Gene Chandler
| Gene Chandler | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Eugene Drake Dixon |
| Born |
July 6, 1937 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Years active | 1957–present |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | www |
Gene Chandler (born Eugene Drake Dixon, July 6, 1937) nicknamed "The Duke of Earl" or simply "The Duke", is an American singer, songwriter, music producer and executive.
Chandler is known best for his most successful songs "Duke Of Earl" and "Groovy Situation" and his association with the Dukays, the Impressions and Curtis Mayfield.
Gene is a Grammy Hall Of Fame inductee and a winner of both the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers' (NATRA) "Producer of the Year" Award and the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Pioneer Award. Chandler is also one of a just a few singers to achieve chart successes spanning the doo-wop, rhythm and blues, soul, and disco musical eras, with some 40 Pop and R&B chart hits between 1961 and 1986. On August 24, 2014, Chandler was inducted into the Official Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame.
Chandler attended Englewood High School on Chicago's south side. He began performing during the early 1950s with the band The Gaytones. In 1957, he joined The Dukays, with James Lowe, Shirley Jones, Earl Edwards and Ben Broyles, soon becoming their lead singer. After his draft into the US Army he returned to Chicago in 1960 and rejoined the Dukays.
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 was followed with a session in August 1961 that resulted in four sides, most notably "Nite Owl" and "Duke of Earl." Nat Records chose to release "Nite Owl" and it became a sizeable Rhythm&Blues success at the end of 1961. Meanwhile, Davis and Sheppard shopped the "Duke of Earl" recording to Vee-Jay Records company, which released it in 1962 by Dixon as a solo artist with the name "Gene Chandler".
...
Wikipedia