Gene
"The Duke of Earl"
Chandler
    Eugene Dixon was born July 6th, 1937 on the south side of Chicago, where he grew up listening to doo-wop groups like the Spaniels and the El-Dorados. In high school he performed with a group called The Gaytones, they won a talent contest at Chicago's Trianon Ballroom which resulted in a singing gig on a local radio station. Another neighborhood group, The Dukays, asked Gene to be their lead singer and he appeared with them at local nightclubs and dances.
     He left The Dukays to join the Armed Forces in 1957, and returned to the group after a three-year stint. One night, a woman named Berniece Williams came to see them perfrom, she approached the group about managing them. She took them to meet Bill "Bunky" Sheppard, he immediately signed them to local label Nat Records. Berniece wrote two songs, "The Girl's A Devil" and "Night Owl" for them, both songs hit the Hot 100.
     Gene had written a song that began with "doo doo doo," going up the scale. It turned into "duke, duke, duke," and he added the name of one of The Dukays (Earl Edwards), to come up with "Duke Of Earl," which was recorded at the same session as "Night Owl." Gene had been reluctant to record it, because he wanted strings on the track and the budget didn't permit that extravagance. But the group and producer Carl Davis liked the song so much, they insisted on recording it.
     Nat Records didn't like the song, according to Gene, and released "Night Owl" instead. Another prominent Chicago label, Vee-Jay, owned the publishing rights for "Night Owl," and their A&R man, Calvin Carter, was so excited about "Duke Of Earl" that he telephoned label president Ewart Abner in Paris to get the okay to purchase the recording from Nat. Abner didn't care about hearing the song, he told Carter that if it was important enough to call him in France, it had to be great.
     Small problem. Eugene Dixon was signed to Nat Records as a member of The Dukays. But as a solo artist, he could record for another label, so Dixon decided to go out on his own.  Producer Davis shortened his first name to Gene and borrowed a new last name from his favorite actor, Jeff Chandler.
     "Duke Of Earl" became the first million-seller for Vee-Jay Records, and Chandler took on the identity of the Duke, dressing up in cape, top hat and monocle for public appearances and a role in the movie "Don't Knock The Twist." His follow-up single, "Walk On With The Duke" and the album "The Duke Of Earl" were released under the name Duke Of Earl instead of Gene Chandler. In the liner notes, Chandler is only thanked in fine print for his "talent and cooperation in behalf of this album." Chandler reverted to his "real" name for his late 1962 double-sided hit, "You Threw A Lucky Punch" (an answer to Mary Wells' hit "You Beat Me To The Punch") and 
"Rainbow" (written by fellow Chicagoan Curtis Mayfield).
     When Abner left Vee-Jay in 1963 and formed Constellation Records, Chandler went with him and had nine charting singles for the new label. When Constellation closed it's doors in 1966, manager Carl Davis moved Gene to Brunswick Records. Chess records purchased his catalogue from the now defunct Constellation label and between 1966 and 1969 the two labels alternated releases. During his tenure at Brunswick he recorded duets with labelmate Barbara Acklin and continued singing songs written by Mayfield.
     By 1969 Gene was tiring of touring and hadn't had a decent hit in sometime so he decided to delve into the business end of the music industry. He became President of Bamboo Records, formed two music publishing companies and a production business. His first success was for the duo Mel & Tim. The cousins had a number 10 hit with "Backfield In Motion" which Chandler personally selected and produced.
     Signing with Chicago-based Mercury Records in 1970 produced his second biggest hit to date. "Groovy Situation" went to number 12 on the pop charts and number 1 on the R&B charts. Based on his success with Mel & Tim, and his latest Mercury hit, he received a nomination for "Producer Of The Year" by NATRA (National Association of Television and Radio Announcers). He was awarded the honor in August of 1970, beating out Norman Whitfield and Gamble & Huff. Quite an achievement considreing the influence of the Philly and Detroit sounds. An album with fellow Chicagoan and labelmate Jerry "Iceman" Butler finished his Mercury contract.
     From 1961 to 1972, it seemed like the name Gene Chandler was never out of the charts or the public eye. Then, for some reason, the hits stopped coming. Although the quality of singles like "I Understand" (Curtom) and "Tell It Like It Is" (Marsel) defy any logic as to why this should have been so. He hadn't had any kind of record in the marketplace for over two years when old friend/producer Carl Davis offered him the chance to join his new and expanding Chi-Sound label. Chi-Sound was formed in the wake of the winding down of Brunswick/Dakar, and would eventually pick up on the contracts of a number of their acts that had been discovered and/or produced by Davis.
     Prior to signing with Davis in late 1977, things had been temporarily tough for Gene. As well as not having a record deal, he was going through quite a bit of personal problems that culminated in his arrest for (so it was said) attempting to sell $30,000 worth of heroin to an undercover cop. Chandler actually went to prison for four months on a misdemeanor charge.
     Davis had actually agreed to work with his former protege before his arrest and conviction occurred and, in March 1978, just before Gene served his time, a Chi-Sound single of "Tomorrow I Might Not Feel The Same" was released. Despite it's excellence and a brief chart run it was not the "comeback" single that he needed.
      Within a few weeks of being back in circulation, Gene would find himself back on the charts the world over with his biggest hit in years. The high-energy groove of "Get Down" propelled it out of the clubs and onto the R&B and Pop charts, where it dominated the last months of 1978. This hit brought him to a third generation of fans and an audience of which many weren't even born when he had his first hit in 1962. The 12" single and same-titled album went gold and earned him a seat as vice-president at Chi-Sound.
     By the time he had finished his next album he had firmly made the move from "has-been" oldies artist, to a "hot commodity" disco star. His follow-up, the 1979 album and 12" single "When You're #-1" followed the successful route taken by his previous release.
     These two 12" singles were enough to rebuild his career in a single stroke, and even though none of the material that Chi-Sound released in their wake gave him further hits of the same magnitude, the body of work that the Davis/Chandler team amassed in the ensuing four years ensured that he would remain a regular visitor to the charts.
     A third recording of the Curtis Mayfield penned "Rainbow" followed. First recorded in 1962, then he recorded a live version "Rainbow/65" and the last version "Rainbow/80" for his third album "Gene Chandler/80." The 12" single of "Does She Have A Friend For Me" became a late night sleaze classic and the album also featured his version of the Dells classic "All About The Paper." These were to be his last hits for the label. Although one further album was released in 1981, "Here's To Love" failed to generate anything more than local interest and Chi-Sound closed it's doors in 1983.
     Gene was next heard on a duet with Jamie Lynn for Salsoul Records in 1983 entitled "You're The One" but it barely grazed the bottom of the charts and Salsoul was on it's last leg and closed the next year. He surfaced again two years later in 1985, still recording in Chicago, but on another New York based label, with the album "Your Love Looks Good." It produced two low-charting Billboard hits in late 1985 and early 1986.
     Today, Gene still lives in Chicago and attributes his success to his faith in God. His romantic performance style along with his superbly rich voice still makes him an in-demand and fabulous performer to contend with. He still packs them in decades later----- Nothing can stop the Duke of Earl. Nothing..
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