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The Sweet Inspirations
The Sweet Inspirations are an American R&B girl group from Newark, New Jersey, founded by Cissy Houston who are mostly known for their work as backup singers on studio recordings for other R&B and rock artists but who are also a Grammy-nominated recording act in their own right. The group's origins went back to the late 1950s when the Gospelaires, a group which included siblings and future soul stars Dionne Warwick and sister Dee Dee Warwick as well as Sylvia Shemwell and another future soul star Doris Troy and was an offshoot of the Drinkard Singers, began a professional career as session vocalists. Cissy Houston later replaced Dionne in 1961 with Troy later being replaced by Myrna Smith in 1962 while Dee Dee was eventually replaced by Estelle Brown in 1963. From 1963 until 1967, the group, known informally as "The Group", would back up several important artists in the soul, pop and rock genres, most prominently Aretha Franklin, Solomon Burke, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area.Table1. New Jersey Counties and Most Populous Cities and Townships: 2020 and 2010 Censuses , New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Accessed December 1, 2022.New Jersey County Map , New Jersey Department of State. Accessed December 27, 2022. As of the 2020 U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Esther Phillips
Esther Phillips (born Esther Mae Washington; December 23, 1935 – August 7, 1984) was an American singer, best known for her R&B vocals.Santelli, Robert (2001). ''The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia''. Penguin Books. p. 376. . She rose to prominence in 1950, scoring several major R&B hits including " Double Crossing Blues" and " Mistrustin' Blues" under the moniker "Little Esther." In the 1960s, she achieved chart success with the country song " Release Me" and recorded in the pop, jazz, blues and soul genres. Phillips received four Grammy nominations, including for her album ''From a Whisper to a Scream'' in 1973, as well as for the album that featured her disco recording of " What a Diff'rence a Day Makes," which was a major hit in 1975. She died from liver and kidney failure due to long-term drug abuse in 1984. Biography Early life Phillips was born Esther Mae Washington in Galveston, Texas, U.S. Her parents divorced during her adolescence, and she ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. Nicknamed the " King of Soul", Redding's style of singing drew inspiration from the gospel music that preceded the genre. His vocal style influenced many other soul artists of the 1960s. Redding was born in Dawson, Georgia, and his family soon moved to Macon. He dropped out of high school at age 15 to support his family, working with Little Richard's backing band, the Upsetters, and performing in talent shows at Macon's historic Douglass Theatre. In 1958, Redding joined Johnny Jenkins's band, the Pinetoppers, with whom he toured the Southern states as a singer and driver. An unscheduled appearance at a Stax Records recording session led to a contract and Redding's first hit single, " These Arms of Mine", in 1962. Stax released Reddi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rock Music
Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has its roots in rock and roll, a style that drew from the black musical genres of blues and rhythm and blues, as well as from country music. Rock also drew strongly from genres such as electric blues and folk music, folk, and incorporated influences from jazz and other styles. Rock is typically centered on the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar, drum kit, drums, and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music with a Time signature, time signature and using a verse–chorus form; however, the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political. Rock was the most p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pop Music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), , pp. 95–105. During the 1950s and 1960s, pop music encompassed rock and roll and the youth-oriented styles it influenced. ''Rock music, Rock'' and ''pop'' music remained roughly synonymous until the late 1960s, after which ''pop'' became associated with music that was more commercial, wikt:ephemeral, ephemeral, and accessible. Identifying factors of pop music usually include repeated choruses and Hook (music), hooks, short to medium-length songs written in a basic format (often the verse–chorus form, verse–chorus structure), and rhythms or tempos that can be easily danced to. Much of pop music also borrows elements from other styles such as rock, hip hop, urban contemporary, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soul Music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and extemporaneous body movements, are an important hallmark of soul. Other characteristics are a Call and response (music), call and response between the lead and Backing vocalist, backing vocalists, an especially tense vocal sound, and occasional Musical improvisation, improvisational additions, twirls, and auxiliary sounds. Soul music is known for reflecting African-American identity and stressing the importance of African-American culture. Soul has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues, and primarily combines elements of gospel, R&B and jazz. The genre emerged from the power struggle to increase black Americans' awareness of their African ancestry, as a newfound consciousness led to the creation of music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Session Vocalist
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used in a broad range of popular music, traditional music, and world music styles. Solo artists may employ professional backing vocalists in studio recording sessions as well as during concerts. In many rock and metal bands (e.g., the power trio), the musicians doing backing vocals also play instruments, such as guitar, electric bass or keyboards. In Latin or Afro-Cuban groups, backing singers may play percussion instruments or shakers while singing. In some pop and hip-hop groups and in musical theater, they may be required to perform dance routines while singing through headset microphones. Styles of background vocals vary according to the type of song and genre of music. In pop and country songs, backing vocalists may sing harmony to supp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Drinkard Singers
The Drinkard Singers were an American gospel singing group, most successful in the late 1950s, renowned for being the first gospel group to perform at Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival and the first gospel group signed to a major record label, recording and releasing the album, ''A Joyful Noise'', on RCA Records in 1958. The group would launch the careers of soul singers Cissy Houston and her adopted niece Judy Clay as well as mentor fellow soul singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. Family origins Nicholas (aka ''Nitch'', 1896–1952) and Delia Mae Drinkard (née McCaskill; 1901–1942) had eight children - sons William (1918–2003), Hansom (1925–1986), Nicholas (1929–1992), and Larry (1931–2012), and daughters Lee (1920–2005), Marie (1922–2007), Anne (1927–2003) and Cissy (1933-2024). The Drinkard surname, although gained through a Native American ancestor, has British origins with a meaning that alludes to ''the running of water''. Nicholas Drink ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doris Troy
Doris Troy (born Doris Elaine Higginsen; January 6, 1937 – February 16, 2004) was an American R&B singer and songwriter, known to her fans as "Mama Soul". Her biggest hit was " Just One Look", a top 10 hit in 1963. Life and career She was born as Doris Elaine Higginsen, in the Bronx, the daughter of a Barbadian Pentecostal minister. She later took her grandmother's name and grew up as Doris Payne. Her parents disapproved of "subversive" forms of music like rhythm & blues, so she cut her teeth singing in her father's choir. At age 16, she was working as an usherette at the Apollo where she was discovered by James Brown. Under the name Doris Payne, she began songwriting and earned $100 in 1960 for the Dee Clark hit " How About That". Going into the recording industry, Troy worked as a backup vocalist for Atlantic Records alongside Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick. She was also part of the original lineup of The Sweet Inspirations in 1963, with Cissy Houston and the two Warwi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious and significant awards in the music industry in the United States, and thus the show is frequently called "music's biggest night". The trophy depicts a gilded gramophone, and the original idea was to call them the "Gramophone Awards". The Grammys are the first of the Big Three networks' major music awards held annually, and are considered one of the four major annual American entertainment awards with the Academy Awards (for films), the Emmy Awards (for television), and the Tony Awards (for theater). The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4, 1959, to honor the musical accomplishments of performers for the year 1958. After the 2011 ceremony, the Recording Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The 67th Ann ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Backing Vocalist
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used in a broad range of popular music, traditional music, and world music styles. Solo artists may employ professional backing vocalists in studio recording sessions as well as during concerts. In many rock and metal bands (e.g., the power trio), the musicians doing backing vocals also play instruments, such as guitar, electric bass or keyboards. In Latin or Afro-Cuban groups, backing singers may play percussion instruments or shakers while singing. In some pop and hip-hop groups and in musical theater, they may be required to perform dance routines while singing through headset microphones. Styles of background vocals vary according to the type of song and genre of music. In pop and country songs, backing vocalists may sing harmony to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Girl Group
A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups that flourished in the late 1950s in music, 1950s and early 1960s in music, 1960s between the Rock and roll#Decline_and_later_developments, decline of early rock and roll and start of the British Invasion, many of whom were influenced by doo-wop. All-female bands, in which members also play instruments, are usually considered a separate phenomenon. These groups are sometimes called "girl bands" to differentiate, although this terminology is not universally followed. With the advent of the music industry and radio broadcasting, a number of girl groups emerged, such as the Andrews Sisters. The late 1950s saw the emergence of all-female singing groups as a major force, with 750 distinct girl groups releasing songs that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
