Popa
Chubby
Electric Chubbyland Volumes 1 & 2
Blind Pig Records
www.popachubby.com
By James “Skyy Dobro” Walker
Volume 1: 12 songs; 64:38 minutes; Meritable
Volume 2: 10 songs; 67:11 minutes; Meritable
New York City native Ted “Popa Chubby” Horowitz
claims that playing the “Hendrix stuff” made him self conscious, but
it did get him back to why he started playing music in the first
place – the excitement and the raw power.
Jimi Hendrix expanded the limits of electric
rock guitar more than anyone before or since. Hendrix was a master
at squeezing all manner of sonics from his instrument, often with
early wah-wah pedals and innovative amplification experiments that
produced incredible feedback and space-time distortion. But, as you
may recall, not everyone liked the over-the-top guitar excess of
Jimi Hendrix, and to be honest, some of what he played, especially
live, was terrible. Some of this project equals both extremes.
So, why Play Hendrix? “Good Question” said Popa.
“In 1996 a Dutch promoter [created] a Jimi Hendrix music festival.
Over the next several years I was slammed with fan requests to play
and record Hendrix. In 2005, the blues and rock thing came together
like never before. In 2006, I decided to record the project at a
club in Middletown, New York. Electric Chubbyland was born.
From the start it was a record for the people. Requested by the fans
and played live to make sure that special spark of energy... came
through. I love playing Hendrix with my own spin. Loud and proud for
all the people!”
Those Popa Chubby fans to which he refers will
undoubtedly enjoy these CDs the most; Jimi fans next, and after that
is unclear. But, do not dismiss Chubby without a listen. Certain I
was not going to like him, I saw him live at the 2006
Mississippi Valley Blues Festival. Popa Chubby turned my head around
with his deft guitar playing. About as wide as he was tall, Horowitz
played a first for me, “Keep On The Sunny Side” arranged as a
scorching Rock and Roll number.
Born Ted Horowitz, 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 [and/or sexually aroused]. The core of my music is about
excitement. I think music should make people feel alive.”
Some of the Hendrix songs will bring back good
memories as Chubby re-creates Jimi’s power trio with AJ Pappas on
bass and Chris Reddan on drums. He even throws down a couple of
Blues numbers, “Catfish Blues” and a slow burning “Red House,” amid
classics like “Manic Depression” and “The Wind Cries Mary.”
If you are not at all familiar with Popa
Chubby, but you are now curious enough to give a listen, I would
recommend starting with, rather than Electric Chubbyland,
Booty and The Beast. This Tom Dowd engineered/produced album 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.
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