David Houston & Barbara Mandrell

Born and raised in Bossier City, Louisiana, country singer David Houston -- whose lineage included Sam Houston and General Robert E. Lee -- became a regular on The Louisiana Hayride as a teenager. Apparently his soaring tenor voice wasn't totally appreciated; he found trouble getting work in the music business, and ended up as an insurance underwriter. But record producer Billy Sherrill brought Houston into the fold when Epic Records was still a young label (the early '60s), and Houston brought the company its first real hit with "Mountain of Love." In 1966 he broke through to...