Wylie Trass

Wylie was born in Lake Providence, Louisiana and spent his youth between Lake Providence and Vicksburg, Mississippi where he attended school. His musical career began at an early age in Vicksburg singing in church. His first musical influence was a woman named Julia Lowe, who sang in the church choir with his mother. At the age of 14, his family moved to Berkeley, CA. where he started singing doowap on the street corners and recreation centers as well as singing gospel in church. In 1957 at the age of 19, he started singing with a group called "The Holidays" which consisted of Stan Harris, Kenneth Pleasant, John Foster, Isaiah Brown and Elton. They sang around the Bay area for a couple years. Wylie moved on to sing with a group called "The Five Warriors" that included Larry Fields, Howard Bullard, Eugene "Chico" Waters, and Henry Stevenson. They were all in the Navy except for Wylie, so when they had to leave Oakland, the group ended. Wylie then joined Ken Pleasant, Freddie Hughes, Billy Harrison, Marcellus Matthews and formed a gospel group called "The Five Disciples." They attended Ephesians Church of God and Christ in Berkeley, CA. and sang in the choir. After singing together for three years, the group changed their name to "The Four Rivers" where they started singing rock and roll. They replaced Billy Harrison and Marcellus Matthews with Connie Bailey. They began recording for Septor Records out of New York City and recorded their biggest record called "I Confess". The group worked with various artists including The Olympics, Ike and Tina Turner, Jimmy McCracklin, Johnny Taylor, Johnny Morisette, The Sharelles, Gary U.S. Bond, Bobby Bland, Marvin Gaye, T Bone Walker, Lowell Folsom, ZZ Hill and all local Bay area artists.After recording for various records labels over a period of four years and many major disappointments, the group went their separate ways. In 1965, Wylie started his own rhythm and blues band and worked throughout the Bay area including The Jay Payton Revue. Wylie and Connie Bailey worked at the Safari Room, a major San Jose supper club, for a year where they opened for such acts as Wayne Newton, The Ink Spots, Pearl Bailey, Nancy Wilson, Alan King, Rusty Draper, The Mills Brothers, Patti Page, Don Rickles, Steve Lawrence, Edye Gorme, Robert Goulette, Rodney Dangerfield and various other entertainers. After a year, Connie Bailey pursued other employment. Wylie teamed up with Freddie Hughes and formed a band called "The Cassanova II". They recorded for Fantasy Records, produced by Lonnie Hewitt and had a couple local hits, the most notable "We Got To Keep On." In 1969, Wylie started a band called "The California Soul Explosion" with Joseph "Bobo" Cotton, Richard MCCowan, Donald Mack, and Earl Slack. After two years together playing throughout California, the band began traveling across the country with The Ballads, a singing group from Oakland, CA. They toured and/or appeared at venues with such artists as The Isley Brothers, Joe Simon, The Stylistics, The Five Stair Steps, Gene Knight, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Junior Walker, The Ohio Players, B.B. King, Billy Paul, The Detroit Emeralds, Vernon Garrett and various other people. In November of 1975, Wylie moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where he started singing with a band called "The Saturday Night Blues Band". He worked throughout the upper mid-west and southwest playing nightclubs and dance halls. Wylie retired from singing for several years. In 1987, Wylie returned to the Bay Area and resumed his singing career; first with Beverly Stovall then eventually with The Bay Area Blues Society Caravan of Allstars and Ronnie Stewart. He also formed his own group which consisted of Bobby Young, Andy Dinsmoor, Shonka Shephard, and Tony Bledsoe. Wylie Trass passed away 12th January 2021 due to Covid. Wylie had been in a care home for dementia/Alzheimer’s the past year or so.