The Sweet Inspirations

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The Sweet Inspirations are an American singing group that recorded their first records in 1967 . At the time the group consisted of Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney Houston and aunt of Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick ), Estelle Brown, Myrna Smith and Sylvia Shemwell (sister of Judy Clay ). She became internationally known primarily through her collaboration with Elvis Presley .

history

The beginnings of the group, rooted in gospel and soul , go back to a singing group founded in the late 1950s by sisters Cissy Houston (originally Emily Drinkard) and Lee Warwick (nee Drinkard) , in which Lee's daughter Dee Dee Warwick also played. The group started out under the name The Drinkard Sisters .

Dee Dee Warwick was the main singer of the group until she left it in 1965 to start a solo career. She was replaced by Myrna Smith.

In 1967 the Sweet Inspirations performed as the backing choir on Van Morrison's hit Brown Eyed Girl , which was released in June 1967 and reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the same year the Sweet Inspirations produced their first own recordings under the label of Atlantic Records .

1968 followed two more long-playing records of the group as well as their participation in Jimi Hendrix 's long-playing record Electric Ladyland and Dusty Springfield's long-playing record Dusty In Memphis .

In the following years they were companions of Elvis Presley and can be seen in the documentary Elvis - That's the Way It Is . At the same time they also worked occasionally with Aretha Franklin .

Their fourth LP ( Sweets For My Sweet ) was released in 1969. Then Cissy Houston left the group to devote herself to her solo career and to spend more time with her family. The long-playing record Sweet, Sweet Soul , recorded in late 1970, was already recorded with her short-term successor Ann Williams, a friend of Estelle Brown. After Williams left the group soon, the Sweet Inspirations continued to work as a trio.

In 1978 they worked as an accompanying choir in the film Grease . A year later, Estelle Brown left the group and was replaced by Gloria Brown on the BeeGees' Spirits Having Flown tour , while Pat Terry stepped in for the recordings of the LP Hot Butterfly, published in the same year (1979) . The group then broke up, but was revived in 1994 by Estelle Brown, Myrna Smith and Sylvia Shemwell, as well as the newly added Portia Griffin. In 2005 the group released another long-playing record. Two of its members died in 2010: Sylvia Shemwell on February 13 and Myrna Smith on December 24.

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US R&B R&B
1967 The Sweet Inspirations US90 (6 weeks)
US 		R&B12 (14 weeks)
R&B
Atlantic Records
1973 Estelle, Myrna and Sylvia - R&B60 (2 weeks)
R&B
Stax Records

More albums

  • 1968: Songs Of Faith And Inspiration (Atlantic Records)
  • 1968: What The World Needs Now Is Love (Atlantic Records)
  • 1969: Sweets For My Sweet (Atlantic Records)
  • 1970: Sweet, Sweet Soul (Atlantic Records)
  • 1979: Hot Butterfly ( RSO Records )
  • 2005: In The Right Place (Frixion Records)

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US R&B R&B Dance Dance
1967 Why (Am I Treated So Bad)
The Sweet Inspirations 		US57 (5 weeks)
US 		R&B36 (5 weeks)
R&B 		-
Let It Be Me
The Sweet Inspirations 		US94 (2 weeks)
US 		R&B13 (6 weeks)
R&B 		-
1968 Sweet Inspiration
The Sweet Inspirations 		US18 (14 weeks)
US 		R&B5 (14 weeks)
R&B 		-
To Love Somebody
What The World Needs Now Is Love 		US74 (4 weeks)
US 		R&B30 (4 weeks)
R&B 		-
Unchained Melody
What The World Needs Now Is Love 		US73 (5 weeks)
US 		R&B41 (3 weeks)
R&B 		-
1969 Crying in the Rain
 - R&B42 (3 weeks)
R&B 		-
1970 (Gotta Find) A Brand New Lover
Sweet, Sweet Soul 		- R&B25 (9 weeks)
R&B 		-
This World
 - R&B45 (4 weeks)
R&B 		-
1971 Evidence
 - R&B44 (2 weeks)
R&B 		-
2002 Love Revolution
 - - Dance9 (14 weeks)
Dance
with Pat Hodges
2005 Celebration
In The Right Place 		- - Dance34 (8 weeks)
Dance

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ a b Chart sources: US