Sir Duke is a tribute to Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974), who learned piano at age seven, formed his first band at 19 and had 70 top-30 hits between 1927 and 1953. Twenty-two of those made the top ten and three went to number one: Three Little Words (with vocals by Bing Crosby, Al Rinker and Harry Barris), Cocktails For Two and I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart. Here is Ellington's final hit, Boo-Dah, written by pianist Billy Strayhorn, who also wrote Lush Life and Take The 'A' Train, This reached #30 in November 1953: