Gospel and soul singer James Phelps passed away this past Tuesday in Los Angeles from complications of diabetes. He was 78.
Phelps was born in Shreveport, LA and moved to Chicago in his late teens where he began working with gospel groups like the Gospel Songbirds, the Holy Wonders whose lineup included a young Lou Rawls and the Clefs of Cavalry. It was with the last group that Phelps made his first two albums, Baptised (1962) and God's Light (1963).
In 1964, he became a member of the Soul Stirrers, working and recording along side Sam Cooke. Phelps told the site Soul Cellar in 2002 about the night Cooke died:
At the time he was killed, I was on the road with the Soul Stirrers. As a matter of fact, we talked to him that same night and we found out about his death next day through the radio. Our bus had broken down in Atlanta, Georgia. We called Sam and told him we needed some money because we were on our way to Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. Sam said 'I'll get back to you guys first thing in the morning'. So, after we didn't hear from him, we went to Hertz and rented a car and on the way to Rocky Mountain we heard the bulletin on the radio and it was really shocking.
The Soul Stirrers signed with Chess Records subsidiary Checker and almost immediately the executives picked Phelps to try as a soul singer. He recorded a version of Love is Just a Five Letter Word which was released on Argo and became a national hit (1965/#66 Pop/#12 R&B). The hit led to his leaving the Soul Stirrers and going out on the road in package shows.
Phelps never attained national success in the U.S. again and went on to record for a number of labels including Cadet and Fontana. In the U.K., his records became popular in the 70's among the Northern Soul crowd, long after they had been originally recorded. His last recordings were made for 1972 for Paramount.
He spent the remainder of his life working in business, although he would occasionally take singing gigs in Las Vegas.
VVN Music
Phelps was born in Shreveport, LA and moved to Chicago in his late teens where he began working with gospel groups like the Gospel Songbirds, the Holy Wonders whose lineup included a young Lou Rawls and the Clefs of Cavalry. It was with the last group that Phelps made his first two albums, Baptised (1962) and God's Light (1963).
In 1964, he became a member of the Soul Stirrers, working and recording along side Sam Cooke. Phelps told the site Soul Cellar in 2002 about the night Cooke died:
At the time he was killed, I was on the road with the Soul Stirrers. As a matter of fact, we talked to him that same night and we found out about his death next day through the radio. Our bus had broken down in Atlanta, Georgia. We called Sam and told him we needed some money because we were on our way to Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. Sam said 'I'll get back to you guys first thing in the morning'. So, after we didn't hear from him, we went to Hertz and rented a car and on the way to Rocky Mountain we heard the bulletin on the radio and it was really shocking.
The Soul Stirrers signed with Chess Records subsidiary Checker and almost immediately the executives picked Phelps to try as a soul singer. He recorded a version of Love is Just a Five Letter Word which was released on Argo and became a national hit (1965/#66 Pop/#12 R&B). The hit led to his leaving the Soul Stirrers and going out on the road in package shows.
Phelps never attained national success in the U.S. again and went on to record for a number of labels including Cadet and Fontana. In the U.K., his records became popular in the 70's among the Northern Soul crowd, long after they had been originally recorded. His last recordings were made for 1972 for Paramount.
He spent the remainder of his life working in business, although he would occasionally take singing gigs in Las Vegas.
VVN Music
