The Sweet Inspirations: The Sweet Inspirations (1967)

If one was cutting a soul, R&B, pop, rock, or girl group record in New York in the '60s and needed female backup vocals, chances are they would try to get the Sweet Inspirations first. They found their way onto numerous recordings, including hits by the Drifters, Van Morrison, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke and, most famously, Aretha Franklin, with whom they sometimes toured. The group evolved from the '50s gospel group the Drinkard Singers. At various points Doris Troy, Judy Clay, Dionne Warwick, and sister Dee Dee Warwick were members, but by the time they began to record on their own for Atlantic Records in 1967 as the Sweet Inspirations, their leader was Cissy Houston. According to the liner notes of their self titled debut album, Jerry Wexler turned to Cissy and told her he had an inspiration, to which she promptly replyed, "oh, sweet!" Actually the group brought so much inspiration to the singers they backed, that Chuck Jackson suggested that name, and since there was already a group with that name, they added "Sweet" in front of it. In the summer of that year the Sweet Inspirations recorded some soul-like versions of ‘Why (Am I Treated So Bad)’ and ‘Let It Be Me,’ which reached number 57 and number 94 on the pop charts respectively. On the R&B charts, moreover, the songs reached number 36 and number 13, really establishing the girls as major recording artists. A breath-taking version of Aretha Franklin’s ‘Do Right Woman-Do Right Man’ was next up, but it failed to chart so closely after it predecessor. The girls had recorded enough songs to make their first album, and the title track, ‘Sweet Inspiration,’ became their biggest hit yet. It peaked at number 18 on the pop charts, but made it all the way to the Top 5 on the R&B listings. Houston left the group at the end of the '60s and the Inspirations left Atlantic in the early '70s, sometimes working with Elvis Presley and recording an album for Stax in 1973. Needless to say, they are one of my favourite girl groups! ~ http://www.answers.com/, http://www.geocities.com/

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