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Cissy Houston

A voice that rang clear no matter the nature of the material with which she worked, whether it was gospel, soul, or disco, Cissy Houston was a driving force of the Drinkard Singers, the Gospelaires, and the Sweet Inspirations before her extensive and high-profile session work naturally led to a solo career. Although she released her first solo single in 1963, the year she gave birth to Whitney Houston, she made her full-length debut seven years later with a self-titled recording that contained resounding cover versions of "I'll Be There" and "Be My Baby." Houston also recorded the original version of "Midnight Train to Georgia," and from 1976 through 1980 cut five albums, starting with a featured role on Herbie Mann's Surprises, and continuing with four LPs recorded with producer Michael Zager. "Think It Over" (1978), her biggest single from the period, nearly eclipsed the success of "Be My Baby" and became a Top Five disco hit. Houston, who also wrote, arranged, and produced, remained active with session background work, joined Whitney on occasion, and in the '90s reached a stylistic full circle with a pair of Grammy-winning gospel albums, Face to Face (1996) and He Leadeth Me (1997). Before her death in 2024, she published the book Remembering Whitney: My Story of Love, Loss, and the Night the Music Stopped. Cissy Houston was born Emily Drinkard in Newark and began her career as a member of her family's gospel group, the Drinkards. In the early '60s, she joined the Gospelaires, which with her direction evolved into a floating group of singers known simply as the Group (including at various points Doris Troy and niece Dee Dee Warwick) to provide backup vocals on numerous soul, pop, and rock sessions. They contributed to many Atlantic sessions in particular, and Atlantic executive Jerry Wexler signed the act to the label in 1967. Named the Sweet Inspirations, they recorded some excellent gospel-flavored soul in the late '60s, managing a few hits, as well as continuing to back up other artists -- most notably Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, and Jimi Hendrix -- before Houston left to concentrate on a solo career at the end of 1969. Under the names Cecily Blair and Sissie Houston, Houston had cut solo singles for small labels, but it wasn't until 1970 that she was able to release her first album, originally issued in the U.K. as Presenting Cissy Houston, and then on Janus in the U.S. as simply Cissy Houston. The album yielded a couple cover versions that registered on Billboard's R&B chart: "I'll Be There" (number 45) and "Be My Baby" (number 31), songs respectively popularized by Gerry & the Pacemakers and the Ronettes. Much in the manner of the Sweet Inspirations, although the material consisted of fairly well-worn soul, rock, and pop tunes, the state-of-the-art arrangements and gospel-ish vocals made them sound fresh. While Houston issued several more singles for Janus through 1973, she never received the support and promotion she deserved. A case in point was her little-known original version of "Midnight Train to Georgia," taken to the top of the charts about a year later by Gladys Knight & the Pips. Houston was featured on flutist Herbie Mann's 1976 album Surprises, and as she continued her regular work on sessions and commercial jingles, she released a studio album each year from 1977 through 1980. All four were lavishly produced and arranged by Michael Zager. First, for Private Stock, she recorded Cissy Houston [1977] and Think It Over. Three charting singles highlighted by "Think It Over" (number 32 R&B, number five disco), a string-laden dancefloor number Houston co-wrote, resulted from those sessions. Houston then signed on with Columbia for Warning - Danger and Step Aside for a Lady. "It Doesn't Only Happen at Night" (another Houston composition) and "You're the Fire," both taken from the latter, registered on the disco chart in tandem at number 24. Not until the early '90s did Houston record another album, but she sang background on notable '80s recordings by the likes of Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross, and Diana Ross, and in 1987, she recorded a duet with daughter Whitney ("I Know Him So Well"). She made an album of duets with Chuck Jackson, I'll Take Care of You, released on Shanachie in 1992. Later in the decade, she made two albums that won the Grammy for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album: Face to Face and He Leadeth Me, issued respectively in 1996 and 1997. Around the same time, she contributed to the soundtracks of A Time to Kill and the Whitney vehicle The Preacher's Wife, and also appeared in the latter. Following Whitney's death in 2012, Houston published the book Remembering Whitney: My Story of Love, Loss, and the Night the Music Stopped. Houston died on October 7, 2024, at the age of 91, while in hospice care for Alzheimer's disease.
© Andy Kellman & Richie Unterberger /TiVo
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