James “Jim” Gilstrap, a singer whose credits include the Good Times theme song and Stevie Wonder‘s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” has died. He was 79.
Gilstrap’s nephew and family spokesperson, Geoffrey “Geoff Gil” Gilstrap, said he died Saturday from natural causes.
Gilstrap sang the song for Good Times, which ran from 1974-79, with Blinky Williams. The catchy, gospel-tinged tune (“Keepin’ your head above water/Making a wave when you can”) was composed by Dave Grusin with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman.
Gilstrap was a featured vocalist with Stevie Wonder’s Wonderlove and contributed to many of the singer’s recordings. He sang the first two lines of Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” (“You are the sunshine of my life/That’s why I’ll always be around”). Singer Lani Groves sang the next two lines (“You are the apple of my eye/Forever you’ll stay in my heart”) before Wonder’s vocals kick in, with Gilstrap and Groves continuing to sing backup. The song, from Wonder’s 1972 album Talking Book, won the Grammy Award for best male pop vocal performance.
Gilstrap also worked on Wonder’s albums Wonderlove and Innervisions.
