Gene Chandler, "The Duke" was born Eugene Dixon, July 6, 1937, in Chicago, Illinois. A powerful performer and singer, he personified the laid-back, carefree attitude that the early 1960s soul and R&B singers developed. His signature hit is the 1962 smash "Duke of Earl", though he wrote and performed many more songs, and collaborated with many of the greats in the soul and R&B world, such as Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler. Early years Although Chandler seems to have sprung into being in 1962, when he introduced himself to the world as "The Duke of Earl", Eugene Dixon had been singing since the early 1950s, first with The Gaytones. In 1957 he joined a doo-wop group called The Dukays with James Lowe, Shirley Jones, Earl Edwards and Ben Broyles, quickly becoming their lead singer. He was drafted by the US Army to Germany for three years, returned to Chicago in 1960, and rejoined his bandmates. Through music industry contacts, the Dukays were offer