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1. Don't Let Me Lose This Dream (With Cissy Houston)

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Singer Cissy Houston and two of her children, Whitney Houston and Gary Garland, opened at Sweetwater's last week for a two-weeks stand. This talented singing family took the stage and brought a hush over the club with the beautiful blending of their voices.

Cissy Houston is perhaps the best nightclub singer on the musical scene. Her voice is rich and pure, and the lady knows how to put over a song. Especially effective was her easy-flowing voice on such songs as "Join Us In A Song," and "You Were Always On My Mind." Cissy was equally stirring on "Let's Stay Together," coupled with the beautiful Luther Vandross song "Don't You Remember" and back to "Let's Stay." The audience sprang to its feet with applause and cheers.

This singing mommy introduced two of her kids: son Gary Garland, 25, who is the oldest of three children, and the beautiful, sweet, dimple-faced Whitney Houston. When the crowd began to look in wonder as they heard the last names of the children, Cissy said with a smile, "I had two husbands."

She and daughter Whitney moved to the background as son Gary took the microphone and did a stunning rendition of "There's Something About You Love." Gary's voice is a cross between George Benson and an early Stevie Wonder.

Whitney Houston stepped forward and did her own thing with one of the most most beautiful versions of "Endless Love" that you will ever hear. At the song's end, Whitney almost whispers the word love, as Momma Houston sang in background, and the crowd loved it.

Then Gary and Whitney got together with a duet that was alone worth the admission to this club. Their singing brought tears to your eyes and sent chills all over your body with "Everything Must Change" and "I Am Changing" as Momma Houston sat and watched. You will never hear this done any better.

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Sensational word-of-mouth has been going around about Whitney Houston, the 18-year-old daughter of pop-r&b-gospel singer Cissy Houston, and when she took the spotlight in the middle of her mother's set at the Horn of Plenty, she did not disappoint. Mandarin-eyed and coffee-with-cream-colored, a chic-looking young Billie Holiday fit to be photographed by Carl Van Vechten, Whitney took two ordinary pop ballads—"You Are So Beautiful" and "All the Time"—and delivered them simply and directly. She sang in long, unfussy lines, building slowly and holding off forever a gorgeous vibrato she deployed very sparingly and only after that throwing in a few blocky gospel phrases almost as a surprise. She has a big voice, the kind that makes you laugh and weep at the same time because it expresses so much more than any particular song. But she didn't wring the tunes dry or scrape them clean or anything like that—no violence, no overkill. The widest open note was as controlled and clear as the hum she produced by holding the word "time" with her lips closed; every note there was wanted. These are the best habits for a young singer to have. I hope she stays away from the flashy wailing and raw hollers audiences adore.

Singing obbligato on "All the Time," Cissy Houston could not conceal with mother's pride her consternation at not measuring up. She had apologized upfront for having a cold, and it did fray her voice into second (or third) rate Gladys Knight bluster. I had hoped for a trace of the clarity and power I remember from the album she did with Herbie Mann (Surprises), but the set showed the same wayward focus and fondness for pop schlock that plague most of her records. Although I suppose if you ever wanted to hear "Tomorrow" (from Annie) again, you could worse than hear Cissy and her backup trio take it to church.

(Village Voice)