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Remembering Whitney

Twenty-nine tracks for a voice that has not been equalled. Whitney Houston died in February 2012, and the catalogue is the only sensible way to remember her.

(we miss you sis)

Remembering Whitney

Whitney Houston came from an extraordinary lineage: her mother was Cissy Houston of the Sweet Inspirations, her cousin was Dionne Warwick, and Aretha Franklin was a family friend. She sang in the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark from childhood, and by her teens was doing session work and modelling.

Clive Davis signed her to Arista in 1983, and what followed was a run of commercial success that has few parallels — seven consecutive number one singles, a debut album that became the best-selling debut by a solo artist, and a version of a Dolly Parton song that became the best-selling single by a woman in history.

The last decade of her life was difficult and extensively documented, and she died at forty-eight. The temptation is to let that history dominate. The better response is to listen to what the voice actually did.

What to listen for

"I Will Always Love You" is the monument, and the a cappella opening — David Foster's idea — is one of the boldest decisions in pop production. Kirk Whalum plays the saxophone solo.

"Saving All My Love for You" and "You Give Good Love" are the early records, and the latter — a Kashif production — is funkier and looser than her reputation suggests.

"How Will I Know" is the joyful one, and "I Have Nothing" and "Didn't We Almost Have It All" are the technical showcases.

The Waiting to Exhale material — "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" and "Why Does It Hurt So Bad" — is Babyface's writing, and "Exhale" is remarkable precisely because she does almost nothing on it.

"My Love Is Your Love" is the late-period reinvention, produced by Wyclef Jean, and it is the record that most clearly shows what a different career might have looked like.

"I Didn't Know My Own Strength" and "I Look to You" are from her final album, and the voice is audibly changed. They are difficult and worth hearing.

Go deeper

Whitney Houston (1985) and The Bodyguard soundtrack are the two essentials, and My Love Is Your Love (1998) is the underrated one.

Her 1991 Super Bowl performance of the national anthem is worth watching as a piece of technique — she sang it in 4/4 rather than the traditional 3/4, which is why it swings.

And Cissy Houston's own records, and the Sweet Inspirations, are where the voice came from.

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