMENT OF TRUTH, captures all the power and energy of his legendary live performances. His vocals reach new heights of soulfulness and expressiveness; his guitar playing is ferocious and relentless, but, when the mood calls for it, gentle and moving. What really sets the album apart, though, is the depth of Ellis’ songwriting. The material deals in matters both personal and universal and runs the gamut of human emotions. MOMENT OF TRUTH is Ellis’ most wide-ranging and inspired recording.
Born in Atlanta in 1957, Ellis grew up in southern Florida and first played guitar at age eight. He found the blues through the backdoor of the British Invasion bands like The Yardbirds, The Animals, Cream, and The Rolling Stones. He especially loved the Kings--Freddie, B.B. and Albert--and spent hours immersing himself in their music. His love for the blues solidified when he was 14. At a B.B. King performance, Tinsley sat mesmerized in the front row. When B.B. broke a string on Lucille, he changed it without missing a beat, and handed the broken string to Ellis. After the show, B.B. came out and talked with fans, further impressing Tinsley with his warmth and down-to-earth attitude. By now Tinsley's fate was sealed; he had to become a blues guitarist. And yes, he still has that string.
Already an accomplished teenaged musician, Ellis left Florida and returned to Atlanta in 1975. He soon joined the Alley Cats, a gritty blues band that included Preston Hubbard (of Fabulous Thunderbirds fame). In 1981, along with veteran blues singer and harpist Chicago Bob Nelson, Tinsley formed The Heartfixers, a group that would become Atlanta's top-drawing blues band. Upon hearing LIVE AT THE MOONSHADOW (Landslide), the band's second release, The Washington Post declared, "Tinsley Ellis is a legitimate guitar hero." After cutting two more Heartfixers albums for Landslide, COOL ON IT (featuring Tinsley's vocal debut) and TORE UP (with vocals by blues shouter Nappy Brown), Ellis was ready to head out on his own. Ellis sent a copy of the master tape for his solo debut to Bruce Iglauer at Alligator Records. "I had heard COOL ON IT," recalls Iglauer, "and I was amazed. I hadn't heard Tinsley before, but he played like the guys with huge international reputations. It wasn't just his raw power; it was his taste and maturity that got to me. It had the power of rock but felt like the blues. I knew I wanted to hear more of this guy."
GEORGIA BLUE, Tinsley's first Alligator release, hit an unprepared public by surprise in 1988. Critics and fans quickly agreed that a new and original guitar hero had emerged. "Dazzling musicianship pitched somewhere between the exhilarating volatility of rock and roll and the passion of urban blues," raved the Los Angeles Times. Before long, Alligator arranged to reissue COOL ON IT and TORE UP, thus exposing Tinsley's blistering earlier music to a growing fan base." The Chicago Tribune celebrated the release by saying, "Ellis takes classic, Southern blues-rock workouts and jolts them to new life with a torrid axe barrage."
Tinsley's next release, 1989's FANNING THE FLAMES, further expanded the guitarist's hero status. By now his talents as a songwriter equaled his guitar prowess. Guitar World shouted, "Ellis stands alongside Stevie Ray Vaughan and Johnny Winter, and that ain't just hype." 1992's TROUBLE TIME added guests Peter Buck (R.E.M.) and keyboardist Chuck Leavell (Rolling Stones), and brought even more critical acclaim Ellis' way. The song >Highwayman received airplay on commercial rock radio stations across the country. "Alive, kicking and drenched in sweat," declared The Washington Post.
1994's STORM WARNING was Ellis' true breakthrough. Recorded live in the studio with his road-savvy band and produced by Eddy Offord (John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Yes), the album was a tour-de-force of smoking guitar workouts and radio-friendly blues rockers. Features and reviews ran in Rolling Stone, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and in many other national and regional publications. His largest audience by far came when NBC Sports ran a feature on Atlanta's best blues guitarist during their 1996 Summer Olympic Coverage viewed by millions of people all over the world.
FIRE IT UP followed in 1997. Produced by the legendary Tom Dowd (Allman Brothers, Ray Charles), the album featured Ellis' blazing guitar playing and expressive, soulful vocals in better form than ever. With Dowd's deft production touch--along with Tinsley's fiery road band and a host of talented musicians, including famed bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn on seven songs--Ellis reached new heights, coming up with some of the best performances of his career. The Associated Press called the CD, "A solid heaping of blues...a mixture of well-written originals and covers all held together with scorching guitar and a big voice to carry his sharply written lyrics."
A move to Capricorn Records in 2000 saw Ellis revisiting his Southern roots with KINGPIN. Unfortunately, the label folded soon after the CD's release. In 2002, he joined the Telarc label, producing two well-received albums of soul-drenched blues-rock, HELL OR HIGH WATER and THE HARD WAY. All the while, Ellis never stopped touring. "A musician never got famous staying home," he's quick to note.
Ellis has played in all 50 states, as well as Canada, Europe, Australia and South America. Whether he's out with his own band or sharing stages with The Allman Brothers, Robert Cray, Koko Taylor or Widespread Panic, he averages over 150 performances a year, bringing his fast-moving, high-energy, guitar-drenched performances to fans all over the world. Live, there's simply no one better at igniting a crowd, jamming with focus and purpose...
I've Got to Use My Imagination
Tinsley Ellis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To think of good reasons
To keep on keepin' on
Got to make the best of a bad situation
Ever since that day
I woke up and found
That you were gone
Darkness all around me
Blackin out the sun
Old friends call me
But I just don't feel like talkin to anyone
Emptiness has found me
And it just wont let me go
I go right on livin'
But why I just don't know
Staring down reality
Don't do me no good
'Cause our misunderstanding
Is too well understood
Such a sad, sad season
When a good love dies.
Not a day goes by
When I don't realize
I've really got to use my imagination
To think of good reasons
To keep on keepin' on
Got to make the best of a bad situation
Ever since that day
I woke up and found
That you were gone
The lyrics to Tinsley Ellis's song "I've Got to Use My Imagination" is a reflection on the aftermath of a heartbreak. The opening lines suggest that the singer is struggling to find motivation to keep going after the loss of their loved one. The phrase "keep on keepin' on" suggests that the singer is barely holding on and needs to find the strength to keep moving forward. It is evident that the singer is struggling to understand why things have ended, and as a result, is in a dark place.
The second verse further reveals that the singer is having difficulty connecting with people, even old friends. The phrase "emptiness has found me, and it just won't let me go" emphasizes the depth of the singer's sorrow and pain. The singer is living a life without a sense of purpose, and in the absence of the person they love, they are merely existing. The chorus repeats the need to make the best of a bad situation, regardless of how challenging it may seem.
The final verse acknowledges the devastating reality of a break-up, with the phrase "such a sad, sad season when a good love dies." The singer is toiling with reality, yet their mind is consumed with thoughts of their lost love, which clouds their judgement. The song ends with the repetition of the lyrics from the chorus, suggesting that the singer has no choice but to keep putting one foot in front of the other and trying to find reasons to keep going.
Line by Line Meaning
I've really got to use my imagination
It's difficult to keep going without you, so I need to come up with creative ways to carry on
To think of good reasons
I need to find motivation for myself amidst all this heartache
To keep on keepin' on
To persevere and move forward despite the pain
Got to make the best of a bad situation
I have to take the cards I've been dealt and make the most of it, no matter how tough it may be
Ever since that day
As soon as I woke up to find that you left me
I woke up and found
I was asleep and wasn't aware of what was going on, then I awoke to find you were gone
Darkness all around me
I'm surrounded by a depressing, hopeless atmosphere
Blackin out the sun
It's as if the sun is disappearing and there's no light in my life
Old friends call me
People who used to be in my inner circle still try to reach out to me
But I just don't feel like talkin to anyone
I'm not in the mood to engage in any social interactions, I just want to be left alone in my misery
Emptiness has found me
A sense of hollowness and loneliness seems to have engulfed me
And it just wont let me go
These feelings of emptiness and despair are persistent and overwhelming
I go right on livin'
I continue to exist day-to-day but I don't feel like I'm truly living
But why I just don't know
I don't comprehend why everything had to change so swiftly
Staring down reality
I'm dealing with things as they are, no sugarcoating it
Don't do me no good
It's not helping my situation at all
'Cause our misunderstanding
Our miscommunication is to blame for everything falling apart
Is too well understood
The reasons for our separation are clear and are weighing heavily on me
Such a sad, sad season
A period of sorrowful despair
When a good love dies
The end of a beautiful relationship
Not a day goes by
Everyday feels like a prolonged mourning
When I don't realize
This is something that I'm constantly aware of
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Barry Goldberg, Gerry Goffin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jeff Sartain
Excellent job on your cover version of this wonderful haunting song.
Carlton Ehret
Who did it originally? I liked The Rides version, and just found this
J.R. Peters
Joe Bonermaster who ? -- may be a technical wizard, but I DON'T FEEL IT !!
TINSLEY has GREAT tone, feeling
J.R. Peters
Joe Bonermaster who ? -- may be a technical wizard, but I DON'T FEEL IT !!
TINSLEY has GREAT tone, feeling