Following the wonderful Prairie Clams here's a way of rounding off the weekend and celebrating with a classic. I first heard this song live at the very first  Reading Festival back in 1971 by Sha Na Na! They were simply superb!

On this day in music history: February 17, 1962 - “Duke Of Earl” by Gene Chandler hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks, also topping the R&B singles chart for 5 weeks on the same date. Written by Bernice Williams, Eugene Dixon and Earl Edwards, it is the biggest hit for the R&B vocalist born Eugene Dixon. The song originates as a vocal warm up exercise in the doo wop group The Dukays, in which Chandler and Edwards were both members. Chandler originally cuts “Duke Of Earl” while signed to Nat Records, who are not enthusiastic about the song at all. Instead they another song titled “Night Owl”, recorded at the same session. When Vee Jay Records A&R man Calvin Carter hears “Duke”, he immediately phones his boss label head Ewart Abner to sign Gene Chandler. Abner approves, and the single is released in December of 1961. The record is an instant smash and quickly hits the charts. Entering the Hot 100 at #93 on January 13, 1962, it leaps to the top of the chart five weeks later. “Duke Of Earl” becomes the first million selling single for Chicago-based independent label Vee-Jay Records. When Chandler performs the song live, he often appearing dressed in a black waist coat and tails with topped off with a matching black cape and top hat. “Duke Of Earl” is covered numerous times over the years, and is sampled as the basis of Cypress Hill’s “Hand On The Pump” in 1991.  Gene Chandler’s original recording is inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2002. “Duke Of Earl” is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.