The Ellingtons

The roots of The Ellingtons took place in the late 1950s in a low income housing project in East Camden, NJ known as the Westfield Acres. Rob Russen, Bob Aceto and his younger brother Sonny lived there, went to school together, played sports for the East Camden Ma- rauders and started the basics of their music careers there. Both Bob Aceto and Rob Rus- sen took guitar lessons from a middle aged Hawaiian man named Majo Arana who advised them not to bother learning to play rock and roll because “it was not going to last”. Following graduation from Woodrow Wilson High School Rob Russen went off to Rider Uni- versity and formed a band with Bob and Sonny Aceto called The Banished. Two years later that band evolved into The Ellingtons by adding Rudy Wilson and Nick Crearis. In 1966 the airways in the Philadelphia area were full of a wonderful new kind of music created by local acts like The Intruders, The Delfonics, The Stylistics, The Soul Survivors and the Magnificent Men to name but a few. Philly. Motown and Memphis were creating amazing music. The Ellingtons changed their musical repertoire from rock to blue eyed soul and they became one a few self-contained acts from that era. Lombardi’s Tavern in Pennsauken, NJ became the home of The Ellingtons. People packed the place and crowded the dance floor every time the group performed there. That is where the act became established in the area. The Ellingtons signed with Castle Records and released two songs on Castle Records 102. The songs “(I’m Not) Destined to Become a Loser” and “The Agony of the Ecstacy” were both written by Rob Russen. A third song entitled “She’s Mine” was records three months later and not released. Members were: Bobby Aceto, Sonny Aceto, Rob Russen, Nick Criaris and Rudy Wilson.