Heaven And Earth (2)

Chicago's Heaven and Earth were one of those soul groups that should have been major stars, but due to unfortunate timing, lousy management, a never ending series of personnel issues and other misfortunes, never managed to break through outside of their native Chicago. Brothers Dwight and James Dukes decided to form a vocal group in 1974 while attending Chicago's South Shore High School. They quickly recruited friends Michael Brown and Keith Stewart. The quartet subsequently caught the attention of sometimes promoter Lil Schneider who brought them to the attention of label owner/producer Clarence Johnson. Together with partner Lucky Cordell, Johnson was suitably impressed, signing the quartet to their new G.E.C. (General Entertainment Corporation) label. 1977 saw the group undergo a nasty personnel shakeup with original lead singer Brown being dumped in favor of former The Soul Majestics lead Dean Williams. The move was instigated by now-manager/producer Johnson and proved extremely unpopular with the Dukes bothers and Stewart. At the same time, using his connections, Johnson arranged for the new line up to sign with Mercury. Members were : Michael Brown - vocals (tenor) (1974-77) - Dwight Dukes - lead vocals (falsetto) (1974-82) - James Dukes - vocals (bass) (1974-82) - Greg Rose - vocals (baritone) (replaced Dean Williams) (1978-82) - Keith Steward - vocals (tenor and baritoner) (-82) - Dean Williams - lead vocals (baritone) (replaced Michael Brown) (1978) They released four albums.