Sunday, February 13, 2011

Chubby Checker - Chequered (1971, Ariola)

Chubby Checker was quite a sensation with his 60's dance hit "The Twist". Teenagers all over America were in a frenzy. He went on to record several other chart-toppers (pretty much variations on the same song, there was even a Hava Nagilah Twist). Sadly for him, his luck ran out in 1965 when teen tastes moved into new territory with the Psychedelic Rock and Folk phenomenons.

In 1971, Chubby was conned into recording a psychedelic bluesy soul album by the infamously shady Ed Chalpin(the same guy behind the bootleg Jimi Hendrix w/ Curtis Knight releases). There are shades of The Animals, Love and, of course, Shuggie Otis. Although he didn't have any creative input here, and its obviously cashing in on styles that were all the rage, its a damn good record, better than anything else he ever did. He hated it, wanted it to be forgotten, referred to it as a bootleg. Who cares? Sorry Chubs, you actually did some songs that I didn't get tired of hearing on the radio by the time I was twelve. I certainly don't need to hear "Doin' the Zombie" ever again.

Get It Here

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