James Gilreath

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James William Gilreath (November 14, 1936 – September 7, 2003) was an American pop singer and songwriter best known for the 1963 hit "Little Band of Gold," which reached number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Gilreath was born in Una, Mississippi, and started his music career in the early 1960s with a local band called The Nite-Liters. The group released an instrumental, "Nervous," in 1962. Gilreath played guitar and piano.

His first single appeared in 1962 on Vee Eight Records and included "I Need It" and "Time Hasn't Helped," but it didn’t become a hit. In 1963, Statue Records released "Little Band of Gold," with the B-side "I'll Walk With You." Statue later sold the rights to Joy Records in New York, and by the end of April the song was a hit on Joy, reaching #21 on the U.S. pop chart, #19 on the R&B chart, and #29 in the UK. Joy released more singles, including "Lollipops, Lace, and Lipstick" (with "Mean Ole River" as the B-side) and "Keep Her Out of Sight" (with "Blue Is My Color" as the B-side). A 1965 release, "Your Day is Coming" (with "Pearls, Gold, and Silver"), did not do well, and Joy Records shut down later that year, after which Gilreath focused more on songwriting.

In 1967, Jimmy Hughes released a Gilreath-written song, "Why Not Tonight," which rose to #5 on the R&B chart.

"Little Band of Gold" was covered by many artists starting in 1963. It appeared on albums and singles by Bill Anderson (1963), Vince Hill (1966), Boots Randolph (1969), The Hep Stars (1969), The Tennessee Guitars (1977), and Paul Martin (1978). Sonny James recorded it in 1975 and scored a major country hit with it, reaching #5.

In 1972 Gilreath married Kay Long, and they lived on a farm in Saltillo, Mississippi. He died in a tractor accident on September 7, 2003, and was buried in Lee Memorial Park near Tupelo. He and Kay had no children.