Sweet Inspiration is the title of a

Dan Penn Dan Penn (born Wallace Daniel Pennington, November 16, 1941) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s, including "The Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" wi ...

Spooner Oldham Dewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham (born June 14, 1943) is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, at FAME Studios as part of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on such hit R&B songs as Percy ...

composition written for and first recorded in 1967 by

the Sweet Inspirations The Sweet Inspirations were an American R&B girl group mostly known for their work as backup singers on studio recordings for other R&B and rock artists. A founding member of the group was Dionne Warwick, who was later replaced by her aunt, Cis ...

for whom it had afforded a Top 20 hit reaching #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1968: a live version by

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

- in medley with "

Where You Lead "Where You Lead" is a song written in 1970 by Carole King with lyricist Toni Stern, introduced on King's iconic 1971 album ''Tapestry''. A Top 40 hit for Barbra Streisand in both a studio and a live version — the latter in a medley entitled "S ...

" - would also become a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

hit.

Background

The song was recorded in April 1967 at

American Sound Studio The American Sound Studio was a recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee which operated from 1964 to 1972. Founded by Chips Moman, the studio at 827 Thomas Street came to be known as American North, and the studio at 2272 Deadrick Street c ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

in the sessions for the Sweet Inspiration's self-titled debut album produced by

Tommy Cogbill Thomas Clark Cogbill (April 8, 1932 – December 7, 1982) was an American bassist, guitarist and record producer known for his work in R&B, soul and country music. Life and career Cogbill was born in Johnson Grove, Tennessee. He was a high ...

and

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recordings ...

. Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn had observed the recording session for two tracks intended for ''The Sweet Inspirations'' album, which moved Oldham to suggest to Penn that they two could write a stronger song for the group - (Oldham quote:) "As we walked rom the studioup the steps to

he company's He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

offices, Dan said: 'You got any ideas?' I said: 'What's wrong with 'Sweet Inspiration'?" Working with a single guitar Oldham and Penn wrote "Sweet Inspiration" in between an hour to ninety minutes upstairs, then returned to the studio and ran through the song for the Sweet Inspirations and the other session personnel, Penn singing the song to Oldham's guitar accompaniment. Although Tom Dowd called for a lunch break (Dan Penn quote:) "Spooner had he opening rolling guitarlick down so good the musicians wouldn't go eat...They knew by what was happening we could mmediatelycut

he track He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

which was completed in a single take: Dowd and his coterie on returning to the studio from their lunch break were played the completed track of "Sweet Inspiration" - (Oldham quote:) "We basically gave 'em a gift. It was fun to see a creative idea come to fruition in about three hours time." Issued as the fourth single from ''The Sweet Inspirations'' album, "Sweet Inspiration" reached a ''Billboard'' Hot 100 peak of #18 in the spring of 1968 also ranking as high as #5 on ''Billboards

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

. The song also gave the group their first and only

Grammy nomination The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. At the 1969 ceremony, the group lost to

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

' "

Cloud Nine Cloud Nine, cloud 9 or cloud nine is a name colloquially given to the state of euphoria, and may refer to: Books and comics * Cloud 9 (comics), a Marvel Comics superhero that debuted in ''Avengers: The Initiative'' * ''Cloud Nine'' (novel), a 19 ...

Barbra Streisand version

''Main article'': ''Sweet Inspiration/ Where You Lead'' live medley

would reach #37 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with her 1972 single "Sweet Inspiration/ Where You Lead" a medley of "Sweet Inspiration" with "

" which was the advance single from Streisand's live album ''

Live Concert at the Forum ''Live Concert at the Forum'' (retitled ''Barbra Streisand Live'' in Canada) is the second live album by American singer Barbra Streisand, released physically on October 1, 1972 by Columbia Records. Produced by long-time collaborator Richard Perr ...

''.

Other versions

The first evident recorded "cover" of "Sweet Inspiration" was that by

Diana Ross and The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successf ...

in collaboration with

on ''Diana Ross and The Supremes Join The Temptations'' a collaborative album by the two groups released November 1968 for which "Sweet Inspiration" was recorded with

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

and

Eddie Kendricks Edward James Kendrick (December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992), better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temptatio ...

as lead vocalists.

King Curtis Curtis Ousley (born Curtis Montgomery; February 7, 1934 – August 13, 1971), known professionally as King Curtis, was an American saxophonist who played rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock and roll. A bandleader, band member, and session musicia ...

recorded the song on his 1968 album Sweet Soul

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the ''Bill ...

recorded "Sweet Inspiration" for his March 1970 album release '' Right On'', Picket having recorded "Sweet Inspiration" in a 29 August 1969 session at

Criteria Studios Criteria Studios is a recording studio in North Miami, Florida, founded in 1958 by musician Mack Emerman. Hundreds of gold, platinum, and diamond singles and albums have been recorded, mixed or mastered at Criteria, for many notable artists and ...

(Miami) produced by Dave Crawford, which yielded five album tracks. In the autumn and winter of 1975-76

the Yandall Sisters The Yandall Sisters were a popular New Zealand-born Samoan all-female singing group of the 1970s, who made a major contribution to music in New Zealand. The members of the group were Caroline, Mary and Adele Yandall, and later younger sister Pauli ...

would have a

hit in New Zealand with their remake of "Sweet Inspiration" which would peak at #8 on 31 October 1975.

Rita Coolidge Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on '' Billboard'' magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and t ...

recorded "Sweet Inspiration" for her May 1978 album release '' Love Me Again''. In 1989 Dutch female quartet Sisters would have reach #58 on the Nederlands Single Top 100 with their remake of "Sweet Inspiration" taken from the group's album ''Near Me''.

Vonda Shepard Vonda Shepard (born July 7, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, music director and actress. She appeared as a regular in the television show '' Ally McBeal'', as a resident performer in the bar where the show's characters drank, danced and c ...

recorded "Sweet Inspiration" for her 9 November 1999 album release '' Heart and Soul: New Songs from Ally McBeal''.

Jackie DeShannon Jackie DeShannon (born Sharon Lee Myers, August 21, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and radio broadcaster with a string of hit song credits from the 1960s onwards, as both singer and composer. She was one of the first female singer-songwr ...

recorded "Sweet Inspiration" in a 2 December 1970 session at Capitol Recording Studio (Hollywood): the track was first issued as a bonus track on the 2006 CD release of DeShannon's 1971 album ''Songs''.

The Derek Trucks Band The Derek Trucks Band was an American blues rock group founded by young slide guitar prodigy Derek Trucks, who began playing guitar and touring with some of blues and rock music's elite when he was just nine years old. After experimenting as an a ...

on their 2009 release,

Already Free ''Already Free'' is the sixth studio album by The Derek Trucks Band. It was released in the United States on January 13, 2009 by Legacy Recordings. A European release followed on February 20, 2009. The album has received very positive reviews, an ...

, did a cover of Sweet Inspiration, creating a blues version of the song. The song has been sampled by

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

in his 1992 track "

Check Yo Self "Check Yo Self" is the third and final single from American rapper Ice Cube's third solo album, '' The Predator''. It was released on July 13, 1993, and features New York City rappers Das EFX. It topped both the ''Billboard'' R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap c ...

" and by

Salt-n-Pepa Salt-N-Pepa (also stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa or Salt 'N Pepa) is an American hip-hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). Their debut album, ''Hot, C ...

on 1993's " Shoop".

References

{{reflist 1967 songs Songs written by Dan Penn Songs written by Spooner Oldham Sweet Inspirations songs