Recording Gene Chandler’s "Duke of Earl"

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by John B, Sep 2, 2003.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. John B

    John B Once Blue Gort,<br>now just blue. Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    "Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl, Duke, Duke…" It’s one of the most famous openings of any song from the rock ’n’ roll era. And from its chart debut in mid-January 1962 all the way through the summer of that year, the song was inescapable. Not that there were any complaints–is there anyone who was not charmed by its graceful doo-wop pace, by the basso profundo opening and lead singer Gene Chandler’s tenor soaring into those unearthly falsetto "oo-oo-oo’s" near the end?

    Actually, by 1962 the Golden Era of doo-wop had already passed, so the success of "Duke of Earl" was something of a surprise; even then it felt a bit like a throwback to the late ’50s.

    Although the song was written and performed by the 21-year-old, Chicago-based Chandler, when the Vee-Jay Records 45 was originally released, it was credited simply to the Duke of Earl, and there was an air of mystery surrounding this odd character. Where was Earl, his "dukedom"? Who was this cat? Indeed, when Chandler would appear on TV and onstage to sing the song, he’d often wear a top hat and tuxedo to make him look like he might be a real duke. In one publicity photo, he even wore a monocle!

    Chandler was born Eugene Dixon in 1940 on Chicago’s South Side, where he grew up singing doo-wop on street corners with his friends and listening to the R&B and blues that saturated the area. At 17 he joined the Army, and upon his discharge in 1960, he joined an already-established Chicago R&B group called The Dukays, who scored with a minor hit on Nat Records called "The Girl Is a Devil" in 1961. It was A&R man Carl Davis, discoverer of The Dukays, who suggested changing Dixon’s name to Gene Chandler, after the popular actor Jeff Chandler. "Duke of Earl" was Chandler’s solo debut, though he was backed on the track by The Dukays.

    "Duke of Earl" was cut at Chicago’s Universal Recording Studios, with Davis producing an arrangement by Riley Hampton, and a young staff engineer named Bruce Swedien handling the technical end of the session. (TEC Awards Hall of Fame member Swedien also engineered Michael Jackson’s "Billie Jean" nearly two decades after "Duke of Earl.") "Studio A was a great-sounding room," Swedien recalls. "It was designed and built by my mentor, Bill Putnam. Bill’s the guy who brought me from my home in Minneapolis to work in Chicago, and actually, the studio wasn’t finished until a year after I got there, so I ended up working for RCA for a year, where I recorded the Chicago Symphony and a number of other things for them. But Studio A is one of the legendary big rooms of that era.

    "It had one of the consoles that Bill built, with 12 inputs and rotary faders. That console was one of the first to have echo send and echo return. Bill Putnam was also the man that invented the system of using artificial reverberation for artistic effect." Additionally, Studio A had two echo chambers.

    Swedien doesn’t remember many specifics about the session that produced "Duke of Earl," except that he used a Neumann U47 to cut Chandler’s lead vocal. "It was just another session," Swedien notes. "At that point, in a three-hour session you’d wind up with four songs if things were going well. Mixing was not a part of it. Everything was live, of course, and I think I did that one direct to 2-track and mono. When we did that record, it was still a time in the industry when there was very little effort to achieve separation. The object of recording was to present to the listener a sort of unaltered acoustic event–a performance. That was also just before the record industry was interested in stereo, and the moguls of the industry didn’t think there was any future in stereo. The director of engineering for RCA Victor came out with this great statement: ‘There’s no future in stereo. I wouldn’t take a shower with two shower-heads, would I?’ That was his analogy," Swedien says with a laugh.

    Swedien has fond memories of working with Chandler on this and other occasions. "He was a big, tall fellow, a wonderful singer, very easy to work with," he says. Though he is still best known as the singer of "Duke of Earl," which hit Number One on the charts in the winter of 1962, Chandler was no one-hit wonder. He managed to land songs on the R&B and pop charts all through the ’60s, ’70s and the first half of the ’80s. His most popular R&B numbers included "Rainbow" (1963), "Man’s Temptation" (’63), "Just Be True" (’64), "What Now" (’65), "Nothing Can Stop Me" (’65), "I Fooled You This Time" (’66), "Groovy Situation" (’70), "You’re a Lady" (’71, with Jerry Butler) and "Get Down" (’78). Chandler still lives in the Chicago area and performs occasionally. This should not be surprising–after all, "nothin’ can stop the Duke of Ear-r-r-l."

    by Blair Jackson
     
  2. Mark

    Mark I Am Gort, Hear Me Roar Staff

    John: on the mark, again. I used to love hearing Lowell George sing this with Little Feat, in that growly voice of his, back in their mid 70s heyday.
     
  3. Bob Lovely

    Bob Lovely Super Gort In Memoriam

    John,

    Thanks for posting this - very informative. Unfortunately, this is a pretty lousy sounding track whether you listen to the commonly available Stereo mix or the original Mono 'hit' single mix. I suppose 'the sound' is a part of history but, to my ears, it never sounds 'right', as if there are phasing problems and every version sounds like this. On the Stereo mix, every version that I have heard has distortion on Gene's vocal simbiance. The Mono mix sounds muddy on CD versus my memory of hearing this track on the Radio back in '62. A little re-mastering helps some. I have often wondered if we have ever heard the right tapes.:confused: This may be one of those vintage hits that is what it is...

    Thanks again...

    Bob:)
     
  4. John B

    John B Once Blue Gort,<br>now just blue. Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Mark, I have heard Lowell's version too - it sounds like it could have been made with him in mind.
     
  5. John B

    John B Once Blue Gort,<br>now just blue. Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Bob,

    You're welcome. I'll pull out my mono (Rhino) and stereo (Varese) and give them a listen tonight.
     
  6. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    I always thought SH's version sounded pretty spot on. Fairly sure he used the MONO....
     
  7. Bob Lovely

    Bob Lovely Super Gort In Memoriam

    Sckott,

    What CD is that on?

    Bob:confused:
     
  8. chip-hp

    chip-hp Cool Cat

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    DCC did Sock Hop in '86 ... but I don't think Steve was involved in the original mastering.
     
  9. Bob Lovely

    Bob Lovely Super Gort In Memoriam

    Chip,

    Thanks! This is a CD that I never purchased...

    Bob:)
     
  10. chip-hp

    chip-hp Cool Cat

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Steve confirmed in a previous thread that he did not master "Sock Hop" ... maybe ... hoprfully ... there is another CD that we don't know about ...

    BTW ... good post ... Blue Gort. :)
     
  11. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Gene Chandler is one of my favorite 60s soul crooners along with Jerry Butler.

    "Duke Of Earl" is one of the first songs I recall hearing first in my life as a wee one.

    I have read in some places that the best version on this song is on the VeeJay box. The most recent mastering I have this song on is a Varese Vintage comp, but don't remember which one it is off the top of my head.
     
  12. RetroSmith

    RetroSmith Forum Hall Of Fame<br>(Formerly Mikey5967)

    Location:
    East Coast
    I agree, this track has never sounded all that great. I do prefer the stereo mix as taken from the original stereo Lp...thats the best sounding dub of the stereo, from a first pressing LP. The stereo tape floating around seems to be very hissy as if it were 3rd or 4th generation.
     
  13. indy mike

    indy mike Forum Pest

    I think that the only stereo out there is from a disc dub; that tape has been MIA since the vinyl came out in the 60's...
     
  14. RetroSmith

    RetroSmith Forum Hall Of Fame<br>(Formerly Mikey5967)

    Location:
    East Coast
    Could be!!!

    A Stereo First pressing does sound pretty good tho...my friend has one in mint condition.
     
  15. sgb

    sgb Senior Member

    Location:
    Baton Rouge
    You think correctly. All of the stereo versions on CD come from a needle drop courtesy of Chris Kissell.
     
  16. John B

    John B Once Blue Gort,<br>now just blue. Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Interesting. I just had a listen to my stereo version off "Then Totally Oldies" (varese Sarabande). It is a needle drop - I had missed it. It sounds okay.
     
  17. indy mike

    indy mike Forum Pest

    There are several stereo tunes available only as from vinyl dubs 'cause the master tapes are nowhere to be found - Tell It Like It Is by Aaron Neville is also a needle drop (rumor has it the tape exists but there's money issues keeping it out of circulation), Jack Scott's Carlton stereo masters...
     
  18. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    The problem with "Duke Of Earl" is that the stereo version(in fact, the entire album)turned up on the short-lived Vee-Jay edition from '93 or so. The sound was unfutzed with pretty much, the surface noise audible but bearable. As time has gone on, whenever this version winds up somewhere, some of the noise has been removed, along with a little of whatever dynamic range was there in the first place. I'll have to dig out that long OOP disc and give it a listen to see if any NR was used, it's been a long time since I've given it a spin. Billy Vera and Gordon Skene were involved with that series of Vee-Jay reissues, and some of them are mighty good.


    ED:cool:
     
  19. John B

    John B Once Blue Gort,<br>now just blue. Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    The Varese comp credits K-Tel Entertainment (USA) International for licensing the song. I'm not sure that's a good thing. :eek:
     
  20. John B

    John B Once Blue Gort,<br>now just blue. Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Now there's an idea for a thread indy! I'd be mighty curious to know where and why vinyl dubs are being used.
     
  21. indy mike

    indy mike Forum Pest

    Well, there are some folks who useta be pretty frequent posters at BSN (Grant, Ed) - they could probably chime in for a vanished stereo tape thread... Course, BSN's guiding light Mike Callahan would get a little uncomfortable here - he likes things clean and remixed.... ;)
     
  22. John B

    John B Once Blue Gort,<br>now just blue. Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Indy,

    Do you want to start this thread. If you don't I will (I'll be sure you get your royalties ;))
     
  23. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Start a new thread!

    I'm no stereo hound, but learning or discussing what is dubbed from vinyl, stereo or mono, would make a good thread.

    I suspect that is only one reason Mike Callahan does not participate in this forum. You know he knows about it! he does hate tape hiss and likes remixes, where i'd say the majority here likes things pretty much left alone.
     
  24. indy mike

    indy mike Forum Pest

    John, go ahead and start a "Where the heck did the stereo master tapes go for these tunes" thread. Grant, you probably have a lotta this stuff filed away in yer memory banks, and good old Ed surely needs to chime in! ;)
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine