Dale & Grace was an American singing duo consisting of Dale Houston (April 23, 1940 – September 27, 2007) and Grace Broussard. (born February 5, 1939) They had two

Billboard chart The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

hit. The first was the No. 1

gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

" I'm Leaving It Up to You" in 1963. "Stop and Think It Over" reached No. 8 in 1964. The duo broke up in 1965, but they reunited onstage on several occasions. Their recordings are highly regarded examples of the Louisiana-Texas style known as "Swamp Pop".

Biography

Early years

Robert Dale Houston was born to Claude and Essie (née Walters) Houston in

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

, a small town in

Covington County, Mississippi Covington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,340. Its county seat is Collins. The county is named for U.S. Army officer and Congressman Leonard Covington. History Covin ...

.Obituary in The Times (UK), October 18, 2007
timesonline.co.uk He was delivered by a

midwife A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and Infant, newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughou ...

on the family's kitchen table. The Houstons thereafter moved to nearby Collins, the county seat, where Claude Houston entered the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

ministry. Young Dale began

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

lessons in sixth grade, but family financial difficulties halted his training after three months and he was self-taught from then on, honing his skills by playing and singing in

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

. At age 18, he recorded "Lonely Man", "(Big Bad) City Police" and "Big Time Operator" on Rocko Records, which became a regional hit. In 1960, while he was performing in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

, record executive Sam Montel (Sam Montalbano) caught his act in a local bar. Montel declared him "a pretty good writer" and signed him to compose exclusively for his label. Houston then wrote and recorded "Lonely Man", "Bird with a Broken Wing", and "That's What I Like About You." Grace Broussard, a year senior to Houston, was born in

Prairieville, Louisiana Prairieville is a census-designated place in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is south of Baton Rouge and north of Gonzales. Prairieville is an expanding bedroom suburb of Baton Rouge. Its name is derived from the once plentiful ...

located in south of

in 1939. Her brother was a renowned singer Van Broussard (who later released an album on the Bayou Boogie

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

), and she had been singing with him since she was sixteen. In 1960, she released a single "Feel So Good" (b/w "Young Girls") with him under the name Van & Grace on Montel Records.

Forming the duo

In 1963, Houston was working in a bar in

Ferriday, Louisiana Ferriday is a town in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, Concordia Parish, which borders the Mississippi River and is located on the central eastern border of Louisiana, United States. With a population of 3,511 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 ...

, a town near

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the only city in and the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,520 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia, Louisiana, Natchez was ...

. Montel approached him about teaming up with Grace Broussard. Both had been singing in area bistros for several years. The two met and practiced on Montel's home piano for four hours. When Houston began to play a song written and recorded in 1957 by African-American performers Don and Dewey--"I'm Leaving it Up to You"—Montel, asleep in the next room, woke up screaming: “Play it again! That's a hit!” The song was soon recorded and released locally on Montel's Michelle label. According to ''The Billboard Book of Number One Hits'' by

Fred Bronson Fredric M. "Fred" Bronson (born January 10, 1949) is an American journalist, author and writer. He is the author of books related to number one songs on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and other books related to various music charts as well. He ...

, the song broke at Top 40 radio station KNUZ in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, where it was unanimously voted the "pick hit of the week" by the station's panel of seven deejays. Montel wanted to change the arrangement of the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

s, but was persuaded by the KNUZ deejays to leave it as it was. It was nationally distributed as Montel #921 by Philadelphia's Jamie/Guyden Records after negotiations by producer Huey Meaux.John Broven, ''South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous''. Pelican Publishing Company, 1987, pp. 265-266.Fred Bronson, ''The Billboard book of number 1 hits''. Billboard Books, 2003, p. 140. Montel's prophecy was vindicated when "I'm Leaving It Up to You" reached No. 1 on the U.S.

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

, where it remained for two weeks. Dale and Grace performed on tour with another Louisiana singer, Jay Chevalier.Joel Whitburn, ''Top Pop Singles 1955-1999'', (Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, 2000), p. 923. The song was No. 1 during the week that Kennedy was assassinated and also reached No. 1 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart. The duo appeared on

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American television and radio personality and television producer who hosted ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 1989. He also hosted five incarnations of the Pyramid (game show), ...

's ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...

'' in August 1964. In autumn 1963, they toured with his Caravan of Stars. The group, which also included

Brian Hyland Brian Hyland (born November 12, 1943) is an American pop singer and instrumentalist who was particularly successful during the early 1960s. He had a No. 1 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with " Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot B ...

and

Bobby Vee Robert Thomas Velline (April 30, 1943 – October 24, 2016), known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to '' Billboard'' magazine, he had thirty- ...

, was standing on a street corner on Main Street in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

waving at

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

on that fateful

day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

. Moments later, the presidential limousine turned right onto, ironically, Houston Street, then left onto Elm Street, where the president was killed and

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

John B. Connally was seriously wounded. The stars had gone back to their hotel rooms after waving to Kennedy and did not hear about the assassination until several hours later. In 1964, the duo released their debut album ''I'm Leaving It Up to You and 11 Other Hit Songs''.

Breaking up

The popularity of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, combined with personal problems between the two performers, Broussard's homesickness, and a serious illness which landed Houston in the hospital, caused the duo to separate in 1965. Grace returned to singing with her brother.

Death of Dale Houston

Houston died on September 27, 2007 of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

at the Wesley Medical Center in

Hattiesburg, Mississippi Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County, Mississippi, Forrest County (where it is the county seat and most populous city) and extending west into Lamar County, Mississippi, Lamar County. The ci ...

, at the age of 67. At his funeral, his friend,

Troy Shondell Gary Wayne Schelton (May 14, 1939 – January 7, 2016), better known as Troy Shondell, was an American singer, who achieved fame in the early 1960s. He became a transatlantic one-hit wonder, by releasing a single that made the record charts ...

gave a musical tribute, and interment was in Smyrna Cemetery in

Collins, Mississippi Collins is a city in Covington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,586 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Covington County. History From Williamsburg Depot to Collins Collins was originally incorporated as Willi ...

Honors

In 1995, Dale and Grace, having been reunited, were honored in Mississippi through resolutions of the Covington County Board of Supervisors and the Town of Seminary. In 2000, Houston received the 'Louisiana Living Legends Award' from the

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the ...

. Earlier, he was inducted into the Texas Music Hall of Fame and the Gulf Coast Music Hall of Fame, both in 1998. In 2007, newly elected Louisiana Secretary of State

Jay Dardenne John Leigh "Jay" Dardenne, Jr. (born February 6, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who served as commissioner of administration for Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards. A Republican, Dardenne previously se ...

announced that Houston and Broussard, along with John Fred and the Playboys, were being named to the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame. To garner such an honor, one must have national or international recognition, said the museum director, Judith Bingham. Dale and Grace performed at the festival in Ferriday, where Houston had attended the ninth and tenth grades decades earlier at Ferriday High School. In October 2007, Dale and Grace were inducted into the

Louisiana Music Hall of Fame The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame (LMHOF) is a non-profit hall of fame based in Baton Rouge, the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana, that seeks to honor and preserve the state's music culture and heritage and to promote education about the sta ...

Dale & Grace discography

Albums

*1964 ''I'm Leaving It Up to You and 11 Other Hit Songs'' - U.S. Billboard No. 109

Singles

*1963 "I'm Leaving It Up to You" - U.S. Billboard No. 1 for two weeks *1964 "Stop and Think It Over" - U.S. Billboard No. 8 *1964 "The Loneliest Night" - U.S. Billboard No. 65 *1964 "Darling It's Wonderful" - U.S. Billboard No. 114 *1964 "What's Happening to Me" - U.S. Cash Box No. 91 *1965 "Cool Water" - U.S. Cash Box No. 123

References

Sources

* Shane K. Bernard, ''Swamp Pop: Cajun and Creole Rhythm and Blues'' (Jackson:

University Press of Mississippi The University Press of Mississippi (UPM), founded in 1970, is a university press that is sponsored by the eight state universities in Mississippi (i.e., Alcorn State University, Delta State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi Sta ...

, 1996),

External links

Classicbands.comLegacy.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dale and Grace Musical duos from Louisiana Male–female musical duos Musical groups established in 1963 Musical groups disestablished in 1965 American country singer-songwriters American pop singers Swamp pop music Singer-songwriters from Mississippi People from Collins, Mississippi 20th-century American singer-songwriters People from Prairieville, Louisiana Country musicians from Louisiana Country musicians from Mississippi 20th-century American singers Singer-songwriters from Louisiana