Cissy Houston
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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2009) |
| Cissy Houston | |
|---|---|
 Cissy Houston in 1975 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Emily Drinkard |
| Born | September 30, 1933 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | Soul, gospel, disco |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals (soprano) |
| Years active | 1938–present |
| Labels | RCA, Commonwealth United, Private Stock, Motown, Janus, Major Minor, Columbia, House of Blues, A&M, Delta Music, Neon, Intersound, Harlem Records |
| Associated acts | Whitney Houston, Sweet Inspirations, The Drinkard Singers, Dionne Warwick, Dee Dee Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Herbie Mann, Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross, Bette Midler, Van Morrisson, Barbra Streisand, David Bowie |
Emily "Cissy" Houston (née Drinkard; born September 30, 1933) is an American soul, gospel singer. She led a successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist, and has won a Grammy Award for her work. She is mother of Whitney Houston, aunt of Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, and cousin of Leontyne Price.
Contents |
Family and childhood [edit]
Early life [edit]
Born Emily Drinkard in Newark, New Jersey to Nitcholas and Delia Mae Drinkard (née McCaskill), she was the eighth child; older siblings were her brothers William, Hansom, Nicky, and Larry, and sisters Lee, Marie and Anne.[1] Houston's father Nitcholas Drinkard was born to Susan Bell (called Delia) Drinkard (née Fuller), of Dutch and African-American descent.[2] His father John Drinkard, Jr., was of Native American and African descent.[1] The Drinkards had owned a substantial amount of farmland in Blakely, Georgia, during a time when it was unusual for blacks to own large portions of land. The asset was gradually depleted as they sold small portions of the land over time, to resolve the continued legal troubles of a close relative.[2]
After Houston's three oldest siblings were born, the family relocated to New Jersey during the Second Great Migration.[2] Her parents emphasized the children getting educated and being involved in the church, and her father encouraged Houston and her siblings to sing.[2] In 1938 when Houston was five years old, her mother, Delia, suffered a stroke and died of cerebral hemorrhage three years later.[3]
Her father died of stomach cancer in 1951 when Houston was 18.[2][4] Cissy and her siblings went to live with her older sister Lee and her husband Mancel Warwick.[5] The Warwicks had three children: a son, Mancel Warwick Jr. and two daughters Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick.[6] Renowned soprano Leontyne Price is a Drinkard cousin.[7][8]
Marriage and children [edit]
In 1955, Houston married Freddie Garland and had a son, Gary Garland, an NBA basketball player and DePaul University Athletic Hall of Famer.[9][10][11] The Garlands divorced soon after.
In 1959, she married John Russell Houston, Jr., a Newark City Administrator and entertainment executive.[10][12] The couple had a son Michael Houston, who became a songwriter, and a daughter, Whitney Houston, who became an R&B/pop singer .[13][14][15] Aretha Franklin was an honorary aunt of Houston's daughter.[16]
In the 1990s, Houston's daughter Whitney began to struggle with drug addiction. Houston staged several interventions to get her daughter into rehabilitation and recovery programs. On one occasion she obtained a court order and the assistance of two sheriffs to intervene, convincing her daughter to undertake treatment at Hope For Women Residential & Therapeutic Services in Atlanta, Georgia.[17] Her daughter cycled through recovery, relapse and rehabilitation programs.[18] On February 11, 2012, Whitney Houston, died at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.[19] After her daughter's death, in an interview with the New Jersey TV station WWOR, Houston expressed her distaste of the media’s coverage of related events: "The media are awful. People have come from here and there, [and they] don't know what they're talking about,” she said. “People I haven't seen in 20 years…Here they come, [they] think they know everything, but that's not true. But God has his way of taking care of all of it, and I'm glad I know that. They really chopped on her, chopped on her … kept, kept, kept." [20] Houston has six grandchildren.[10]
Career [edit]
The Drinkard Singers [edit]
Houston's singing career began in 1938 when she joined her sister Anne and brothers Larry and Nicky in the gospel singing group the Drinkard Four. 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.[21]
Sweet Inspirations [edit]
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, under contract to Atlantic Records, Sylvia Shemwell, Estelle Brown and Myrna Smith form the line-up.
During the mid-1960s, the Sweet Inspirations provided backup vocals for a variety of artists, including Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Lou Rawls, The Drifters, Dusty Springfield and Houston's niece Dionne Warwick. They appeared on Van Morrison's single Brown Eyed Girl. Houston performed the operatic soprano melody on the Aretha Franklin hit, Ain't No Way.[22]
In 1967, The Sweet Inspirations sang background vocals for The Jimi Hendrix Experience on the track Burning of the Midnight Lamp.[23]
In 1969, they were hired to sing backing vocals for Elvis Presley in Las Vegas on his return to live performances during July and August 1969. Presley often introduced them at shows by saying, "They really live up to their name ladies & gentleman, The Sweet Inspirations!" [24] Many of these performances can be heard on the All Shook Up and Live In Las Vegas live records.[24]
Performing with Elvis Presley was Houston's final gig with The Sweet Inspirations. As her children were growing bigger, she decided to stop touring and focus on her career as a recording artist.[24]
Solo career [edit]
In 1969, Houston signed a recording contract with Commonwealth United Records and recorded her solo debut Presenting Cissy Houston which was released in 1970.[24] It contained several well received singles, including covers of "I'll Be There" and "Be My Baby".
After her contract was sold to Janus Records, Houston recorded several more singles in the early 1970s and another album, which included the original recording of Jim Weatherly's "Midnight Train to Georgia", later a number one hit for Gladys Knight & The Pips.[25]
In 1977, Houston was signed by Private Stock Records, working with arranger/producer Michael Zager on three albums. The second included her big disco hit "Think It Over", which climbed to #32 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1979. She represented USA at the World Popular Song Festival in 1979 with a track called "You're the Fire", landing second place and winning the "Most Outstanding Performance Award". This also appeared on her 1980 disco-flavored album, "Step Aside for a Lady", again produced by Michael Zager, but released on Columbia Records (on EMI in the United Kingdom).
Session musician [edit]
Houston's cross-genre singing style has kept her highly in demand as a session musician with some of the world's most successful recording artists.
She sang back-up on Bette Midler's 1972 debut album, The Divine Miss M. In 1974, Houston sang back-up on Linda Ronstadt's Heart Like A Wheel, an album that topped Billboard′s Pop and Country Album Charts in early 1975.
In 1971, Houston was featured on three tracks of Burt Bacharach's self-titled solo album: "Mexican Divorce", "All Kinds of People" and "One Less Bell to Answer".
During 1975 and 1976, she worked with jazz flautist Herbie Mann on two Atlantic albums, Waterbed and Surprises, featuring on three tracks, "Violet Don't Be Blue", JJ Cale's "Cajun Moon" and "Easter Rising".
In addition to her work as choirmaster at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, NJ, Cissy performed frequently at clubs in NYC including Mikell's, Sweetwaters, Seventh Avenue South, and Fat Tuesday from the late 1970s through the 1980s.
Whitney Houston, her daughter and backup singer, increasingly sang solos with Cissy's band, including the Barbra Streisand hit "Evergreen". They would collaborate on Ain't No Way (originally a Cissy Houston and Aretha Franklin vehicle), on which Cissy sang "Cissy" and Whitney "Aretha".
Whitney's "coming-out" performance took place at Sweetwaters,[26] whereupon she was signed by Clive Davis for Arista Records.
In 1985, the small UK independent label Glitter released a single, "With You I Could Have It All" and "Whatcha Gonna Do About Our Love". The 12-inch single featured both a ballad and a dance version of the song.
Gospel soloist and duets [edit]
In 1996, Houston received the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album for Face to Face, an album that contained a Gospel version of "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)".
The same year she contributed one song to the gospel soundtrack album for the film The Preacher's Wife, which starred her daughter Whitney Houston.
In 1998, she won her second Grammy 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", a cover of the original by Barbara Dickson and Elaine Paige from the Broadway show, Chess. This song also became a single in early 1989 as the 6th and last single release (in selected European countries) from Whitney's album Whitney. 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.
In 2010, Cissy attended the third annual BET Honors with her daughter Whitney, who received the entertainment award.
In 2012, Cissy performed "Bridge Over Troubled Water" at the tribute for her daughter at the BET Music Awards.
New Hope Baptist Church Youth Inspirational Choir and McDonald's Gospelfest [edit]
For more than fifty years, Houston has led the 200 member Youth Inspirational Choir at the New Hope Baptist Church.[10] She is driving force behind and performs annually at the McDonald's Gospelfest.
Discography [edit]
Solo [edit]
| Year | Album | Record Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Midnight Train To Georgia | Janus Records |
| 1970 | Presenting Cissy Houston | MajorMinor |
| 1977 | Cissy Houston | Private Stock Records |
| 1978 | Think It Over | Private Stock Records |
| 1979 | Warning - Danger | Columbia Records |
| 1980 | Step Aside For A Lady | Columbia Records |
| 1996 | Face To Face | House of Blues |
| 1997 | He Leadeth Me | A&M Records |
| 1999 | Whitney & Cissy Houston | Delta Music |
| 2001 | Love Is Holding You | Neon |
| 2005 | Cissy Houston Collection | Intersound |
| 2012 | Walk on By Faith | Harlem Records |
Collaborations [edit]
| Year | Title | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Waterbed | Herbie Mann, featuring Houston |
| 1976 | Surprises | Herbie Mann, featuring Houston |
| 1957 | A Joyful Noise[27] | The Drinkard Singers |
Soundtracks [edit]
| Year | Film | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | A Time to Kill | "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" |
| 1996 | The Preacher's Wife: Original Soundtrack Album | "The Lord Is My Shepherd" |
| 1998 | Late Show with David Letterman, Episode dated 23 December | "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" |
| 2007 | Daddy's Little Girls (Original Movie Soundtrack) | "Family First" |
Backing Vocalist [edit]
Musical Arrangements [edit]
| Year | Track | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | "Angels" | Cissy Houston |
| 1996 | "The Lord Is My Shepherd" | The Preacher's Wife: Original Soundtrack Album |
Musical Compositions [edit]
| Year | Title | Collaborator |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | "Count Your Blessings" | |
| 1996 | "Deep River/Campground" | Donny Harper |
| 1976 | "Endless Waters" | David Forman |
Filmography [edit]
Movies [edit]
- The Wiz (1978) (voice) (uncredited) .... The Wiz Singers Adult Choir
- Taking My Turn (1984) (TV)
- The Vernon Johns Story (1994) (TV) .... Rose
- aka Freedom Road: The Vernon Johns Story (UK)
- aka The Road to Freedom: The Vernon Johns Story (USA: alternative title)
- The Preacher's Wife (1996) .... Mrs. Havergal
Shows [edit]
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson .... Herself (3 episodes, 1970)
- aka The Best of Carson (USA: rerun title)
- Episode dated 24 March 1970 (1970) TV episode .... Herself
- Episode dated 20 March 1970 (1970) TV episode .... Herself
- Episode dated 13 March 1970 (1970) TV episode .... Herself
- Gangsters (1979) .... Herself
- aka Hoodlums (USA: video title)
- Late Night with David Letterman .... Herself (1 episode, 1985)
- Episode dated 28 August 1985 (1985) TV episode .... Herself
- Ebony/Jet Showcase .... Herself (1 episode, 1986)
- Episode dated 10 October 1986 (1986) TV episode .... Herself
- The 1st Annual Soul Train Music Awards (1987) (TV) .... Herself
- The 15th Annual American Music Awards (1988) (TV) .... Herself/Performer
- Late Show with David Letterman .... Herself (1 episode, 1998)
- aka Late Show Backstage (USA: title for episodes with guest hosts)
- aka Letterman (Australia)
- aka The Late Show (USA: informal short title)
- Episode dated 23 December 1998 (1998) TV episode .... Herself
- Intimate Portrait .... Herself (1 episode, 2004)
- Dionne Warwick (2004) TV episode .... Herself
- This Time (2008) .... Herself
References [edit]
- ^ a b "Geni.com: Emily Houston (Drinkard)". April 13, 2011. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Houston, Cissy (September 2, 2009). "Visionary Project Video - Cissy Houston: My Family". Retrieved February 11, 2012.
- ^ "Geni.com: Delia Drinkard (McCaskill)". April 13, 2011. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
- ^ "Geni.com: Nitcholas Drinkard". April 13, 2011. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
- ^ Warwick, Dionne (2010). My Life, as I See It. 1230 Avenue of the Americas, NY, NY 10020: Atria Books. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-4391-7134-9.
- ^ Warwick, Dionne (2010). My Life, as I See It. 1230 Avenue of the Americas, NY, NY 10020: Atria Books. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4391-7134-9.
- ^ Warwick, Dionne (2012). My Life, as I See It. 1230 Avenue of the Americas, NY, NY, 10020, USA: Atria Books. ISBN 978-1-4391-7134-9.
- ^ "Artistopia.com". Dionne Warwick. iCubator Labs LLC. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
- ^ "Gary Garland Houston Is Whitney Houston Brother". Celebrity Justice. Ghana Politics. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Cissy Houston: National Visionary". Oral History Videos. http://www.visionaryproject.org. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
- ^ "Gary Garland: NBA & ABA Stats". Basketball Reference. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
- ^ Walters, Judy (February 12, 2012). "Whitney Houston News: Life and Times of the American Singing Snesation Who Died at 48". Belle News. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
- ^ Skittles, D. "Michael Houston". Celebrity Siblings. Celebrity Siblings Blog. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
- ^ Silverman, Stephen M. "Whitney Houston's Brother Arrested". www.people.com. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
- ^ Merriman, Rebecca. "Michael Houston 'Devastated' At Death of Sister". New. www.entertainmentwise.com. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ^ Whitall, Susan. "Aretha Franklin recalls meeting a young Whitney Houston". The Detroit News. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ Winfrey, Oprah (September 2009). "Remembering Whitney: The Oprah Winfrey Interview" (video). Oprah Winfrey Network. p. 40:02 minutes. Retrieved April 21, 2010. "I see the love and the passion that my mother had for me and she walks in with these sheriffs and she says 'I have a court junction here. Either you do it my way or we're just not going to do this at all. We're going to go on TV and you're going to retire and say you're going to give this up. Because this is not worth it. It's not worth it. And if you move Bobby (Brown), they're going to take you down. Don't you make one move. Let's go. Let's do this. I'm not losing you to the world. I'm not losing you to Satan. I want my daughter back. I'm not doing this. I want my daughter back. I want you back. I want to see that glow in your eyes, that light in your eyes. I want to see the child I raised. You weren't raised like this. And I'm not having it.'"
- ^ Winfrey, Oprah (September 2009). "Remembering Whitney: The Oprah Winfrey Interview" (video). Oprah Winfrey Network. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
- ^ Moody, Nekesa Mumbi. "Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies". Associated Press. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
- ^ "Whitney Houston Death: Cissy Houston Breaks Her Silence". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
- ^ McCall, Tris. "The Star Ledger". Song of the Day: Lift Him Up, The Drinkard Singers. www.nj.com. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
- ^ Utenberger, Richie. "All Music Guide". The Sweet Inspirations: Biography. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
- ^ Jimi Hendrix Experience, The. "Discography". Electric Ladyland. discogs.com. Retrieved Feb. 21, 2012.
- ^ a b c d Houston, Cissy. "Cissy Houston Remembers Elvis Presley". The Sweet Inspirations (Video). www.elvis.com.au. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
- ^ "Cissy Houston @ Artist Direct". Cissy Houston @ Artist Direct. www.artistdirect.com. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
- ^ Adam White (March 9, 1985). "Talent in Action: Whitney Houston, Sweetwaters in New York". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 97 (10). ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
- ^ "Drinkard Singers". Biography. Artist Direct. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
- ^ "MUSICA DESDE LAS ANTIPODAS". The Doctor Is In...And Out. brownweb. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
- ^ "Chaka Khan - Clouds". Clouds. JazzFunkster444. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
- ^ "Chaka Khan - Papillion (Hot Butterfly)". Papillion (Hot Butterfly). p4soul. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
- ^ "Cissy Houston Credits". Cissy Houston Credits. Artist Direct. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
External links [edit]
- Cissy Houston at the Internet Movie Database
- Cissy Houston @ Artist Direct
- Cissy Houston's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
- The New Hope Baptist Church
- Young Americans Live Performance with David Bowie
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- 1933 births
- Living people
- Whitney Houston
- American people of Native American descent
- American people of Dutch descent
- African-American female singers
- American gospel singers
- American soul singers
- Musicians from New Jersey
- People from Newark, New Jersey
- Grammy Award-winning artists
- African-American Christians
- Baptists from the United States
- American disco musicians
- American sopranos
- RCA Records artists
- Motown artists
- Columbia Records artists
- A&M Records artists
- Participants in American reality television series
