Sylvester James

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Sylvester James (September 6, 1948 – December 16, 1988) was an American disco and soul musician, and a gay drag performer. He performed under only his first name, Sylvester. Known for singing in falsetto (despite a rich baritone voice), he is also considered one of the first Hi-NRG artists. His grandmother was the jazz singer Julia Morgan. Sylvester was the first "male diva" of disco.

1 Biography
2 Discography
3 Audio samples
4 Bibliography
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Biography

Sylvester James was born in Los Angeles, California. Living in San Francisco in the 1970s, he performed in a musical production called Women of the Blues, then joined a short-lived group of transvestite performance artists called The Cockettes in the early 1970s, his repertoire of Bessie Smith songs in tow. After leaving The Cockettes, Sylvester performed in San Francisco a number of different times as a solo act. One of his most famed shows, entitled Jungle Sin which reprised Sylvester’s greatest Cockette solo songs, took place at the legendary San Francisco supper club Bimbo's and was produced by the notorious Punk Rock impresario David Ferguson in 1972. That same year, Sylvester performed at The Temple in San Francisco with a back up group that later became The Pointer Sisters which was also produced by David Ferguson. (Famed transvestite Divine was a member of the group as well.) Sylvester can be seen in the Cockettes' outrageous short film "Tricia's Wedding", lampooning the wedding of President Nixon's daughter Tricia, and in an eponymous 2002 documentary about the group.

In 1972, Sylvester supplied two cuts to Lights Out San Francisco, an album compiled by the KSAN radio station and released on the Blue Thumb label. In 1973, Sylvester & his Hot Band released two rock-oriented albums on Blue Thumb (their self-titled debut was also known as "Scratch My Flower," due to a gardenia-shaped scratch-and-sniff sticker adhered to the cover). In 1974 Sylvester met Horus Jack Tolsen (Keyboards) together with Sylvester's drummer Amadeo Barrios (drums) and Brother Adrian Barrios (Bass) formed a trio which backed up Sylvester at a nightclub in San Francisco called Cabaret - After Dark. Shortly after Horus was fired, Amadeo brought in new players, Archie White (Keyboards), Angel Reyes (Guitar), Background vocalist Bianca Thorton, Gerry Kirby and another vocalist named Debbie. This totally took Sylvester into a new musical direction. The band was rockin' and was very funky taking it more in a dance direction before Disco came into view. The band un-officially called themselves The Four A's and had finally thrown in the towel after several attempts to get signed by a major label. in 1975 The Brother's Barrios gave it one last shot before joining The Lenny Willians Band. Sylvester signed a solo act to Fantasy Records in 1977, working with the production talents of legendary Motown producer Harvey Fuqua, who produced his album Stars in 1979. Sylvester later alleged that Fuqua cheated him out of millions of dollars.

Sylvester soon met his frequent collaborator Patrick Cowley. Cowley's synthesizer and Sylvester's voice proved to be a magical combination, and pushed Sylvester's sound in an increasingly dance-oriented direction; his second solo album, Step II (1978), unleashed two disco classics: "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)," and "Dance (Disco Heat)". These two songs charted together on the American dance chart and spent six weeks at #1 on this chart in August and September of 1978. By this time both his live shows and recordings also recognizably featured the back-up vocals of Two Tons O' Fun: future Weather Girls Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes. 1979 brought three Billboard awards and an appearance in the movie, The Rose, starring Bette Midler.

Moving to Megatone Records in 1982, Sylvester quickly landed a Hi-NRG classic with "Do You Wanna Funk." He was close friends with other Megatone artists Linda Imperial and Jeanie Tracy. Sylvester was also very close to the legendary Patti LaBelle.

Later pressure from the label to "butch up" his image would result in him attending meetings in full-on drag. A drag photo shoot, which he staged and presented to label heads as a gag (calling it his "new album cover") would later grace the cover of Immortal after Sylvester died; it was the label's way of paying tribute to his spirit. In 1985, one of his dreams came true as he was summoned to sing back-up for Aretha Franklin on her Who's Zoomin' Who? comeback album. His sole Warner Bros. album was Mutual Attraction in 1986; a single from the album, "Someone Like You", became Sylvester's second #1 hit on the US dance chart and featured original cover art by Keith Haring.

Sylvester died of complications from AIDS in San Francisco on December 16, 1988. He was only 40 years old. His good friend Jeanie Tracy took care of Sylvester during his last days.

On September 20, 2004 Sylvester's anthem record, You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame. A year later, on September 19, 2005, Sylvester himself was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for his achievement as an artist.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

1973: Sylvester & the Hot Band (performed by Sylvester & the Hot band)
1973: Bazaar (performed by Sylvester & the Hot band)
1977: Sylvester
1978: Step II (U.S. Billboard 200: #28; U.S. R&B: #7)
1979: Stars
1979: Living Proof (double LP, recorded live)
1980: Sell My Soul
1981: Too Hot To Sleep
1982: All I Need
1983: Call Me
1984: M-1015
1985: 12 By 12
1986: Mutual Attraction
1989: Immortal

[edit] Main singles

1973: "Southern Man" (performed by Sylvester & the Hot Band; Blue Thumb)
1973: "Down On Your Knees" (performed by Sylvester & the Hot Band; Blue Thumb3)
1977: "Down, Down, Down"
1977: "Over And Over"
1978: "Dance (Disco Heat)" (UK #29, U.S. #19, U.S. Dance #1)
1978: "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" (Italy #7, UK #8, U.S. #36, U.S. Dance #1)
1979: "I (Who Have Nothing)" (Italy #22, U.S. #40 UK #46)
1979: "Stars" (UK #47)
1979: "Can't Stop Dancing"
1980: "You Are My Friend"
1980: "I Need You"
1980: "Sell My Soul"
1981: "Here Is My Love"
1981: "Give It Up (Don't Make Me Wait)"
1981: "Magic Number" (performed by Herbie Hancock featuring Sylvester)
1982: "Do You Wanna Funk" (Patrick Cowley and Sylvester) (UK #32)
1982: "Don't Stop"
1982: "Tell Me"
1982: "Be With You"
1982: "All I Need"
1983: "Don't Stop"
1983: "Tell Me"
1983: "Hard Up"
1983: "Band Of Gold" (UK #67)
1983: "Too Late"
1983: "One Night Only"
1983: "Trouble In Paradise"
1984: "Stargazing" (performed by Earlene Bentley featuring Sylvester; UK release)
1984: "Good Feeling" (German release)
1984: "Call Me"
1984: "Menergy"
1984: "Rock The Box"
1985: "Take Me To Heaven"
1985: "Sex"
1985: "Takin Love Into My Own hand" (Mexico release)
1985 "Lovin Is Really My Game"
1986: "Living For The City"
1986: "Someone Like You" (U.S. Dance #1)
1987: "Mutual Attraction"
1987: "Sooner Or Later"