Album Notes

RICH ADAMS ‘HIS NAME IS JESUS’ GOSPEL CD (Sly, Slick & Wicked under another name)

Cleveland’s Sly, Slick & Wicked are a group that’s always had a strong following in soul music circles. They never really broke through to enjoy massive chart success even in their home country, but their consistent output down the years (since 1972 when their first 45 escaped into the shops) has kept up fans interest. Even ignoring the fact that a 2nd group (this one being LA based) also used the name and so muddied the waters somewhat, the Cleveland trio’s releases on Paramount, People, Shaker, Ju-Par and Epic have always been much sought after. The group’s ups and downs over the years has meant that the trio has had a number of different members. In the early days the group was formed by three scholars from Cleveland’s John F Kennedy High School; John Wilson, Charles Still and Mark Saxton. The group (and another who recorded; the Out Of Sights) grew out of the ashes of two fledgling outfits from the same school, the Tam-a-las and Motifs.
John Wilson has been a constant in Sly, Slick & Wicked, whilst Charles Still was only missing on one of their recordings (1978’s “All I Want Is You” when Scott Pitman took his place). The position of Wicked has been filled by various people down the years. Charles older brother, Gregory Still (who had previously been with the Out Of Sights on Saru) took the post in 1972 and he was followed by the likes of Terry Stubbs, Jerome Pratt (1978/79), Rich Adams (1982/83), Dafrantz Forrest, etc. Even though the group’s last 45 release was issued in 1979, they recorded right up until 1995 (“Always & Forever” being cut for the soundtrack to the movie ‘Deadly Ransom’).

That could have been it for the group and they could just have faded away to eventually become just a distant memory. But Rich Adams wasn’t going to let that happen. He had started out on a completely different musical path. Educated in St Louis, he started out by entering talent shows before progressing to semi professional status undertaking club gigs across the river in East St Louis. A spell in the military brought this phase of his life to a close. But on his returned to civilian life, he looked up Garland Smith and the pair formed the Cashmeres (who would record for the Emerge label under the name Mal Adams & the Cashmeres). The outfit became so popular locally that it wasn’t uncommon for them to secure five bookings a week. But times moved on and after relocating to LA, in 1975 Rich hooked up with Total Experience Records. Here, Rich worked with the likes of the Gap Band, Yarbrough & Peoples and Prime Time. Total Experience was a strong entity for well over 10 years and during that time (as well as having a stint in Sly, Slick & Wicked) Rich became close friends with the likes of Jimmy Hamilton, Raymond Calhoun and Malvin "Dino" Vice (see http://www.discogs.com/artist/Malvin+'Dino'+Vice?anv=Malvin+%22Dino%22+Vice). After Total Experience ended, Rich started his own company, Play Yosong Records, though he still retained his links with many of his music industry friends. Secular projects were worked on initially but with the passage of time, Rich decided to also get into gospel music. The ‘His Name Is Jesus’ album is the first real product of this decision. Many of his old Total Experience colleagues have been involved on the project and with Charles Still on lead vocals, Rich Adams and John Wilson on backing vocals , the spirit of Sly, Slick & Wicked is strong on these tracks.
You can learn more about the CD on Play Yosong’s web site (http://www.playyosong.com/gospel/his_name_is_jesus.html).
The Richard M. Adams Project ‘His Name Is Jesus’ CD is also now available in CD format or as digital downloads from CD Baby -- http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/radamsproj
A good response has already been gained for tracks such as “Get Ready” and “Calling My Jesus”.

John Smith; UK -- Oct 09