Story by: Gail Nobles
Photo credit: By John Mathew Smith &; www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA - WHITNEY HUSTON,
Usage: CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75843522

Hi, I’m Gail Nobles on the Whitney Soul Podcast and today’s topic is The Voice Whitney and Singing.

In the beginning, before I heard Whitney Houston, songs seemed a lot easier to sing. Not everyone can sing just any song. So many of us grew up imitating voices singing songs we heard from radio to record player. We felt that if we couldn’t sound like the voice singing, no one would want to hear us sing. Either you had to sound like the singer of your favorite song or sound just as good or better using your voice. I never had a problem singing and one day I heard Whitney Houston. After hearing her, I tried singing some of her songs. I had a rough time with the Greatest Love of All because I could never sing that song all the way through. Singing the beginning of the song was okay.

(Singing)

But when she got a little louder and a little stronger (Singing) She was really singing out. I had no idea what Whitney was doing. Whenever I would try to sing out loud, it was stuck in my throat. (Singing). So whenever I got to "the greatest love of all” part, I would stop singing because I knew something wasn’t right.

My mom would say, “Gail! Why do you stop singing? You stop singing every time. You sound good at the beginning.”

And I would say, “I don’t know ma. I’m tired. I give out of breath. The song is too long.”

And she’d say, “For one thing, you need to stand up and sing. You sit down too much. Standing up will help you sing out better.”

I heard my mom, but I didn’t think it made a difference. I would sit and stare at Whitney watching her video. And when she would get to the end reaching out for her mom, She would hold her voice a long time. (Singing) You know.

I thought Whitney Houston ws tough. I thought that’s a bad long winded woman. Bad as in good. I asked myself, “What is Whitney Houston doing? Why come I can’t sing like that?”

I use to play Whitney Houston song from a cassette tape. I’d turn the volume down and try to sing over Whitney Houston and loud. To me, boy did I sound bad. I didn’t like my voice trying to sing like WH.

My mom would say, “Gail! You’re hearing Whitney! You’re not hearing Gail! You’ve got to find how high and low you can go! You’ve got to find your voice!”

And I thought to myself, “I’m going to find me alright through my own songs.” I just couldn’t figure out what I use to call exclamatory singing. After Whitney Houston, I would hear a lot more people doing so much exclamatory singing. I would say, “Everybody wants to sing like Whitney Houston.”

We already heard singers like Aretha Franklin and Pattie Labelle shout and sing. But looks like when the voice Whitney was heard, it was someone new and different showing us what was already started. It was just something about Whitney’s voice. She was really singing, and she was taught well by her mom who was also a singer, Miss Cissy Houston.

I’m Gail Nobles. This has been a Whitney Soul Podcast. Never forget the voice Whitney as you find your voice in you.