Nothing could stop Gene Chandler once he got his chance to go solo with this song that came out of a practice with the Dukays. 'The Duke of Earl' was written by Eugene Dixon, Earl Edwards, and Bernice Williams. Eugene Dixon changed his name to Gene Chandler after he was offered a choice between sticking with the Dukays or going solo with 'The Duke of Earl'; which his record label had passed on releasing. Chandler says, "I gave a piece of the song to two other people...Bernice Williams and Earl Edwards. I took the Earl from him. I made it up in a rehearsal. They were opening up the intro saying 'Doo, Doo' and I told them to say 'Duke' and they were going up the scales and I began to put lyrics to it. Also, I did not own the publishing because I knew nothing about a publishing company at that time."
After Nat Records decided not to use the song, producers Carl Davis and Bill "Bunky" Sheppard made a deal with Vee Jay Records for the publishing rights; but, because Nat still had the rights to the Dukays, they released the song under a new name. Chandler recalls: "I was assigned to the label, Carl Davis' label. He and Bill Shepherd produced me. We went into a session and recorded 'Duke Of Earl' and 'Night Owl'. The company that had the first right of refusal to put out the songs for Carl Davis' label chose 'Night Owl'. They turned down the 'Duke'. Vee Jay had the publishing on 'Night Owl' because Carl and Bill needed money to record. So, they sold them the publishing on the 'Night Owl' record. And naturally they wanted to hear what it sounded like when we were finished with it. They listened and they listened to the rest of the songs. They said, well, who owns this if you're putting out 'Night Owl'? They said nobody, and turned it down, 'The Duke Of Earl'. They said can we buy it and they said yes. So, they bought 'The Duke OfEarl'. I was the lead singer on everything else so what happened was I had a choice of going with 'The Duke Of Earl' as a single artist or staying with the group. And they would replace with me, which ever way I decided. I decided to go as a single artist because that's what I wanted to be all the time. Under the contract I had with the group, it was Eugene Dixon, which is my real name. So, going over there, we shortened it from Eugene to Gene and Jeff Chandler was a favorite actor of mine. I liked that name so I took Chandler. That's how Gene Chandler came about. "
'The Duke of Earl' quickly went to number one on the pop and R&B charts. Chandler subsequently assumed the identity of 'the Duke' and took to wearing a cape, a monocle, a top hat and a cane.
Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl
Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl
Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl
Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl
Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl
Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl
Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl
Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl
As I-I walk through this world
Nothing can stop The Duke of Earl
And-a you, you are my girl
And no one can hurt you, oh no
Yes, a-I, oh, I'm gonna love you
Oh, oh
Come on let me hold you, darling
'Cause I'm the Duke of Earl
So, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah and
And when I hold you
You'll be my Dutchess
Dutchess of Earl
We'll walk through my Duke-dom
And a paradise we will share
Yes, a-I, oh, I'm gonna love you
Oh, oh, nothing can stop me, now
'Cause I'm The Duke of Earl
So, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo
Doo-ooo-uke
Oh-oh-whoa-oh
Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo
Du-ooo-hoo-uke
Oh-oh-oh
Yeah, I
Oh, I'm gonna love you
Oh-oh
Nothing can stop me, now
'Cause I'm the Duke of Earl
So, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Du-hoo-hoo-ooo-uke
Du-hoo-hoo-uke
So, whoa, whoa, ho-whoa
Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo.
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