He was once a member of the Grand Ole Opry quartet The Four Guys, but he made his mark in country music as the sole guy in a group with two women.
Dave Rowland’s trio, Dave & Sugar, launched in April 1975 as an opening act for Charley Pride, with Jackie Frantz and Vicki Hackeman as Rowland’s original female singers. “The Door Is Always Open,” the trio’s second single, took the act to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs a year later, on the list dated July 10, 1976.
“The Door” already had some history. Country Music Hall of Famer Bob McDill wrote the first verse and chorus, but recording artist Dickey Lee finished it. Lee recorded it first, followed by Waylon Jennings and Ernest Tubb. Producer Jerry Bradley guided the session when Sugar cut it in January 1976.
The song earned a rare place in country music history books. Dave & Sugar became only the second mixed-gender trio to top Hot Country Songs, following The Browns, who led with “The Three Bells” in 1959. To date, just two more mixed-gender trios (excluding collaborations) have reached the summit: Lady A and The Band Perry.
Dave & Sugar amassed three Hot Country Songs leaders among eight total top 10s, though Sugar had a fair amount of turnover. Frantz left at the end of 1976, replaced by Sue Powell. Hackeman left her spot to Melissa Dean in 1979.
Rowland and Hackeman died in 2018. By then, “The Door Is Always Open” had been covered again, on Jamey Johnson’s 2008 album That Lonesome Song.
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