Dale & Grace

Dale Houston (April 23, 1940 – September 27, 2007) was an American singer who, along with his performing partner, Grace Broussard, hit the Billboard chart as Dale & Grace with two rock and roll singles. The first was the #1 gold record "I'm Leaving It Up to You" in 1963. "Stop and Think It Over" reached #8 in 1964. In his later years, Houston was reunited onstage with Broussard on several occasions.

Robert Dale Houston was born to Claude and Essie (née Walters) Houston in Seminary, a small town in Covington County, Mississippi. He was delivered by a midwife on the family's kitchen table. The Houstons thereafter moved to nearby Collins, the county seat, where Claude Houston entered the Christian ministry. Young Dale began piano 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.

At age 18, he recorded "Lonely Man". In 1960, while he was performing in Baton Rouge, 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". None were successful.

In 1963, Houston was working in a bar in Ferriday, Louisiana, a town near Natchez, Mississippi. Montel approached Houston about teaming up with a female singer, Grace Broussard (born 1939) of Prairieville, Louisiana near Baton Rouge. Both had been singing in area bistros for several years - Grace with her brother, Van Broussard (who later released an album on the Bayou Boogie label).

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