The Sweet Inspirations

Originating from earlier ensembles like the Drinkard Singers, Gospelaires, and Gospel Wonders, the Sweet Inspirations advanced to elite status as both session and touring background vocalists while carving out their own path as a recording act. Famous above all for their lengthy partnerships with Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley, the quartet also appears on multiple Top Ten pop singles, among them Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl," Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man," and Frankie Valli's "Grease." After signing with Atlantic they placed nine singles on the charts from 1967 to 1971. Most A-sides consisted of covers, yet their strongest showing came with the original Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham song "Sweet Inspiration," a number 18 pop hit. Across their five Atlantic LPs, sequenced from The Sweet Inspirations to Sweet Sweet Soul, they returned to their sacred origins on the all-original gospel album Songs of Faith & Inspiration. Following brief periods with Stax and RSO in the 1970s and an extended break from the 1980s into the mid-1990s, the group has issued occasional recordings while remaining active onstage, especially in Elvis tribute performances.

Cissy Houston, born Emily Drinkard, began singing with the Drinkard Four, a Newark sibling act that later grew into the Drinkard Jubilaires and the Drinkard Singers. One of their releases, A Joyful Noise, became the first major-label gospel album by any such group. In 1963, the year she issued a single as Cecily Blair and gave birth to daughter Whitney Houston, she assembled a new quartet with nieces Dionne and Delia "Dee Dee" Warwick plus Doris Troy. The Warwicks had already sung with the Drinkards and helped form the Gospelaires, sometimes joined by Houston; Troy, also known as Doris Payne, had worked as a session backup singer alongside the Warwicks. By early 1967 the lineup consisted of Houston, Gospelaires members Sylvia Shemwell and Myrna Smith, and Estelle Brown, formerly of the Twilight Gems and Gospel Wonders. Each of the four had already recorded solo and in shifting combinations as background singers. Their collaboration took shape in New York when Atlantic's Jerry Wexler, aided by Chuck Jackson, christened them the Sweet Inspirations.

The Sweet Inspirations launched their Atlantic tenure by supporting Franklin on "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" in February and Van Morrison on "Brown Eyed Girl" the following month, before stepping into the studio for themselves. In April 1967 the singers emerged from Atlantic Recording Studios with contemporary covers that, sources agree, either reaffirmed or intensified their gospel foundation. "Why (Am I Treated So Bad)," written by Pops Staples for the Staple Singers, and "Let It Be Me," the English version of "Je t'appartiens" first popularized by the Everly Brothers and later by Betty Everett and Jerry Butler, appeared as singles and reached numbers 36 and 13 on Billboard's soul chart, respectively, with Hot 100 peaks of 57 and 94. The pattern of A-side choices and chart results, together with the 1967 debut album The Sweet Inspirations, set the template for the remainder of their Atlantic catalog. Later that year their session work expanded to include the Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Burning of the Midnight Lamp."

In 1968 the Sweet Inspirations achieved their largest hit with "Sweet Inspiration," the final single drawn from the first album. One of only two originals they would chart, the Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham composition climbed to number five on the soul chart and remained their sole Top 40 pop entry at number 18. Later that year they issued the entirely self-written Songs of Faith & Inspiration, billed as Cissy Drinkard & the Sweet Inspirations to underscore its gospel focus, along with What the World Needs Now Is Love. The latter contained versions of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody" and Alex North and Hy Zaret's "Unchained Melody," originally sung by Todd Duncan before the Righteous Brothers' hit, both of which performed solidly as singles.

Over the next two years Sweets for My Sweet and Sweet Sweet Soul appeared as the group's fourth and fifth Atlantic albums. "Gotta Find (A Brand New Lover)," supplied by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and the final lead vocal Cissy Houston recorded with the group before her exit, became the strongest A-side from these releases, reaching number 25 on the soul chart. Throughout this span and into 1971, when the Sweet Inspirations released their last charting single, "Evidence," Ann Williams joined in place of Houston and later reduced the lineup to a trio. The singers maintained their work with Aretha Franklin while beginning a sustained collaboration with Elvis Presley. In the studio they also backed fellow Atlantic artists such as Yusef Lateef and Dusty Springfield, most notably on the latter's Dusty in Memphis.

After departing Atlantic, Estelle Brown, Myrna Smith, and Sylvia Shemwell signed with Stax and released Estelle, Myrna, and Sylvia in 1973. Elvis Presley continued to employ the group until his death in 1977. Signed next to RSO, they contributed to Frankie Valli's 1978 number one pop single "Grease" and, in 1979, toured with RSO act the Bee Gees, issued the disco-oriented Hot Butterfly, and disbanded. Hot Butterfly featured Smith and Shemwell with Pat Terry substituting for Estelle Brown, although Gloria Brown performed the part onstage that year.

Brown, Smith, and Shemwell revived the Sweet Inspirations in 1994, adding veteran background singer Portia Griffin, who had recorded with Kenny Rogers, Jeffrey Osborne, and Ray Charles. Shemwell ceased performing with the group after suffering a stroke in 2001. Remaining active chiefly through assorted Elvis Presley tribute concerts, they also supplied backup vocals on two tracks from the Killers' 2004 album Hot Fuss and released the new album In the Right Place in 2005. Shemwell died in February 2010; Smith, after a series of health issues, died that December. Brown and Griffin, later joined by Kelly Jones, have continued performing as the Sweet Inspirations into the 2020s.