The Sweet Inspirations

The Sweet Inspirations
The Sweet Inspirations in 1967
Background information
Genres	Soul, gospel, R&B
Years active	1950-2005
Associated acts	The Drinkard Singers, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Whitney Houston, Dionne Warwick, Bee Gees, Dee Dee Warwick, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke, T-Bone Walker, Esther Phillips, The Killers
Past members	Cissy Houston Estelle Brown Sylvia Shemwell (deceased) Myrna Smith (deceased)

The Sweet Inspirations were an American R&B girl group founded by Emily "Cissy" Houston (née Drinkard), mother of Whitney Houston, and sister of Lee Warrick (herself the mother of well-known sisters Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick). Houston and Warwick 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 1960s 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, both of which the Sweet Inspirations can be heard on) 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 Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and Esther Phillips. 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 a recording session on March 28, 1967, The Sweet Inspirations provided the back up vocals for Van Morrison on his classic hit "Brown Eyed Girl". It was released in June 1967 and rose to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. In October 2007, Morrison was awarded a Million-Air certificate by BMI for 8 million air plays of "Brown Eyed Girl".