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 No. 1 gold record "I'm Leaving It Up to You" in 1963. "Stop and Think It Over" reached No. 8 in 1964. In his later years, Houston was reunited onstage with Broussard 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 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", "(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, 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." Partnership with Grace Broussard 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). 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, the song broke at Top 40