In 1963, David Houston rose to national stardom with the single “Mountain of Love”; the song, which was different from the tune made famous by composer Harold Dorman, Johnny Rivers and Charley Pride, rose to No. 2 on Billboard magazine’s Hot Country Singles chart. Another song, 1965’s “Livin’ in a House Full of Love” did just as well. 1966 brought Houston’s breakthrough smash, “Almost Persuaded”. Having nothing to do with the Philip Paul Bliss hymn of the same title (based on Acts 26:28 (KJV)), the tale of a married man managing to fight off a temptress he had just met in a tavern quickly rocketed to No. 1 that August, eventually spending nine weeks atop Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart. In the 40 years since “Almost Persuaded” became a country standard, no song has equaled or bettered this feat. However, two country songs have spent eight weeks at No. 1: Lonestar’s “Amazed,” which topped the chart from July 17 to September 4, 1999; and “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett, from August 9 to September 20 and then October 4, 2003 (in between “Somewhere’s” seventh and eighth weeks at #1, on September 27, 2003, Dierks Bentley’s “What Was I Thinkin’ ” topped the chart). Houston was awarded 2 Grammy Awards for Best Country & Western Recording and Best Country & Western Performance, Male in 1967 for “Almost Persuaded.”|“Almost Persuaded” began a string of Top 5 David Houston singles that lasted through 1973. Included in the bunch were six more No. 1’s – “With One Exception” and “You Mean the World to Me” (1967); “Have a Little Faith” and “Already It’s Heaven” (1968); “Baby, Baby (I Know You’re a Lady)” (1970); and 1967’s “My Elusive Dreams” duet with Tammy Wynette. In later years, Houston dueted with Barbara Mandrell on several of her early hits, most notably 1970’s “After Closing Time” and 1974’s “I Love You, I Love You.” David’s last Top 10 country hit came in 1974 with “Can’t You Feel It”. David Houston died of a brain aneurysm on November 30, 1993, less than two weeks before his 55th birthday. |
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