[2] After leaving Isaak's band, Wilsey pursued various solo projects while struggling with drug addiction and, toward the end of his life, periods of homelessness.
[3] Producer Erik Jacobsen remarked, "In terms of the feeling Jimmy was able to put into a song with the wang bar and the tremolo and effects — Jimmy had a really magical touch..."[2] In 1977, Wilsey joined the Avengers, a pioneering band in the San Francisco punk rock scene.
[2] Dropping the moniker "Calvin", Wilsey released a solo album of guitar instrumentals in 2008, titled El Dorado, which paid homage to musical influences such as Duane Eddy, the Shadows, Billy Strange, James Burton and Link Wray.
[4] Wilsey's last commercial recording under his own name was in 2012, when he contributed a cover of Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around" to the soundtrack to the film Killing Them Softly.
Wilsey was taken to LAC+USC Medical Center in December of that year with the onset of organ failure, and died on the afternoon of Christmas Eve.