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    Born in Pittsburgh.....Texas that is! Jim was brought up listening to Blues and R&B. His favorites as a youngster were fellow Texan blues chronicler Lightnin' Hopkins and his first idol, Bobby 'Blue' Bland. Music was about all there was in Pittsburgh, a small town 100 miles east of Dallas.
     His family moved to California when Jimmy was in his teens and there he had the inspiration to become a teacher. Uncle Sam had other plans and Jim was drafted into the service during the Vietnam war.  During his stint in the Navy Jim became a dee jay, where he got the latest sounds sent to him from the U.S. "I got into it in a big way, listening to those Motown records, Stevie, Marvin, Smokey....they were the best."
     When his stint with the Navy ended Jim came home and quickly landed a job with the U.S. Postal Service. But music was in his blood and it wasn't long before he began going to audtions. His first group gig was with the Doodletown Pipers, a strictly MOR aggregation with a name better suited to puppets. The Pipers had lots of work, appearing on Ed Sullivan's television show and doing the Las Vegas circuit. Going nowhere fast Gilstrap left the Pipers and hooked up with The Cultures. The Cultures were popular behind the scenes and for two years (1972-1974) Gilstrap honed his vocals behind such luminaries as The Temptations, The Jackson Five, Barbara Streisand, Rod Stewart and Disco Tex and The Sex-o-lettes.
     Doing session work during the early 1970's led to his tenure with Stevie Wonder's Wonderlove. As part of Wonderlove he sang on four of Stevie's classic albums: "Music of My Mind," "Talking Book," "Innervisions" and "Fulfillingness First Finale" as well as sessions with Syreeta Wright and Minnie Riperton, among others.
     Hanging on his wall is a platinum album, given to him by Wonder for his vocal work on "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life." Eveyone in Wonderlove went on to be famous. Among the singers alone, Deniece Williams has had substanial pop success before going gospel. Linda Lawrence and Susaye Greene became Supremes and Lani Groves sang with Roberta Flack before launching her own solo career. It was a big proving ground.
     After his position with the Cultures, and while doing session work for top producers like Quincy Jones, Jim joined yet another fledgling group The Reason Why. This is when he met his idol Stevie Wonder. "We were playing the Apollo and he heard us, liked my singing and asked me to join him. Lani Groves was also a part of that group." Gilstrap was one of only a few male singers to ever appear in Wonderlove.
     During this entire period Jim had never recorded solo. Although Clive Davis and Bell Records did give him a contract and cut some sides. It was decided he sounded too much like Johnny Mathis and they stayed locked in the vaults.
     Then in 1975 a friend of Gilstraps got an audition with Wes Farrell's Chelsea Records. Jim went along for company and at the audtion he heard "Swing Your Daddy." Writer Kenny Nolan was best known at the time for his hits with LaBelle ("Lady Marmalade") and Disco Tex & His Sex-O-Lettes ("Get Dancin'"). Nolan had fashioned a catchy pop song with a refrain firmly planted in doo-wop. Jim thought it should be released in it's original state. But label heads decided to have Gene Page re-write the arrangement and Jim quietly recorded the would-be hit. He was just happy to have the gig.
     The single, assigned to Farrell's Roxbury subsidiary, was pitched somewhere between finger poppin' doo-wop and the disco beat of George McCrae's "Rock Your Baby." It was given a gentler, sexier sway by Page's arrangement and Jim's vocals glide right over it.
    "Swing Your Daddy" was a Top 10 R&B hit in1975 and a pop/club hit in both the U.S. and Great Britain. An overnight success after over seven solid years of singing. Gilstrap had two more minor radio hits that year. Farrell's own "House Of Strangers" and "Put Out The Fire" both from his debut album. Also on the album were versions of Smokey Robinson's "Special Occasion" and Todd Rundgren's "Hello It's Me." Plus funky versions of Marvin Gaye's "One More Heartache" and "Ain't That Peculiar." Presumably the heavy selection of Motown stock was in remembrance of his time in Vietnam.
     The album also contained another club favorite. Nolan penned yet another killer track for Gilstrap with the jammin' "Take Your Daddy For A Ride." On this and Part 2 of "Swing Your Daddy" the musicians and Jim go the extra mile for maximum party effect. The original vinyl Roxbury album is a highly sought after collectors item, perhaps due to the fact that there were no 12" singles released from it.
     A second album followed, but not to the success of his first release. "Love Talk" was an immediate club favorite but failed to ignite the singles charts. The cover albeit controversial was well within the times....think Barry White and Donna Summer. The title track crossed from the club charts to the R&B charts and "Move Me" bubbled around the lower regions of the radio playlists. But wider and sustained pop success proved as fickle as fate's finger and Jimmy soon returned to the lucrative session work that was his bread and butter.
     Gilstrap is probably the most prolific male session singer that comes to mind. The list of his credits read like a vertiable who's who of the entire musical spectrum. His voice can be heard on records by: Patti Austin, Anita Baker, George Benson, Angela Bofill, Michael Bolton, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Brothers Johnson, Jackson Browne, Donald Bryd, Ray Charles, Celine Dion, Bob Crewe, Willy Deville, George Duke, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Aretha Franklin, Jose Feliciano, Ronnie Foster, Kenny G, Art Garfunkel, Andy Griffith, Siedah Garret, Johnny Gill, Don Grusin, Herbie Hancock, Leon Haywood, Wayne Henderson, John Hyatt, Hiroshima, Thelma Houston, Whitney Houston, Phyllis Hyman, James Ingram, The Jacksons, Michael Jackson, Al Jarreau, Quincy Jones, Elton John, B.B. King, Gladys Knight (with and without The Pips), Al Kooper, Dave Koz, Patti LaBelle, Stacy Lattisaw, Joey Lawrence, Linda Lewis, Ramsey Lewis, Kenny Loggins, Carrie Lucas, Melissa Manchester, Ricky Martin, harvey Mason, Johnny Mathis, Les McCann, Bill Medley, Keith Moon, Tracy Nelson, Aaron Neville, Olivia Newton-John, Gene Page, Dolly Parton, Teddy Pendergrass, Diane Reeves, Martha Reeves, Lionel Richie, Minnie Riperton, Linda Ronstadt, Patrice Rushen, Joe Sample, Santana, Leo Sayer, Boz Scaggs, Marilyn Scott, Tom Scott, Seals & Crofts, Ray Simpson, Starship, Ringo Starr, Candi Staton, Barbra Streisand, James Taylor, Tower Of Power, Luther Vandross, Sarah Vaughan, Narad Michael Walden, Dionne Warwick, Nancy Wilson and of course Stevie Wonder.
     Jim is alive and well and still adding his golden throated vocals to albums. Most recently he can be heard on Susaye Greene and Stanley Turrentine's 2002 releases. Plus Sequel Records has released both of his albums on one compact disc for your disco enjoyment. Thanks Jim for your early disco contributions...........
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