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| Cissy Houston |
| When Cissy hit the disco charts in 1978 she was the most unlikey disco artist one could imagine. Yet she was also born for the role of disco diva. Born in Newark New Jersey in 1932, Cissy was already 46 years old when she became a dance floor darling. But her singing roots went way back. The former Emily Drinkard began her career as a member of her family's gospel group, The Drinkards, which also featured her nieces Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick. In the early 1960's, she joined forces with a floating group of singers known simply as The Group (including at various points the late Doris Troy and Dee Dee Warwick) to provide backup vocals on numerous soul, pop, and rock sessions. They contributed to many Atlantic Records sessions in particular, and Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler signed the act to the label in 1967. Renamed The Sweet Inspirations, they recorded some excellent gospel-flavored soul in the late 1960's, managing a few hits (as well as continuing to back up other artists, most notably Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley) before Houston left to go solo at the end of 1969. She recorded an impressive album for Commonwealth United in 1970, "Presenting Cissy Houston," which yielded a couple of small R&B/pop hits: "I'll Be There" and "Be My Baby." Much in the manner of the Sweet Inspirations, although the material consisted of fairly well-worn soul, rock, and pop tunes, the state-of-the-art arrangements and gospel-ish vocals made them sound fresh. Her contract was sold to Janus Records later in the year, and while she issued a few singles there until the middle of the 1970's, she never received the support and promotion she deserved. A case in point was her little-known original version of "Midnight Train To Georgia," taken to the top of the charts about a year later by Gladys Knight & The Pips. In 1977, her contract with Janus over, she moved to Private Stock Records where she was coupled with producer Michael Zager. Their first collaboration together resulted in "Cissy Houston." The album was a continuation of her R&B/gospel styled soul. The album relied heavily on remakes such as "Make It Easy On Yourself" and Elton John's "Your Song." Once again mass recognition and sales success eluded Cissy. All of the elements were there, they just needed to be reformulated in the correct recipe. Mystified by the lack of success of her first release, Michael and Cissy decided to approach her next album with a more aggressive style. Moving away from the traditional R&B sound to a more danceable groove, coupled with her hard-hitting style of singing brought immediate attention to the 1978 release "Think It Over." A 12" single of "Think It Over" hit the clubs and became an instant classic The album was totally disco oriented and sold quite well, yet the elements were still not quite right. Perhaps it was Private Stock's lack of promotion or their impending demise, but things just didn't gel like they should have. Sensing that they had hit upon the right sound, Michael took Cissy and her recordings over to Columbia Records. Picking four tracks from "Think It Over," Michael remixed them and packaged them in her first Columbia Records album, "Warning-Danger." Besides her previous hit ("Think It Over" from 6:00 to 8:00), remixed were: "The Umbrella Song" from 2:58 to 5:52, "Somebody Should Have Told Me" from 4:30 to 8:04, and "Warning-Danger (This Love Affair May Be Hazardous To You)" from 5:56 to 10:25. The elements were finally right, the remixes coupled with a promotional-only 12" single of the title track propelled this album to the top of the club charts. Finally Cissy had achieved the recognition she deserved. Her 1980 follow-up, "Step Aside For A Lady" was chocked full of great songs geared towards dance floors, and featured Luther Vandross and Jocelyn Brown on background vocals. Despite a promotional-only 12" single of "Gonna Take The Easy Way Out" and "You're The Fire" the album didn't garner the success of her previous effort. It was due more to the changing musical landscape than the actual material or recording. Cissy went back to her regular work on sessions and commercial jingles and returned to the gospel fold, as a major figure in the New Hope Baptist Church Choir of Newark, New Jersey where she is musical director. In 1987 Charly Records of the U.K. released an album of her earlier Janus recordings. The 16-track release featured her blues and R&B classics "Midnight Train To Georgia" and the medley of "He" and "I Believe." Daughter Whitney would use the same medley and arrangements on her first national tour in 1986. Mother and daughter had sung together many times, Whitney actually did background vocals on mom's "Think It Over" album and did her first solo recordings for her mom's producer Michael Zager. By 1987 Whitney's star had eclipsed mother's and the two did an actual duet, "I Know Him So Well" for daughter's "Whitney" album. A duet album with veteran soul singer Chuck Jackson in 1992, "I'll Take Care Of You," brought Cissy back to the front of the gospel scene. The gospel albums "Face To Face" in 1996 and "He Leadeth Me" in 1997 followed. Life is good for Cissy these days, she is committed to her church and faith. She enjoys being a grandmother and is extremely proud of Whitney's success. If you're ever in Newark stop in and catch her and her choir's perfromance at The New Hope Baptist Church. |
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