Cissy Houston – Think It Over (1978)

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Think It Over is the third studio album by American gospel/soul singer Cissy Houston, released in 1978 on Private Stock Records. The album was produced by Michael Zager and features Houston’s R&B hit “Think It Over“.

In 1977, Houston was signed by Private Stock Records, working with arranger/producer Michael Zager on three albums. The second included her big disco hit “Think It Over”, which climbed to No. 32 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1979.

Think It Over Ms. CISSY HOUSTON’s incursion into disco, even though A BIT TOO SOULFULL & SLOW TEMPO FOR A TRUE DEFINITION OF DISCO. Not a bad album considering that Mr. Michael Zager produced it, still the whole album does not achieve the powerhouse disco tempo of many of Ms. Houston’s other contemporary disco divas: Ms. Donna Summer, Ms. Gloria Gaynor, Ms. Thelma Houston (no relation) or even her own daughter Whitney. But then again, many singers were trying to cash in on the fame of disco music at the time and that is the case here for Ms. Houston. The one outstanding track for me from the complete album is the 8+ minutes extended mix of SOMEBODY SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME. That song alone leaves me wishing the rest were just as good.

Side One

Think It Over (Alvin Fields, Cissy Houston, Michael Zager) – 6:00
Love Don’t Hurt People (Ron Netsky, Steve Netsky) – 3:01
Somebody Should Have Told Me (Cissy Houston, Doug Frank, Doug James) – 4:30
After You (Doug Frank, Doug James) – 4:38

Side Two

Warning – Danger (Alvin Fields, Cissy Houston, Michael Zager) – 5:56
I Just Want To Be With You (Alvin Fields, Michael Zager) – 5:08
An Umbrella Song (Alvin Fields, Michael Zager) – 2:58
Sometimes (Alvin Fields, Cissy Houston, Michael Zager) – 3:33
I Won’t Be The One (Alvin Fields, Cissy Houston, Doug Frank) – 3:00

Production

Arranged By [Backing Vocals] – Cissy Houston, Michael Zager (tracks: A1 to B1, B3 to B5)
Arranged By, Conductor – Michael Zager
Backing Vocals – Alvin Fields (tracks: A1 to B2, B4, B5), Beverly Ingram (tracks: A3, A4, B2, B4, B5), Cissy Houston (tracks: A1 to B2, B4, B5)
Donny Harper (tracks: B2, B5), Lani Groves (tracks: A1, A2, B1), Whitney Houston (tracks: A1 to B2, B4, B5)
Baritone Saxophone – Ronnie Cuber
Bass – Francisco Centeno
Alto Saxophone – Lenny Hambro
Drums – Allan Schwartzberg
Electric Piano – Michael Zager (tracks: B2)
Engineer [Assistant] – Darroll Gustamachio
Engineer [Recording, Mixing] – Rick Rowe
Executive-Producer – Jerry Love
Guitar – Jeff Mironov
Harmonica – Michael Chimes (tracks: B3)
Keyboards, Synthesizer, Synthesizer [Moog] – Rob Mounsey
Mastered By – Joey Gastwirt
Percussion – Rubens Bassini
Strings – Alfred Brown String Section
Trombone – Gerald Chamberlain
Bass Trombone – Jack Jeffers
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Alan Rubin, Burt Collins, John Gatchell, Robert Milliken
Vibraphone – Dave Carey
Art Direction – Abie Sussman
Voice [Siren] – Jerry Love (tracks: B1)