Song:The Door Is Always Open
Album:Anthology
The vocal trio Dave & Sugar had a good run on the country charts in the late 70s. The Door Is Always Open was the first of their three number one hits in 1976. Dave Rowland was the group leader and the two girls in Sugar changed a couple of times. Rowland was born Jan. 26, 1942 in Los Angeles. He started out singing in a dance band. While in the service in the mid-60s, he formed a band and played trumpet. In 1970 he attended The Stamps School in Texas and then joined The Stamps Quartet. In 1974, he joined Charley Pride's backup singers Four Guys. Then he had a country rock group called Wild Oates and was a singing waiter. When he learned that Pride was looking for backup singers, he formed Sugar with Jackie Frantz and Vickie Hackeman. The audition went so well that Pride signed them to RCA Records. Dave & Sugar's first single Queen of the Silver Dollar was a top 30 country hit. The Door Is Always Open was the second single and it topped the Country Singles chart. The 1976 album Dave & Sugar reached #3 on the Country Album chart. This kind of country pop was very popular at the time. The Door Is Always Open was written by Dickey Lee and Bob McDill. Lee is best known for the 1962 hit single Patches. At the time, he was recording for RCA but he had more success as a songwriter. McDill has written 30 number one hits and is one of the greatest songwriters in Nashville history. The Door Is Always Open was first recorded by Tennessee Pulleybone in 1973 and Waylon Jennings and then Lois Johnson covered it. The Dave & Sugar recording is the best known version. Dave & Sugar had a string of top ten hits. Tear Time and Golden Tears were their other number one hits in 1978. Jackie Frantz didn't like touring and was replaced by Sue Powell in 1977. Vicki Hackeman was replaced by Melissa Dean in 1979. You can get this comp of their RCA hits as a digital download. When they left RCA for Elektra in 1981, the group name was changed to Dave Rowland & Sugar. They had a top ten country hit with Fool By Your Side in 1981. But then Rowland recorded the solo album Sugar Free in 1982 and that's the last we heard from Dave & Sugar. Rowland still leads a version of Sugar today. Sue Powell recorded two unsuccessful singles and hosted the TV show Nashville on the Road. Here's Dave & Sugar performing The Door Is Always Open on Pop Goes The Country 1976.
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