Gene Chandler - Career

Career

The Dukays were offered a recording contract by Nat Records and recorded a single with producers Carl Davis and Bill "Bunky" Sheppard, "The Girl Is a Devil" (1961). This recording was followed with a session in August 1961 with four sides, most notably "Nite Owl" and "Duke of Earl." Nat Records chose to release "Nite Owl," and it became a sizable r&b hit at the end of 1961. Meanwhile, Davis and Sheppard shopped the "Duke of Earl" recording to Vee-Jay Records, which picked it but released it as by a solo artist, Eugene Dixon, who was renamed "Gene Chandler." "Duke of Earl" sold a million copies in just over one month.

After spending three weeks at number one on the Billboard Magazine charts, Chandler purchased a cape, a monocle, a top hat and a cane and became "The Duke of Earl". Chandler can be seen in the full 'Duke' outfit singing "The Duke of Earl" in the movie Don't Knock the Twist 1962, starring Chubby Checker. His concerts became popular and he performed encores, usually "Rainbow '65," one of his collaborations with Curtis Mayfield. This song was recorded by Chandler three times during his career, becoming a hit each time.

Chandler left Vee Jay in the fall of 1963 and recorded for Constellation Records. After Constellation went under in 1966, he was signed first to Chess Records and then Brunswick Records. For a time Chess and Brunswick alternated with each other when releasing Chandler's recordings. He had a Top 20 Pop hits on Constellation with "Just Be True" (1964) and "Nothing Can Stop Me" (1965), both songs written by Curtis Mayfield and produced by Carl Davis. Other hits included "What Now", "Rainbow", "I Fooled You This Time", "Think Nothing About It"', "A Man's Temptation", "To Be A Lover", "Rainbow '65" (recorded live at Chicago's Regal Theater), "Bless Our Love", and "You Can't Hurt Me No More." These songs enabled Gene to successfully shed his "Duke Of Earl" typecasting, and go on to become a major R&B star. Chandler also had success with his hit cover of James Brown's "There Was A Time" and "You Threw A Lucky Punch", which was released as an "answer" song to Mary Wells's Motown hit "You Beat Me To The Punch". In 1970, Chandler recorded the album Gene and Jerry: One on One, with Jerry Butler.

After a number of years on the road, Chandler decided to become more involved with production of music. He produced, wrote, and had a major hit with "Groovy Situation", arranged by Richard Evans (of "Soulful Strings" fame), Mercury Records (1970), which reached #12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #8 on the Billboard R&B chart, becoming his second biggest hit since "Duke Of Earl". "Groovy Situation" sold more than a million copies, and received a gold disc awarded by the R.I.A.A. in November 1970.

The hits he recorded and produced earned him The National Association of Television and Radio Announcers Producer of the Year Award in 1970, against competition from other nominees including Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Norman Whitfield. He also appeared with The Impressions and Curtis Mayfield on the live album Curtis in Chicago (1973). Chandler appeared on Arthur Louis's album Knocking on Heaven's Door (1974) alongside Eric Clapton. Later he had success with disco music, creating hits such as "Get Down" (1978), "When You're #1", "Does She Have A Friend?" and "Rainbow '80". During this time he was also the Executive Vice President of Chi Sound Records and worked with reggae star Johnny Nash. In the late 1970s, an interest in older musicians inspired the US DJ Wolfman Jack to put together a tour including vintage acts such as Chandler.

"Duke of Earl" was sampled by Cypress Hill, on the song "Hand on the Pump" from their album Cypress Hill (1991); plus Chandler's song "Hallelujah, I Love Her So" was sampled on their album Black Sunday (1993). In Argentina, where Cris Morena was the host of a popular teenage programe Jugate Conmigo, the song was included on the main intro on the fiction novel, inside the program called: "Life College" (1994). In 1997, Chandler was inducted as a Pioneer Award honoree into the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Chandler's "Tomorrow I May Not Feel the Same" was sampled by Reflection Eternal on the song "Ghetto Afterlife" from Train of Thought (2000).

In 1988, "Duke of Earl" was included on the soundtrack of Hairspray. "Groovy Situation" appeared on Anchorman: Music from the Motion Picture (2004). In 2002, "Duke Of Earl" was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame. Groovemaster K. and 88-Keys sampled Chandler's "When You're #1" for their song "Frisco Disco". His smash # 1 hit "Duke Of Earl" has also been selected by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll .

Chandler still performs in Chicago, Las Vegas and elsewhere in the US.