Soul and gospel matriarch, CISSY HOUSTON died on Monday, 7th October. She was 91 and it’s reported that she died at home in New Jersey after receiving hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease. Her daughter in law, Pat Houston announced the sad news: “Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We loss the matriarch of our family. Mother Cissy has been a strong and towering figure in our lives. A woman of deep faith and conviction, who cared greatly about family, ministry, and community. Her more than seven-decade career in music and entertainment will remain at the forefront of our hearts. Her contributions to popular music and culture are unparalleled. We are blessed and grateful that God allowed her to spend so many years with us and we are thankful for all the many valuable life lessons that she taught us. May she rest in peace, alongside her daughter, Whitney and granddaughter Bobbi Kristina and other cherished family members.”
Sadly, maybe, in the mainstream Cissy is best known as the mother of Whitney, but serious soul fans know that through a lengthy career first with the Drinkard Singers, the Sweet Inspirations and as a solo artist, she was right up there with all the great soul divas.
Cissy was born Emily Drinkard and began her music career as a child as part of the Drinkard Four alongside her sister Anne and brothers Larry and Nicky. With the addition of more family members (including sister Lee who was the father of Dionne Warwick), the “four” became the Drinkard Singers – a major gospel attraction in and around New Jersey whilst also picking up session work in the New York studios.
In 1963, Cissy embraced the “devil’s music” and formed the Sweet Inspirations with Doris Troy and niece Dee Dee Warwick. The line up of that group eventually consisted Cissy, Sylvia Shemwell, Estelle Brown, and Myrna Smith. The quartet became in-demand backing singers working with a host of “names” – people like Dionne Warwick, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Van Morrison and, of course Aretha Franklin. Maybe, most famously, they backed Elvis Presley during his legendary Las Vegas residencies. The Sweets also released a series of acclaimed albums and singles with songs like ‘You Really Didn’t Mean It’ and a searing version of ‘Alfie’ now regarded a soul masterpieces.
In 1970, Cissy Drinkard embarked on a solo career, first using the pseudonym “Cecily Blair”, before adopting the more familiar , fist “Sissie” then “Cissy Houston” tag (she’d married John Houston in 1963). Amongst her acclaimed solo albums is the classic ‘Presenting Cissy Houston’ while she was the first to record ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’. She also (for a time) embraced disco – enjoying a disco hit with ‘Think It Over’. Whilst pursuing her own career, she was also an in-demand session singer working with artists as diverse as Bette Midler and Paul Simon, Herbie Mann and JJ Cale. Of course, she also worked with daughter Whitney.
In the 90s Ms Houston returned to gospel. Indeed in 1996 she won the Grammy for Best Traditional Gospel album for her ‘Face To Face’ album. Cissy maintained her musical career whilst also working as a pastor at Newark, NY’s New Hope Baptist Church where she also led the choir!
True soul folk know that Cissy Houston (both as a solo singer and with the Sweet Inspirations) deserves a place in the pantheon of great soul divas, If you doubt that check out almost any of her solo recordings – but maybe seek out things like ‘Nothing Can Stop Me’, ‘Things To Do’ or that original ‘Midnight Train’. If they don’t move you, you aint got soul!