The Sweet Inspirations

The Sweet Inspirations were founded by Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney Houston, and sister of Lee Warrick (herself the mother of well-known sisters Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick). Emily and Lee were members of The Drinkard Singers, a family group that had the distinction of recording the first gospel album to appear on a major label: A live recording from The Newport Jazz Festival in 1959. The line-up included Judy Guions (who later became Judy Clay), Marie Epps, Larry Drinkard, Nicholas Drinkard, Ann Moss, Lee and Emily. The original backup group that was so in demand among producers, publishers, artists, and songwriters in the early ‘60’s included Doris Troy and the two Warwick sisters, with both Doris and Dionne enjoying solo careers with hits ("Just One Look" and "Don’t Make Me Over" respectively) in 1963. At that time, Sylvia Shemwell (sister of Judy Clay) replaced Doris; while Cissy Houston took over from Dionne, with Dee Dee Warwick as the group’s official leader. The group sang backup for many stars, including Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke, Esther Phillips, Aretha Franklin, and Elvis Presley. Dee Dee left in 1965, when her solo career began to take off. She was replaced by Myrna Smith. Estelle Brown joined the team soon after, and the line-up that was to become an Atlantic recording group was set. In April 1967 they made their first single without much chart success. An August session in Memphis yielded the bulk of songs used for the group’s self-titled debut album, released in the late fall of 1967. In 1968 they also began working with Elvis Presley as both background singers and his warm-up act, as well as doing occasional ‘live’ dates with Aretha Franklin. Their fourth album was recorded in February 1969 in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with the famed Muscle Shoals rhythm section. Cissy Houston would record one last session with the gorup in October 1969 before persuing a solo career. A final Atlantic session in June 1970 brought the group (now a trio with Estelle, Myrna, and Sylvia) its last two singles for the label. By 1979, Estelle had quit the group and was replaced by Gloria Brown, who toured with them but didn’t sing on The Sweet Inspirations’ last LP, Hot Butterfly, on RSO, with singer Pat Terry featured on the actual recording. The group broke up shortly thereafter. In 1978, they sang backing vocals on Frankie Valli's No.1 hit "Grease" from the film of the same name. They (Estelle, Myrna and Sylvia) got back together again in 1994, with new member Portia Griffin. They perform at Elvis Presley tribute shows. Sylvia suffered a stroke in 2001 that has kept her from performing with the group. Get your hands on the self-titled album and listen to the song called "Sweet Inspiration". Cissy's solo-part will give you goose bumps! Find out more about her at: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/cissy_houston

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