Gene & Eddie

Gene & Eddie were an R&B vocal duo from Silver Spring, Maryland who fell short of nationwide fame, but enjoyed regional success in the mid-'60s and later developed a following among collectors of classic soul rarities. Gene & Eddie were Eugene Alton Dorsett and Eddie Best, Jr., a pair of journeyman singers who had been working in Maryland and Washington D.C. when they crossed paths with the Nightcaps, an R&B-influenced show band led by guitarists Jeff Rubin and Norman Rich. The Nightcaps had recently parted company with their lead singer, and the pair were recruited to front the combo. Gene & Eddie were African-American, and the Nightcaps were white, and at a time when integration and civil rights were on the minds of many young people, the group's racial mix made them popular in progressive circles, and earned them a gig at a party at the White House. At the same time, Gene & Eddie's vocal skills gave the Nightcaps' greater strength and credibility, and they were soon doing a steady business at teen clubs and private functions. Best was a songwriter as well as a singer, and in 1965, he and Dorsett went into the studio with the Nightcaps to record a single for Best's Tonjo Records label. Their recording of "It's So Hard," written by Gene & Eddie, attracted little notice, but in 1967, the duo took another stab at hitmaking with the help of Joe Quarterman. Quarterman was a Baltimore-based songwriter, producer, and arranger who also performed under the name Sir Joe and ran the Ru-Jac Records label. In 1967, the same year Gene & Eddie cut ties with the Nightcaps, they released their first single for Ru-Jac, "I Would Cry" b/w "I'll Tell You." Between 1967 and 1971, Gene & Eddie released several singles through Ru-Jac, including a new version of "It's So Hard" that became a local hit, but despite Quarterman's promotional efforts and the quality of the material, the duo never came close to breaking out nationally, and after 1971's "Darling I Love You" b/w "Why Do You Hurt Me," the pair broke up. Best worked with other artists as a producer and vocalist, while Dorsett went on to a career in electronics. In 2016, Omnivore Recordings released True Enough: Gene & Eddie with Sir Joe at Ru-Jac, a collection of their Ru-Jac sides, as well as several tracks sung by Sir Joe.
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