No wonder that he used to have them open his concerts.īy the way, I'm writing this with the album playing away. Presumably, Elvis' decision to have The Sweet Inspirations join him as part of his band must have been based partly on the strength of this album. The fact this recording alone based on the Ritchie Unterberger liner note essay landed them a long term gig as Elvis Presley's backing group without any audition needed says it all! Late 60s soul at its best. Well, what a great revelation this album is. Although The Sweet Inspirations always provided excellent support to Elvis, I wasn't certain what to expect from an album that put the focus on them. I bought this because as an Elvis fan I've always been curious about the work of the people who provided him with vocal and instrumental backing. Apart from a few tracks included on a 'Greatest Hits' compilation many are on CD here for the first time. While I bought all their subsequent recordings (including the disappointing Stax recording after Houston had departed) none ever achieved the soulful heights on the evidence here. Recorded in both NY and Memphis, this CD demonstrates is that this was to be by far the best work of the group, using a great mix of new songs and older songs made famous by others, and in the production hands of Dowds and Wexler the old Atlantic magic being much in evidence, though one suspects budget limits (witness the LP cover and old style DJ liner notes that Atlantic so loved) were in force. Latest Audio (and video) updates : Video courtesy of Elvis Presley MP3 Audio Central. ' which no doubt they would have provided vocal accompaniment on the original. The choices of songs are also wonderful and include Aretha Franklin's 'Do Right Woman. The production values are great: the sound is clear, dynamic, with great stereo separation.
The Inspirations were also served well by the musicians, engineers, and producers on this album. Emily 'Cissy' Houston (yes Whitney's mother) was the real killer feature of the group, certainly when listening to this CD, and she was backed by three very competent singers in Myrna Smith, Sylvia Shemwell and Estelle Brown who managed a great mix of a gospel sound and Atlantic soul music.Īlthough origanally released in 1967, this album is still so fresh and so strong. He did not have to go that far, he had an ideal group in front of him (as Elvis fans know), but the person to bring in, or rather bring back was the groups founder, Cissy Houston. On stage during the filming of ' Elvis: That's The Way it Is' Elvis joked and teased the 'Sweet Inspirations' that you would bring in the Supremes, with Mahalia Jackson singing lead.
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