"Duke of Earl" is a

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

US number-one

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

, originally recorded by

Gene Chandler 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 song ...

. It is the best known of Chandler's songs, and he subsequently dubbed himself "The Duke of Earl". The song was written by Chandler, Bernice Williams, and Earl Edwards. This song was a 2002 inductee into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

. It has also been selected by

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and th ...

as one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Original version by Gene Chandler

The song originated from warm-up exercises by the Dukays, a vocal group that included Chandler (under his original name, Eugene Dixon) and Earl Edwards and that had already had some success on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

. The group would regularly warm up by singing "Do do do do..." in different keys. On one occasion, Dixon changed the syllables he was singing to include Earl's name, and the chant gradually became the nonsense words "Du..du..du..Duke of Earl". The pair worked on the song with regular songwriter and mentor Bernice Williams, and then recorded it at

Universal Recording Corporation Universal Recording Corporation was a recording studio in Chicago founded by Bill Putnam, Sr. for the purpose of investigating new recording techniques and the development of specialized recording equipment. Universal Recording was seminal i ...

in Chicago with the other members of the Dukays. Musicians on the record included Floyd Morris on piano, Lefty Bates, Phil Upchurch and Kermit Chandler on guitar, Al Duncan on drums, and Cliff Davis and John Board on sax. However, the Dukays' record label chose instead to release "Nite Owl," offering Dixon the option of releasing "Duke of Earl" as a solo artist. Dixon changed his name to Gene Chandler (a surname taken from that of the actor Jeff Chandler), and the song was released at the end of 1961. "Duke of Earl" debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on January 13, 1962, quickly rising to become number one on both the pop and R&B charts. The song held the number-one spot for three weeks, and was on the Hot 100 for a total of 15 weeks.

Cover versions

The Pearlettes, a

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

, released a cover of the song (as "Duchess of Earl") in 1962, reaching No. 96 on the ''Billboard'' chart. In early 1962, an

answer song An answer song, response song or answer record is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer son ...

to Chandler's hit, by

Bobbie Smith and the Dream Girls Bobbie Smith and the Dream Girls were a Detroit-based American girl vocal group during the 1950s and 1960s. They are best known for "Duchess of Earl", which was released in early 1962 as an answer song to '' Duke of Earl''. The group's original ...

, was also titled "Duchess of Earl". Despite having the same title, the two songs have different music and lyrics. Another cover was recorded by the UK

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

outfit

Darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. It reached No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart. In 1988, an Australian harmony group dubbed 'Dukes of Earlwood featuring Armondo Hurley' reached No. 12 in Australia with their cover of the song. This version's success followed the popularity of a TV commercial for Decoré Shampoo which featured an adaptation of "Duke of Earl" as its jingle. In 1991,

John Goodman John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He rose to prominence in television before becoming an acclaimed and popular film actor. Goodman has received List of awards and nominations received by John Goodman, various acc ...

recorded a version for the credits to his film, King Ralph. Frank Black also recorded a cover version of the song, which was featured on a four-song CD released by the Hello CD of the Month Club in November 1993.

References

External links

Biography of Gene Chandler
{{authority control 1962 singles 1961 songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Doo-wop songs Gene Chandler songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Vee-Jay Records singles