Betty Owens Assunto, 'Duchess of Dixieland' Submitted by N.O.V.A. Times Picayune 12-31-2006 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ Betty Owens Assunto, who burst onto the New Orleans music scene as a teenage "hillbilly" singer but quickly crossed over to the jazz sounds of the Dukes of Dixieland in the 1950s, died Tuesday at the Trinity Neurological Rehab Center in Slidell. She was 72. Known as the Duchess, she was the last surviving member of the original Dukes. Mrs. Assunto was born in New Orleans and lived in Metairie for the past 37 years. She had been in a rehabilitation center since suffering a heart attack in late 2000. "Little Betty Owens," as the 5-foot-1 singer was then known, gained a local following, including her own fan club, in 1947 when she appeared at "Uncle Roy's Barn Dance" shows Saturday nights at the Municipal Auditorium. The shows were broadcast live over WDSU Radio, and Owens, not yet 15, often sang with Jimmie Davis, Louisiana's singing governor. But she soon became smitten with Dixieland jazz, and while a freshman at McMain High School she became the lead singer for the Dukes of Dixieland, playing clubs along Bourbon Street, where the band formed in 1949 by teenage brothers Frank and Freddie Assunto found a home at the Famous Door. "There's a lot of difference, singing jazz and hillbilly," she told a reporter at age 17. "In jazz, you can express yourself better." She married trombone player Freddie Assunto in 1955, and her bandmates gave her the title "The Duchess of Dixieland," which she carried for decades. "She was destined to become the Duchess," said Deano Assunto, her nephew. "She had already made musical accomplishments as a child hillbilly singer. She always said she wanted to be called a 'hillbilly' singer, not 'country.' " An early version of the Dukes included clarinetist Pete Fountain. The fun-loving band cut dozens of albums between 1956 and 1966, played frequently in Las Vegas and toured nationally, occasionally performing and recording with legendary trumpeter Louis Armstrong, who later said they were the first white band to share the stage with his group. In the 1999 book "Louis Armstrong: In His Own Words," Armstrong recalled how the race barrier melted during a hometown show with the Dukes. "I finally had a chance to blow with white boys at last in my hometown New Orleans," he said. "So to me, the Dukes of Dixieland broke the ice." Mrs. Assunto, whose repertoire with the Dukes included standards such as "Bourbon Street Parade," "After You've Gone" and "When You're Smiling," retired after her husband's death from cancer in 1964 at age 36. The original Dukes disbanded in the 1970s after both Frank and Freddie Assunto died. But living in Metairie, Mrs. Assunto became a living memorial to the band's music and its era. The woman who had toured the world in the 1960s and had been a fixture at the Famous Door continued to turn heads during her daily routines in later life. At the grocery store, it wasn't unusual for strangers to call out, "Hey, Duchess! Where y'at, Duchess!" Mrs. Assunto helped keep the revived band's name alive in the 1990s, performing on the steamboat Natchez during dinner cruises. Even though she was a budding musical star, Mrs. Assunto said, her future husband had made her finish high school, despite dirty looks from teachers who did not approve of the girl's chosen career. "Some of them called me 'tramp,' and I went home crying," she told The Times-Picayune in 1999. "I told my mama I couldn't take it no more and she said, 'Stick it out. Show them you can do it.' And I did, with flying colors." Survivors include a son, Michael Assunto of Metairie; two daughters, Jan Robicheaux of Metairie and Angela Soulas of New Orleans; two sisters, Margaret Crist and Yvonne Hatch; and three grandchildren. Visitation will begin Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Lamana-Panno-Fallo Funeral Home, 1717 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie. A jazz funeral will follow at noon, with a procession to Greenwood Cemetery, 5200 Canal Blvd. The Excelsior Brass Band will lead the procession, and local musicians are invited to join in the tribute.