''The Sweet Inspirations'' is the self-titled debut album by American recording soul/gospel female group the Sweet Inspirations, released in 1967 by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. Led by

Cissy Houston Emily "Cissy" Houston ( ''née'' Drinkard; born September 30, 1933) is an American soul and gospel singer. After a successful career singing backup for such artists as Roy Hamilton, Dionne Warwick, Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, Houston embar ...

, the Sweet Inspirations were highly-in-demand female back-up singers featured on some of the most important pop and soul recordings of the 1960s and '70s. They toured and served as session background vocals on albums by various artists' including Elvis Presley,

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

, Wilson Pickett and Dusty Springfield. This was their first album, recorded in 1967, in which it contains mostly covers of the hits of the day.The Sweet Inspirations: Sweet Inspirations - Allmusic
/ref> The album peaked at number 12 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

's Hot Soul Albums, and features the Top 20 hit " Sweet Inspiration" plus the R&B chart hits "Why (Am I Treated So Bad)" and " Let It Be Me".

Track listing

:All tracks supervised by

Jerry Wexler Jerry may refer to: Animals * Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National * Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian fil ...

:Recording engineer: Tom Dowd ;Side A #"Oh! What a Fool I've Been" (Darryl Carter, Lindon Dewey Oldham, Wallace Pennington) - 2:36 #"Blues Stay Away from Me" (Alton Delmore, Henry Glover, Rabon Delmore, Wayne Raney) - 3:22 #"Don't Let Me Lose This Dream" (Ted White,

) - 2:20 #" Knock on Wood" ( Eddie Floyd,

Steve Cropper Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Ot ...

) - 3:30 #"

Do Right Woman, Do Right Man "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" (also written "Do Right Woman — Do Right Man") is a song written by Chips Moman and Dan Penn, and made famous by Aretha Franklin. Her version was released on February 10, 1967. ''Rolling Stone'' listed it as number ...

" (

Chips Moman Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman (June 12, 1937 – June 13, 2016) was an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for working in R&B, pop music and country music, operating American Sound Studios and producing hit albums lik ...

, Dan Penn) - 3:30 #"Don't Fight It" (Steve Cropper, Wilson Pickett) - 2:25 ;Side B #" Sweet Inspiration" (Lindon Dewey Oldham, Wallace Pennington) - 2:50 #" Let It Be Me" ( Gilbert Bécaud, Mann Curtis, Pierre Delanoë) - 2:41 #" I'm Blue" ( Ike Turner) - 2:08 #"Reach Out for Me" ( Hal David,

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

) - 2:19 #"Here I Am (Take Me)" ( David Porter,

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

) - 3:04 #"Why (Am I Treated So Bad)" ( Roebuck Staples) - 2:46

Production

*Design: Loring Eutemey *Producer: Tom Dowd, Tommy Cogbill *Supervised:

*Recording engineers:

, Daryl Carter *Stephen Paley - cover photograph

Charts

Singles

References

External links

Album-The Sweet Inspirations by Sweet Inspirations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet Inspirations 1967 debut albums Sweet Inspirations albums Albums produced by Tom Dowd Albums produced by Tommy Cogbill Atlantic Records albums