The Sweet Inspirations are 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, Cissy Houston. History The Sweet Inspirations was founded by former members of The Drinkard Singers, a long-running Gospel singing group whose membership included Cissy Houston (née Drinkard), mother of Whitney Houston, and Lee Warwick, who was Cissy's sister and the mother of Sweet Inspirations members Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick. As a backup group, the Sweet Inspirations was in high demand among producers, publishers, artists, and songwriters in the early 1960s. The original lineup included Doris Troy and the two Warwick sisters Dionne & Dee Dee. Both Troy and Dionne Warwick enjoyed solo careers with hits in 1963, "Just One Look" and "Don't Make Me Over" respectively, on which the Sweet Inspirations can be heard. At that time, Sylvia Shemwell (sister of Judy Clay) replaced Troy, while Cissy Houston took over from Dionne, with Dee Dee Warwick as the group's official leader. The group sang backup for many stars, including Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and Esther Phillips. Dee Dee left in 1965, when her solo career began to take off. She was replaced by Myrna Smith. Estelle Brown joined the team soon after, and the line-up that was to become an Atlantic recording group was set. In a recording session on March 28, 1967, the Sweet Inspirations provided the backup vocals for Van Morrison on his classic hit "Brown Eyed Girl". It was released in June 1967 and rose to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. In October 2007, Morrison was awarded a Million-Air certificate by BMI for 8 million air plays of "Brown Eyed Girl". The Sweet Inspirations recorded by themselves for the first time in April 1967 for Atlantic Records. That session produced the first two singles released by Atlantic, a version of "Why (Am I Treated So Bad)," a song previously recorded by The Staple Singers and a soulful version of "Let It Be Me", a French song which had been a pop and R&B hit for Betty Everett & Jerry Butler in 1964. Though their first singles lacked much chart success, Atlantic was committed to the group, and an August session in Memphis yielded the bulk of songs used for