Gene Chandler

Biography

Gene Chandler (born Eugene Drake Dixon; July 6, 1937) is an American singer, songwriter, music producer, and record-label executive. Chandler is nicknamed "the Duke of Earl" or, simply, "the Duke." He is best known for his most successful songs, "Duke of Earl×Duke of Earl1994 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1I Fooled You This Time2:542Duke of Earl2:203Nothing Can Stop Me2:574What, Now2:485So Many Ways2:356Baby That’s Love2:437Stand by Me2:148I Woke Up Crying2:319Gonna Be Good Times2:2110Those Were the Good Old Days2:42" and "Groovy Situation", and his association with the Dukays, the Impressions, and Curtis Mayfield.
Chandler is a Grammy Hall of Fame inductee and a recipient of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Pioneer Award. He is one of the few singers to achieve chart success spanning the doo-wop, rhythm and blues, soul and disco musical eras, with some top-40 pop and R&B chart hits between 1961 and 1986. Chandler was inducted as a performer into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame on August 24, 2014. In 2016, he became a double inductee in the R&B Music Hall of Fame with his induction as an R&B music pioneer.

Early years

Chandler was born Eugene Drake Dixon in Chicago on July 6, 1937. He attended Englewood High School on the city's South Side. Chandler began performing during the early 1950s with the Gaytones. He joined the Dukays with James Lowe, Shirley Jones, Earl Edwards and Ben Broyles in 1957, soon becoming their lead singer. After being drafted into the U.S. Army, Chandler returned to Chicago in 1960 and rejoined the Dukays.

Career

The Dukays were offered a recording contract by Nat Records and recorded a single, "The Girl Is a Devil" (1961), with producers Carl Davis and Bill "Bunky" Sheppard. This was followed by a session in August 1961 which resulted in four songs, including "Nite Owl" and "Duke of Earl×Duke of Earl1994 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1I Fooled You This Time2:542Duke of Earl2:203Nothing Can Stop Me2:574What, Now2:485So Many Ways2:356Baby That’s Love2:437Stand by Me2:148I Woke Up Crying2:319Gonna Be Good Times2:2110Those Were the Good Old Days2:42". Nat Records released "Nite Owl", and it became an R&B success by the end of the year. Davis and Sheppard shopped "Duke of Earl" to Vee-Jay Records, which released it in 1962 by Dixon (known as Gene Chandler).
"Duke of Earl" sold one million copies in a little over a month, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. After the song spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard charts, Chandler purchased a cape, monocle, cane and top hat and advertised himself as the Duke of Earl. He appeared in costume singing "Duke of Earl" in Don't Knock the Twist, a 1962 film featuring Chubby Checker. Chandler's concerts became popular, and he performed encores – usually "Rainbow×Rainbow7 July 1993 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1When You're Number One9:352Rainbow5:273Get Down3:394Does She Have a Friend for Me?4:165All About the Paper4:406Let Me Make Love to You4:127Almost All the Way to Love4:218Give Me The Cue3:419Greatest Love Ever Known3:3110I'll Remember You3:5311You've Been So Sweet to Me4:2912Tomorrow I May Not Feel the Same3:50", a Curtis Mayfield song.
Chandler left Vee-Jay in the autumn of 1963 and recorded for Constellation Records, another Chicago company. After Constellation went bankrupt in 1966, he was contracted to Chess and then to Brunswick Records; for a time, Chess and Brunswick alternated in releasing Chandler's recordings. He had Top-20 hits with Constellation with "Just Be True×Just Be True1980 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Nothing Can Stop Me2A Song Called Soul3You Can’t Hurt Me No More4Just Be True5Nite Owl6Festival of Love7Rainbow8You Threw a Lucky Punch9(Gonna Be) Good Times10Kissin’ in the Kitchen11Man’s Temptation12Think Nothing About It13The Girl’s a Devil14The Big Lie15What Now16Duke of Earl" (1964) and "Nothing Can Stop Me" (1965), both written by Curtis Mayfield and produced by Carl Davis.
Other successes 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." Chandler was also successful with his cover version of James Brown's "There Was a Time" and "You Threw a Lucky Punch", released as an answer song to Mary Wells' Motown hit "You Beat Me to the Punch".
After several years performing concerts, Chandler decided to become more involved with music production. He formed a production company and two record labels: Bamboo and Mister Chand. Chandler produced a hit with "Groovy Situation", released on Mercury Records in 1970, which reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number eight on the Billboard R&B charts: his second-greatest success, after "Duke of Earl". "Groovy Situation" sold more than a million copies and was certified gold by the RIAA in November of that year.
Chandler had produced "Backfield in Motion" in 1969 for Mel and Tim on Bamboo Records, which reached number three on the R&B chart and the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. He followed this in 1970 with "Good Guys Only Win in the Movies" for the duo; the song reached number 17 on the R&B chart and number 45 on the pop-music chart.
Later that year, Chandler recorded the album Gene and Jerry: One on One with fellow Chicago artist Jerry Butler. He also was featured along with the Impressions, LeRoy Hutson and Curtis Mayfield on the live album Curtis in Chicago (1973). Chandler sang on Arthur Louis's album Knocking on Heaven's Door (1974), with Eric Clapton. A period with Curtom Records, a label co-founded by Mayfield, resulted in four self-produced singles; none charted.
Chandler had some success with disco-style music during the late 1970s, making records with his former producer Carl Davis which included "Get Down×Get Down20 October 1978 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Get Down8:14A2Please Sunrise5:57A3Tomorrow I May Not Feel the Same3:52B1I'm the Traveling Kind4:06B2Greatest Love Ever Known3:32B3Give Me the Cue3:46B4What Now3:15B5Lovequake4:50", "When You're #1" and "Does She Have a Friend?" Appointed executive vice-president of Davis' Chi-Sound Records, he worked with reggae singer Johnny Nash. During the mid to late 1970s, a resurgence of interest in 1950s music and pop culture inspired disc jockey Wolfman Jack to organize a tour by vintage acts, including Chandler.
"Duke of Earl" was sampled by Cypress Hill on "Hand on the Pump" from their album Cypress Hill (1991), and Chandler's song "Hallelujah, I Love Her So" was sampled on their album Black Sunday (1993). In 1997, he received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.
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. "Duke of Earl" was selected by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of its "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". In 2016, Chandler was honored in his hometown of Chicago by having a street named after him for his industry accomplishments, hit records, and his civic and philanthropic efforts for the city and its people.
His son, Defrantz Forrest, sings with the Motown group The Originals.