Sylvia (singer) - Surprises, Country Roots and Retirement

Surprises, Country Roots and Retirement

The release of her fourth album, Surprise, marked her second foray into the Adult Contemporary charts, but it was not well received in country music.

All four of Sylvia's albums were produced by Tom Collins, who also produced Mandrell, Charley Pride, and Ronnie Milsap. They have been described by critics as too slick for country music.

Her following album, One Step Closer, produced by The Judds' producer Brent Maher, had a more "earthy" feel to it and was more acoustic as opposed to her previous slick countrified pop oriented music. Sylvia's final top 40 country hit was "Nothin' Ventured, Nothin' Gained", from the unreleased album "Knockin Around". The shelving of this album marked the end of Sylvia's tenure with RCA Records. The label did release a greatest hits compilation and a single from it titled "Straight from my Heart". The record received no promotion from RCA and the single charted in the low 60s. In the late 1980s RCA began streamlining its roster of country-pop artists and the casualties included Sylvia, Dolly Parton, Louise Mandrell, Deborah Allen, Juice Newton, John Denver and Kenny Rogers.

Over an eight-year period, Sylvia crisscrossed America many times with her popular concert performances (over 200 per year), and she was a frequent guest on network television talk shows and specials — from The Today Show and Good Morning, America to Dick Clark's American Bandstand and the Country Music Awards.

Her decision to stop touring and recording at the end of the 1980s was not fueled by the grueling schedule, as some might guess, but by her desire to bring more of herself to the music. So, she turned her energies to songwriting and began a new phase of her journey.