October 07 - Cissy Houston Died

Acclaimed gospel singer and two-time Grammy winner Cissy Houston died. She was 91.

Houston, born Emily Drinkard and the mother of the late Whitney Houston, was in the well-known vocal group, the Sweet Inspirations. With the Sweets and solo, she sang backup for artists like Otis Redding, Lou Rawls, The Drifters, Dionne Warwick, Van Morrison, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Chaka Khan, Dusty Springfield, Beyoncé, Paul Simon, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin and many others. 

Elvis Presley invited the quartet to sing backup during his now-legendary series of Las Vegas concerts. It was during Cissy Houston' s soprano obbligato on 'Are You Lonesome Tonight?' that Elvis started laughing at the mid night show on August 26, 1969. Elvis changed the lyrics to be funny, and then cannot keep a straight face the rest of the song. He seems to be somewhat amused by the soprano performance by Cissy Houston's who sings her part perfectly. This performance was released on the Elvis Aron Presley 8-LP box set in 1980, and as a single.

After those shows, Houston said, "we would jam with him for an hour, singing gospel. He really loved it, had a feel for it and was tickled to have four 'church sisters' backing him up." 

As a token of his gratitude, Presley (whom Houston's husband affectionately called Elvis Pretzel) presented Houston with a bracelet engraved on the outside with her real name and on the inside with his pet name for her: "Squirrelly". 

Cissy Houston contributed to the "Where No One Stands Alone" album.

(Source: NY Times / LA Times / Facebook)