Terry Sylvester

Terence Sylvester (born 8 January 1947) is an English musician and songwriter. He is a former member of the Escorts, the Swinging Blue Jeans (1966–1969), and the Hollies. In the latter role, he took on the high parts formerly sung by Graham Nash, who had left the band in December 1968.

Sylvester grew up in Allerton, Liverpool, and attended school with future Badfinger guitarist, Joey Molland. At the age of 14, Sylvester was employed for a time as a panel beater by George Harrison's brother. The group he co-founded, the Escorts, appeared with the Beatles in the early 1960s. The Escorts recorded their cover of "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" on Fontana Records in 1964. A compilation album of the Escorts, From the Blue Angel, was issued on LP and then, in 1995, on CD.

In 1966, Sylvester began a three-year stint with the Swinging Blue Jeans, replacing guitarist/vocalist Ralph Ellis.

Sylvester's debut with the Hollies in January 1969 saw him sing on the UK chart hit singles "Sorry Suzanne" and "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", plus on the albums Hollies Sing Dylan and Hollies Sing Hollies (both 1969), which debuted Sylvester's songwriting. His first song for the group was "Gloria Swansong", and he continued to write by himself ("Pull Down the Blind", "Cable Car" 1971), with Allan Clarke ("Why Didn't You Believe", "Man Without a Heart", "Perfect Lady Housewife") and as part of Clarke-Hicks-Sylvester.

This trio composed most of the Hollies songs on several albums: Confessions of the Mind (1970), Hollies (1974), Another Night (1975), Write On and Russian Roulette (both 1976 – although neither of the latter two were issued in the US in their original form) plus A Crazy Steal (1978).

Some of Sylvester's work appeared on B-sides on singles including "Indian Girl" (1972), "No More Riders" (1974), in addition to singing lead vocals on the Tony Hicks and Kenny Lynch co-written song, "Oh Granny" (1972).

In addition to high harmony vocals, Sylvester also sang a brief lead vocal section on the 1970 UK hit, "Gasoline Alley Bred" (sung mostly by Allan Clarke). He then took on a greater share of responsibilities during the 1972–73 period, when Swedish vocalist, Mikael Rickfors, temporarily replaced Clarke. Sylvester sang "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" on the Hollies' 1973 US tour and on American television appearances. He later sang a number of lead vocals during this period on Romany (1972). This album included a cover of Judee Sill's "Jesus Was a Crossmaker". On Out on the Road (1973), Sylvester took lead vocals on several songs including "Slow Down, Go Down", "Pick Up the Pieces", and "Mr. Heartbreaker" (which was co-written with Dean Ford of Marmalade).

After a period of discontent, partly over musical policy, Sylvester split with the Hollies in May 1981, in an incident that precipitated the resignation of bassist Bernie Calvert.