Song of the Day 6/8: Gene Chandler, “Duke of Earl”

Americans seem fascinated with British royalty, but they don’t understand much about it. Consider, for example, the “Duke of Earl.” There is, of course, no such thing — in the hierarchy of British peerage, a duke is below only a prince, while an earl is a separate title two ranks lower. That fact did nothing to prevent this doo-wop classic from dominating the charts in 1962.

Like many of doo-wop’s greatest hits, “Duke of Earl” came along when the genre was already dying out. Based on sales and airplay it’s considered the second-most-popular doo-wop single ever (the first is “At the Hop” by Danny and Juniors, which isn’t really doo-wop at all — its rock and roll instrumentation and fast tempo make it sound more like Bill Haley’s Comets than the Moonglows).

Odd as it sounds when discussing an a cappella group, the song grew out of what amounts to a sound check. The Dukays, a Chicago quintet, used to warm up before shows by singing “doo, doo, doo” in different keys. One day lead singer Eugene Dixon changed it up, ending the phrase by name-checking baritone Earl Edwards. Just like that, the Duke of Earl was born.

The song also marked the birth of Gene Chandler. Dixon, Edwards and the rest of the Dukays recorded the song, but the record company — stop me if this sounds familiar — wasn’t impressed and chose to release a different tune, “Nite Owl,” instead. They wanted another group to record “Duke of Earl,” but Dixon wasn’t keen on somebody else singing his song. He couldn’t release it as Eugene Dixon, who was signed to a recording contract, but what if … Dixon’s favorite actor was Jeff Chandler, so he became Gene Chandler. By the end of the year Dixon/Chandler had adopted the persona of the Duke of Earl, dressing in tails with a cane, monocle, white tie, white gloves and a cape, none of which prevented him from referring to his domain as a “dukedom” (to be fair, “duchy” doesn’t scan very well).

Chandler transitioned to soul and R&B when doo-wop died off, but by the end of the decade he was spending most of his time doing production. His greatest success behind the board came with Mel and Tim’s “Backfield in Motion” in 1969.

Here, by the way, is the song the record company preferred to “Duke of Earl.” It peaked at No. 73.