The Duke Of Earl (LP)

Limited Edition 180g vinyl reissue of the chart-topping Chicago Soul singer’s 1961 album in stereo. Includes the US No.1 hit ‘Duke Of Earl’ and ‘Nite Owl’. Chandler’s only Vee-Jay long-player (and one of the very few to chart for the label), the stereo edition of The Duke Of Earl has long been a sought after Rock’n’Roll rarity owing to the small quantity sold at the time. Subsequent Vee-Jay reissues may have purported to be in “Stereophonic” sound but were in truth mono pressings packaged as stereo. Moreover, whilst disparate stereo cuts have emerged on CD since the 1990s, the sound quality has tended to be patchy at best. Released to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of legendary Chicago independent label Vee-Jay, Charly are pleased to present The Duke Of Earl in glorious stereo on vinyl for the first time since its original release. Gene Chandler is best remembered for his 1962 novelty Doo Wop No.1 ‘Duke Of Earl’, 1970’s ‘Groovy Situation’, and his later Disco hit ‘Get Down’ (US R&B No.3 / UK No.11) in 1978. The singer born Eugene Dixon cut his teeth performing as a teen on Chicago’s south side in the early 50s with The Gaytones vocal group before joining the R&B quintet The Dukays in 1957. With Dixon singing lead, the group recorded four sides for Nat Records in 1961 of which ‘Duke Of Earl’ was one but the label declined to release it, opting instead for ‘Nite Owl’ which became a sizeable R&B hit later that year. Producers Carl Davis and Bill ‘Bunky’ Sheppard then shopped ‘Duke’ around eventually licensing the track to Vee-Jay who decided to release it by Dixon as a solo singer. Thus, Gene Chandler was born and with him an unlikely Rock’n’Roll on stage persona which included the aristocratic trappings of top hat, cape, cane and monocle Indeed, the ‘Duke’ made a guest appearance in 1962’s danceplo­itation movie Don’t Knock The Twist and even spawned a distaff answer disc by Vee-Jay’s Pearlettes (check out CHARLY 665 D Boys Can Be Mean). Released at the end of 1961 in both stereo and mono formats, The Duke Of Earl peaked at No.69 on the US album chart the following Spring. Chandler left Vee-Jay in 1963 electing to record mid-tempo Soul for Constellation where he charted nine singles, and later at Chess, Brunswick and Mercury. A Grammy Hall of Fame inductee, Chandler has also enjoyed a successful career as a record producer and continues to perform. Limited Edition release replicates the original 1961 stereo album on heavyweight vinyl This album has never been reissued in stereo on vinyl before Includes the hits ‘Duke Of Earl’ and ‘Nite Owl’ For more information about the artist, visit The Dukedom at www.genechandler.com Review This is an odd album, mostly owing to the widely differing sounds represented on it. Though often credited exclusively to Gene Chandler, about half of it is comprised of Chandler's work with the Dukays, the group of which he was a part until the release of “Duke of Earl” (which was a Dukays recording released as a Chandler solo single). the Dukays material is fine if relatively undistinguished late-‘50s R&B harmony vocal material, mostly consisting of pleasant romantic ballads. Chandler's work, by contrast, casts him in a mode very similar to Ben E. King's immediate post-Drifters recordings (he even does “Stand by Me” here). There's a considerable chasm between the doo wop and the solo sides, and some listeners might even get dizzy after a few switches back and forth. And the album is dominated by the later tracks, circa 1965, most notably “Turn on Your Love Light,” where Chandler moves into the upbeat soul sound that would carry him from the mid-’60s all the way through into the 1970s (and a professional rendezvous with Curtis Mayfield). The sound is excellent, and if you can take the switches in style and mood, this is a fun album. Bruce Eder, AllMusic.com