Hot Butterfly Review by Amy Hanson
Lauded for their tremendous efforts as a girl group session act throughout the 1960s, Sweet Inspirations made their own mark with two LPs and a string of hits during the late '60s and early '70s, before disappearing under the radar until 1979, when they resurfaced on RSO with Hot Butterfly. Now down to a trio of founder member Myrna Smith, with Gloria Brown and Sylvia Shemwell, the revamped Sweet Inspirations re-launched themselves on the tails of Robert Stigwood's near single-handed disco revolution. With Smith and Shemwell evenly trading lead vocal responsibilities, the band powered through a set of lukewarm disco-inflected R&B. Mid-tempo songs with flavor-of-the-year string arrangements are de rigueur from the opening "Hot Fun" to "It's the Simple Things You Do," both songs managing to overcome a desultory slip into oblivion, thanks to the powerful vocal arrangements.

Three CD set featuring 66 tracks by The Sweet Inspirations cut for Atlantic Records between 1967 and 1970. A comprehensive collection from the voices behind a plethora of hitmakers including Solomon Burke, The Drifters, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Wilson Pickett and many others, who were signed in their own right by Jerry Wexler. Including the Top five R&B and Top 20 pop hit, 'Sweet Inspiration'. The set also includes eight tracks with the line-up including Ann Williams who replaced Cissy Houston; produced by Dave Crawford and Brad Shapiro, it was originally intended for release as an entire LP and has never been released in full until now. With stellar liner notes by renowned US writer/essayist Tim Dillinger including extensive quotes from Estelle Brown specifically for this reissue, and produced by SoulMusic Records' founder David Nathan, with mastering by Nick Robbins and artwork by Roger Williams.

Cissy Houston, Myrna Smith, Sylvia Shemwell, and Estelle Brown had deep separate and shared histories when they became the Sweet Inspirations in 1967. That April, hot off backing Aretha Franklin and Van Morrison at the studio dates that yielded "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and "Brown Eyed Girl," the singers recorded their first session as headliners for Atlantic. The group left Atlantic Recording Studios with ardent interpretations of contemporary material that, depending on the source, either reaffirmed its gospel foundation or took it to church, but none of the resulting songs – all eventual A-sides – truly shook up the charts. This would typify the Sweet Inspirations' four years with the label. Perhaps the women were underserved. Only two of their nine charting singles were written for them, and the one that did best, "Sweet Inspiration" – their lone Top 20 pop and Top Ten soul hit – was dashed off by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham after the songwriting duo watched them attempt to spin gold from straw in the studio. Unfulfilled commercial promise notwithstanding, the group during these years – with Ann Williams replacing Houston in 1969, then leaving her partners a trio the next year – produced a high volume of powerful R&B and gospel.