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 The
ever-prolific Popa Chubby returns with a new CD of hard-hitting
rock ‘n’ roll, Deliveries After Dark, a collection
of balls-out Blues/Rock played with reckless abandon, no apologies,
visceral and heavy, with a few surprises thrown in – such as
the theme from “The Godfather” rearranged as a surf guitar instrumental,
and the spacey and evocative “Woman In My Bed Dub,” a reggae
tune as thick with smoke as a Kingston club. Elsewhere, Chubby
indulges his need for speed with the road-raging “Deliveries
After Dark,” and revved-up boogie of “Sally Likes To Run,” while
“Let The Music Set You Free” lays out Chubby’s philosophy over
a swaggering, rock solid riff. With Deliveries After Dark,
Popa Chubby continues to rule the road with his high-octane
ax work and uncompromising, in your face attitude, resulting
in a supercharged mix that spits fire at every turn.
Born Ted Horowitz, Popa Chubby is a true native son of the Big
Apple. He grew up in the neighborhood immortalized in Robert
DeNiro's film "A Bronx Tale." His early memories of hearing
the jukebox in his parents' candy store playing the hits of
early Sixties soul and R&B and the neighborhood teens flocking
around it made a lasting impression on him.
"When I first heard Freddie King my world was turned upside
down. I was 19 and this older cat in the neighborhood played
me the Just Pickin' record and I was knocked out cold. I thought,
'Man, that's what I wanna be when I grow up.'"
In 1990 the Popa Chubby Band was born. The name was taken from
an impromptu jam with Bernie Worrell of Parliament-Funkadelic.
"He was singing a song called 'Popa Chubby' and he pointed at
me." The name captured the essence of what his music has come
to represent. "Popa Chubby basically means to get excited. The
core of my music is about excitement. I think music should make
people feel alive."
In 1994 Popa signed a recording deal with then recently resurrected
O-Keh Records (Sony Music), lured by the prospect of working
with Tom Dowd, longtime Atlantic Records engineer/producer,
whose recordings by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett,
the Allman Brothers and others are legendary. Booty And The
Beast was released in 1994, and the single, “Sweet Goddess Of
Love and Beer,” soon swept the country and became a summer radio
hit coast to coast in 1995.
Creative differences left Popa a free agent in 1996, so he began
releasing albums on his own label. On the advice of Dowd he
went to Europe, where his first two CDs were released as a collection
by the French Dixiefrog label. The record was an instant success
and left Popa touring nonstop. The energy and showmanship of
his sets earned him critical and commercial acclaim overseas,
and in fact, he's become a huge star in Europe, where he appears
on the covers of magazines and routinely sells out major venues.
In May 2000, Dixiefrog released How'd A White Boy Get the
Blues? in Europe. Looking for a domestic label that would
understand his unique approach to the blues, Popa brought the
album to Blind Pig Records, which released this seminal blues-rock
concept record in August of 2001. It uses electric and acoustic
guitar blends, drum loops and electronics to show how close
the blues, hip-hop and R&B really are. Calling the CD "a fresh
take on the genre," Billboard said "If Muddy Waters was a modern
blues artist, then Popa Chubby is a post-modern bluesman."
The Good, The Bad, and The Chubby followed in 2002,
featuring thirteen brand new compositions reflecting, in Popa's
words, "Love, Life, Betrayal, Diesel, Jet Fuel, Marriage, Murder,
Stress and Passion!" At the time, Popa's recording studio was
about a half a mile away from the World Trade Center, and he
wrote the opening track, “Somebody Let The Devil Out,” in reaction
to the September 11th tragedy. All Music Guide said
the release was "one of the strongest, most distinctive modern
blues albums of 2002."
The next year Blind Pig released a collection of Popa's early
work entitled The Hungry Years, drawn from several out-of-print
albums Popa had released on his own label in the early 90's
and including three previously unreleased tracks. "From the
bowels of Greenwich Village to the Upper East Side, New York
from 1991 to 1996 was my very own Rotten Apple!" Living Blues
offered, "Batten down the hatch before putting this on the stereo
- this ain't your granddaddy's blues."
In the election year of 2004, Popa Chubby came up with his lyrically
edgiest record yet, one of the most topical and important records
of the year - Peace, Love, and Respect. Twelve tracks of hard-hitting,
politically inspired songs that run from upholding First Amendment
rights in the hard-thumping shuffle “Un-American Blues," to
protesting the plight of young people dying for the lust of
oil and power in “Young Men.”
2005 saw the release of a live CD and a DVD, Big Man, Big
Guitar. As Popa described it, "I basically gave Blind Pig
free rein to choose the material for Big Man, Big Guitar and
was very pleased with their choices. They really put the focus
on my guitar work, the roots of my music and the energy we generate
on stage. I think they not only captured the best of me as a
guitar player and performer today but also included some of
those seminal selections that influenced my career from the
very beginning."
Stealing the Devil's Guitar arrived the following year,
and was Popa Chubby's most guitar-centric studio album to date.
As the Philadelphia Inquirer put it, "Truly a bluesman for the
new millennium, Popa Chubby has an abiding affection for the
tradition but uses it only as a springboard for his distinctive
style."
In 2007, Popa unleashed Electric Chubbyland, a live
collection celebrating the work of Jimi Hendrix. Relix magazine
said “Chubby’s searing guitar work is exceptional, and his vocals
evoke the spirit of Jimi. Chubby unleashes some of the fiercest
string bending this side of Electric Ladyland. Tribute albums
are a dangerous lot, but Electric Chubbyland is a safe,
enjoyable, mesmerizing listen.” Long requested by Chubby’s rabid
fan base, the albums managed to capture, as Chubby put it, “that
special spark of energy that only happens between the audience
and performer. I love playing Hendrix with my own spin. Loud
and proud for all the people!"
Those same fans will undoubtedly welcome Deliveries After
Dark, Chubby’s latest collection of jet-fueled originals.
“I have gotten back to why I started playing music to begin
with,” says the masterful guitarist. “The excitement and the
feeling of raw power. All I can tell you is you need rock and
roll in your soul and I am the man in control. The Blues are
alive and well and Rock and Roll will never die! Are you ready
to rock?
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