singer
Personal Information
Born Emily Drinkard; daughter of Nitch (a factory worker) and Delia (a housewife); married John Houston (divorced 1993); children: Gary, Michael, Whitney.
Career
Sang with The Drinkards gospel group; formed group Sweet Inspirations c. 1968; sang backup vocals with the Sweet Inspirations for Atlantic, Muscle Shoals, and New York records; backup singer for Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick; has recorded with Luther Vandross, David Bowie and daughter, Whitney Houston. Has appeared on The David Letterman Show; subject of PBS television program, Sweet Inspiration, 1988; has sung in AIDS benefit concerts; recorded "I'll Take Care of You" with Chuck Jackson, 1992; recorded "Face to Face," 1996; wrote autobiography "How Sweet the Sound: My Life with God and Gospel," 1998; director of youth choir at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, NJ.
Life's Work
When Whitney Houston skyrocketed to superstardom, many wondered what had made her an overnight sensation. Those on the musical scene, however, knew that Whitney's role model was her very talented mother, Cissy. The elder Houston has had a lengthy musical career as a gospel, pop, and blues singer. In fact, one reviewer for the Los Angeles Times commented that mother Cissy's performance at an AIDS benefit put "daughter Whitney to shame."
Cissy Houston is the daughter of Nitch Drinkard, a Newark factory worker, and Delia, a housewife. She started singing at the age of five with the family gospel group, the Drinkard Singers, in Newark, New Jersey. After years of singing gospel, she crossed over into the pop world and formed the group Sweet Inspirations with Sylvia Sherwell, Myrna Smith, and Estelle Brown. Before they recorded on their own, they were to perform on literally hundreds of songs for other artists. Labels they worked under included Atlantic Records in Memphis, Muscle Shoals, and New York.
Then in 1968 the experienced group decided to perform on their own. In that year they released their only two albums: Sweet Inspirations and What the World Needs Now is Love. They made the Top 20 that year with the hit single "Sweet Inspiration." Soon after hitting the charts, however, Cissy left the Sweet Inspirations to pursue a solo career.
Cissy went on to utilize her musical talents in a variety of ways. She was the first person to record "Midnight Train to Georgia," which later became a big hit for Gladys Knight and the Pips. She did backup work for numerous artists, including Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, and recorded with Wilson Pickett, Connie Francis, and Nina Simone. She also scored successes as a solo artist by recording "Tomorrow" and "Think it Over," from the musical Annie.
Nightclub performing is one of Cissy's strong points. In this venue she best showcases her talents as a cross-over artist, combining pop, gospel, and blues. Variety reported on a nightclub act that Houston performed, concluding: "Houston has carved out a niche that defies easy categorization." She turned the country song "You Are Always on My Mind" into a rhythm and blues number and sang "Just the Two of Us" in a rock and roll tempo.
In 1988, the Public Broadcasting System presented a television program chronicling Houston's life entitled Cissy Houston: Sweet Inspiration. The program examined Houston's long career and her impact on the music business. Houston's musical flexibility was showcased in her sessions with such diverse artists as David Bowie, Dionne Warwick, and Luther Vandross. Some artists shared anecdotes about Cissy's music teaching style. According to Vandross, she was a taskmaster who could "make the people around her want to sing their best." Houston responded, "God didn't give you talents to keep to yourself. He gave them to you to share and that's exactly what I try to do. I try to train people to sing out their feelings in their own way."
One segment of the program focused on the reasons why so many gospel artists received criticism for moving into popular music during the 1950s and 1960s. Speaking as one who had experienced this particular type of criticism, Houston commented: "I am a person who believes in what I am doing, whether in church or in secular music. It's all about the love you feel inside. It's really ridiculous, the attacks some gospel singers endure. They just don't know you inside, within your heart, or they wouldn't say those things."
Houston has received numerous awards during her remarkable career. The University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey presented her with its Medal for Humanitarian Leadership in 1992. In 1995, Houston was named as one of the recipients of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation's prestigious Pioneer Award. At the awards ceremony held at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, Houston was presented with the award by her daughter, Whitney.
Houston returned to the recording studio in 1992 and collaborated with Chuck Jackson on the album "I'll Take Care of You." She also recorded a gospel album "Face to Face" in 1996, an album which earned Houston her first Grammy award.
In 1998, Houston published her autobiography entitled "How Sweet the Sound: My Life with God and Gospel." When explaining her reasons for writing the book Houston told People Weekly, "I wanted to talk about my life and my experiences with God. It's important that my children and grandchildren know whence they came and that there was quality."
Houston is a very spiritual person, as her years of singing gospel music attest. It has been said that no matter where Houston is on any given Saturday night--in a recording session with Luther Vandross, David Bowie, or her daughter, or in a smoky nightclub belting out songs--the next morning she will be in church directing the youth choir at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. As she remarked in McCalls: "The voice is God-given.... What I have is only what God gave me, and I've just expanded on that." Throughout her lengthy career, she has kept her life in perspective, and relied on her spirituality."I've been very fortunate in this business," she remarked in Jet. "I've never stopped working even without a current hit record. Somehow or another God has made it so that I could always keep going."
Awards
Medal for Humanitarian Leadership, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, 1992; Pioneer Award, Rhythm & Blues Foundation, 1995; Grammy Award for "Face to Face," 1996.
Works
Selective Discography
- Sweet Inspirations, Atlantic, 1968.
- What the World Needs Now is Love, Atlantic, 1968.
- I'll Take Care of You, (with Chuck Jackson), 1992.
- Face to Face, House of Blues, 1996.
Further Reading
- Billboard, March 5, 1988.
- Jet, April 14, 1986; April, 3, 1995; May 13, 1996.
- McCalls, May 1989.
- People Weekly, August 10, 1998.
- Teen, December 1986.
- Variety, July 30, 1986.
— Nancy Rampson and David Oblender
