The Kendalls were a U.S. country music duo, which had a number of hits during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The duo consisted of Royce Kendall (born September 25, 1935 in St. Louis, Missouri; died May 22, 1998) and his daughter Jeannie Kendall (born October 30, 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri).

Career

Formed in 1969, The Kendalls recorded an album for Stop Records, from which a single, a cover of John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (previously a hit for Peter, Paul & Mary) was released in 1970, which just narrowly missed the top fifty on the U.S. country charts. The duo signed with Dot Records in 1972, and released an album and two singles, "Two Divided By Love", a cover version of The Grass Roots' hit and "Everything I Own", a cover of the group Bread's hit, both minor hits for the duo. Eventually they parted with their record label, focusing on performing live for a number of years, before signing with the independent Ovation label in 1977. Their first single for the label, a cover of the Kitty Wells hit "Making Believe", charted only making the Top 80 (possibly due to competition from Emmylou Harris' cover of "Making Believe", which hit the U.S. country charts around the same time). However, it was their second single, a "cheating" song called "Heaven's Just a Sin Away", that proved to be their breakthrough. The song topped the country charts and was also a minor crossover pop hit, and won the 1978 Grammy for Best Country Vocal by a Duo or Group. Subsequent hits included "Just Like Real People", "It Don't Feel Like Sinnin' to Me", "Sweet Desire", "You'd Make an Angel Want to Cheat", and a cover of Dolly Parton's "Put it Off Until Tomorrow". (Jeannie Kendall's powerful soprano has often been compared to Parton's.) In 1981, after Ovation Records closed their doors, the duo signed with Mercury Records, and continued to have hits with the Top 10's "Teach Me To Cheat" and "If You're Waitin' On Me (You're Backin' Up)". More hits followed with "Movin' Train" and "Precious Love" which made the Top 20.

Later career

Their last top ten hit, "Thank God for the Radio", which came in 1984, was also their last number 1 country hit. Their last Top 20's would come in 1984 and 1985 with "My Baby's Gone" and "I'll Dance Every Dance With You" respectively. In 1986, they signed with MCA Records where they scored three mid-level hits that year. In 1987, they signed with Step One Records where they scored several minor hits. In 1989, they signed with Epic Records where their last chart single, "Blue, Blue Day" made the Top 70. They did continue to tour and perform and released several CDs up until Royce Kendall's death from a stroke he suffered in 1998. In the years since her father's death, Jeannie Kendall has released two solo albums, and she continues to perform.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	US Country	RIAA	Label
1971	Meet the Kendalls			Stop
1972	Two Divided by Love			Dot
1977	Let the Music Play / Heaven's Just a Sin Away	5	Gold	Ovation
1978	Old Fashioned Love	16
1979	Just Like Real People	12
1980	Heart of the Matter	24
1981	The Best	34
	Lettin' You In	42		Mercury
1982	Stickin' Together	38
1983	Movin' Train	16
1984	Two Heart Harmony	27
1986	Thank God for the Radio	59
	Fire at First Sight	47		MCA
1987	Break the Routine	51		Step One
1989	20 Favorites			Epic
1995	Make a Dance			Lonesome Dove

Singles

Year	Single	Chart Positions		Album
		US Country	US Hot 100
1970	"Leaving on a Jet Plane"	52		Meet the Kendalls
	"Please Tell Me Why"
1971	"Love Love Love"
1972	"Two Divided by Love"	53		Two Divided by Love
	"Everything I Own"	66
1973	"You and Me"			Singles only
	"I Wanna Live Here in Your Love"
1975	"Love Do or Die"
	"Diesel Gypsy"
1976	"Imaginary Harmony"
1977	"Makin' Believe"	80		Let the Music Play / Heaven's Just a Sin Away
	"Heaven's Just a Sin Away"	1	69
1978	"It Don't Feel Like Sinnin' to Me"	2		Old Fashioned Love
	"Pittsburgh Stealers"	6
	"Sweet Desire"	1
	"Old Fashioned Love"	flip
1979	"I Had a Lovely Time"	5		Just Like Real People
	"Just Like Real People"	11
	"I Don't Do Like That No More"	16
	"Never My Love"	flip
1980	"You'd Make an Angel Wanna Cheat"	5		Heart of the Matter
	"I'm Already Blue"	5
	"Put It Off Until Tomorrow"	9
1981	"Heart of the Matter"	26
	"Teach Me to Cheat"	7		Lettin' You In
1982	"If You're Waiting on Me (You're Backing Up)"	10
	"Cheater's Prayer"	30		Stickin' Together
	"That's What I Get for Thinking"	35
1983	"Precious Love"	19		Movin' Train
	"Movin' Train"	20
1984	"Thank God for the Radio"	1
	"My Baby's Gone"	15
1985	"I'd Dance Every Dance with You"	20		Two Heart Harmony
	"Four Wheel Drive"	27
	"If You Break My Heart"	26
	"Two Heart Harmony"	45
1986	"Too Late"	42		Fire at First Sight
	"Fire at First Sight"	60
	"Little Doll"	46
1987	"Routine"	54		Break the Routine
	"Dancin' with Myself Tonight"	51
	"Still Pickin' Up After You"	62
1988	"Rhythm of Romance"	57
1989	"Blue Blue Day"	69		20 Favorites
1995	"Make a Dance"			Make a Dance

External links

• Biography at allmusic.com
• Royce Kendall in Dead Musicians Directory
• Artists Page at CMT.com