Emily Drinkard (born September 30, 1933), better known as Cissy Houston, is an American soul and gospel singer. She led a successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist. She is the mother of singer and actress Whitney Houston.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, Houston was the youngest of eight children of parents Nicholas (aka Nitch) and Delia Drinkard. In 1938 when Houston was 5 years old her mother, Delia, suffered a stroke and died of cerebral hemorrhage three years later. Her father, Nitch, later died of stomach cancer in 1951 when Houston was 18.
As a child, Houston joined her sister Anne and brothers Larry and Nicky in the gospel singing group, the Drinkard Four in 1938. Houston's sister, Lee (who would later become the mother of singers Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick), later joined the group along with Ann Moss and Marie Epps, and the group was renamed The Drinkard Singers. Houston and the Drinkard Singers regularly performed at New Hope Baptist Church and later recorded a live album for RCA called A Joyful Noise.
Shortly after her father's death, Houston married her first husband in 1954 at the age of 21. The two were divorced two years later while Houston was pregnant with her first son, Gary. Still pregnant, Houston met Army serviceman John Houston, and the two were married in 1959.
In 1963, then about to give birth to daughter Whitney Houston, she formed the Sweet Inspirations with Doris Troy and niece Dee Dee Warwick. Later members (and the ones she recorded with on the Atlantic label) were Sylvia Shemwell, Estelle Brown and Myrna Smith. Throughout the mid-1960s, the group provided backup vocals for several artists, including Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Lou Rawls, Otis Redding, The Drifters, and Van Morrison (for "Brown Eyed Girl"). Houston is the operatic soprano in the background on Franklin's hit, "Ain't No Way". The group also sang backup for Elvis Presley in a series of Las Vegas concerts during the late 1960s, and for Cissy's niece Dionne Warwick.
Houston left the Sweet Inspirations in 1969 to pursue a solo career although she continued to be in demand as a session singer. She was signed by Commonwealth United and recorded a well-received album in 1970 and several hit singles shortly thereafter, including covers of "I'll Be There" and "Be My Baby". After her contract was sold to Janus Records in the early 1970s, Houston recorded several more singles in the mid-1970s, including the disco hit "Think It Over", produced by Michael Zager (Let's All Chant) in 1979, and still more under the Private Stock label years later.
She has remained in demand as singer and has the ability to sing in several genres. She is featured on three tracks 'Mexican Divorce', 'All Kinds of People' & 'One Less Bell To Answer' on Burt Bacharach's 1971 solo album. She worked with jazz flute-player Herbie Mann on two Atlantic albums 'Waterbed' & 'Surprise' (1975-76) featuring on three tracks 'Violet Don't Be Blue', 'Cajun Moon' and 'Easter Rising'.
In the mid 1980s, she released a 12" single in the UK, With You I Could Have It All. The single featured both a ballad and a dance version of the title song, and was released on the Glitter label.
She returned to her gospel roots in the 1990s with substantial acclaim. In 1996 she received the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album for Face to Face an album that contained a gospelised version of How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) and she won the award again in 1998 for her album He Leadeth Me.
She has also continued to record infrequent secular material and in 1987, Houston and her daughter Whitney recorded a duet titled "I Know Him So Well". In 1992 she teamed up with Chuck Jackson for an album of solo and duet recordings entitled 'I'll Take Care of You'
In 2006, she recorded the song "Family First" with niece Dionne Warwick and daughter Whitney Houston for the soundtrack to the movie Daddy's Little Girls.
External links
Cissy Houston at the Internet Movie Database
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cissy_Houston"
Categories: 1933 births | Whitney Houston | Living people | African American singers | American female singers | American gospel singers | American soul singers | American rhythm and blues singers | New Jersey musicians | People from Newark, New Jersey | Grammy Award winnersHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since July 2008
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