The Sweet Inspirations [2021] - Let It Be Me (The Atlantic Recordings 1967-1970) [Soul Music]

David Nathan's Soul Music label has released a 3 CD compilation consisting of 66 tracks by The Sweet Inspirations "Let It Be Me (The Atlantic Recordings 1967-1970)" on 17 Sep 2021.

Formed as The Drinkard Singers in the 50s by Emily 'Cissy' Drinkard  (later Houston and mother to Whitney) with her sister Lee Drinkard (later Warwick and mother of Dionne and Dee Dee). The early line-up of the group included both the Warwicks, Judy Guins (i.e. Judy Clay) and Doris Troy.

They were a much in-demand backing group for many of the true legends such as Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Dusty Springfield and Van Morrison. 

In 1967 they became a group in their own right and went on to record five albums for Atlantic between 1967-71 and a further three in the late 70s. The line-up changed over the years but the main group for the Atlantic albums was Cissy Houston, Sylvia Shemwell, Estelle Brown and Myrna Smith with  Ann Williams replacing Houston in 1969.

I would guess there aren't that many who could name more than a handful of their songs as, even with their pedigree, commercial success eluded them achieving only 9 R&B hits (only three of which were top 40) and only one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, that being "Sweet Inspiration" #18 Hot 100 #5 R&B in 1968.

They stayed fairly true to their gospel roots which is perhaps why they weren't as successful commercially as many other 60s girl groups.

The new compilation contains all tracks from their five Atlantic albums along with twelve non album tacks. Rather than posting the full 66 tracks I've hand picked the 'highlights' i.e. ones I consider the best tracks in no particular order. The 'mind blowing' track for me is the Cissy Houston penned and delivered "You Really Didn't Mean It" from their third album "What The World Needs Now Is Love". 

Thanks to Gary Van Den Bussche who alerted me to Carolyn Franklin's (Aretha's sister) version she recorded on her "Chain Reaction" album in 1970, which I'd forgotten about.

You can listen to the full album here.

The sound level on this recording (or at least the ones uploaded on Spotify) seem to be very low! .. so you'll need to 'pump up the volume'!

By the way our man Roger Williams did the crayoning on this sleeve as well ... busy boy!

Details

Rating:	9
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Album / Compilation
Media:	Digital/CD
Label:	Soul Music
Cat No:	None
Date:	17/09/2021
Value:	£12.88 / £18.68