Leon Frank Sylvers III (born March 7, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, disc-jockey, record producer and multi-instrumentalist.
He was a member of the family group The Sylvers and became one of the most successful producers in black music in the late 1970s to the mid-1980s through his association with Dick Griffey's SOLAR Records.
[5] When Sylvers was two or three, in 1956, they took the train and moved to Los Angeles "near Adams and Crenshaw," due to his father finding work there.
[1] He cites discovering Motown at around the age of seven, especially bassist James Jamerson and drummer Benny Benjamin, as his first and main musical influence.
[6] Sylvers first rose to prominence in the early 1960s as a member of The Little Angels harmony vocal group featuring his siblings (Olympia, Charmaine, and James).
[1] In 1970, Leon entered the family act, which now included younger brothers Edmund and Ricky, into a local talent contest.
[11] The album was co-produced by Jerry Butler, who was widely known for his work with The Impressions as well as a successful solo career, and Keg Johnson.
At the time of the album's release The Pittsburgh Courier wrote, "They are impressive, elegantly poised, demonstrate musicianship and their sound is fresh and original.
Prior to the album's release, The Sylvers were frequent musical guests on TV shows and earned $15–20,000 per night for performances at county fairs and amusement parks.
[10] By mid-1978, Leon left the group to become the in-house producer for Dick Griffey's SOLAR Records, where he also worked as the label's A & R director.
This would be the year that Leon would be involved on projects outside of the SOLAR Records family such as his Gene Page single "Love Starts After Dark" and 7th Wonder's song "The Tilt".
Leon spent the next couple of years producing hit songs for The Whispers ("In the Raw", "Tonight"), Gladys Knight & the Pips ("Save the Overtime (For Me)"), Tavares ("Ten to One") among others.
"[22] By 1984, Leon met Krystol members Tina Scott and Roberta Stiger at a Hollywood burger stand and asked to audition them.
[23] They ended up singing backup vocals on several of his projects[23] and he produced songs on their 1984 album Gettin' Ready and 1985's Talk Of The Town.
Between 1984 and 1988 Leon would have moderate success with Five Star ("Another Weekend", "Rock My World"), Evelyn "Champagne" King ("Flirt," "Hold On to What You Got"), Stacy Lattisaw ("You Ain't Leavin'"), The Spinners, Howard Hewett ("I Commit to Love"), Krystol ("After the Dance Is Through)).
[2][27] In 2011, he remixed Gladys Knight's new single, a re-recording of the Leiber/Stoller classic "I (Who Have Nothing)", a recording produced by his son, Leon Sylvers IV.