Chubby Checker was a 17-year old kid who thought his singing career was over — until his mom started praying for him.
A few months later, her prayers were answered when Chubby recorded “The Twist,” and forever changed the history of popular music in America. Checker will play two shows on Tuesday Oct 25, at 5 and 8 p.m. in the Savannah Center with his band, The Wildcats.
But let’s go back to 1959.
Checker, whose real name is Ernest Evans, was living in Philadelphia and had a minor novelty 1959 hit with “The Class.” He was 17, still in high school and toured to support the record.
The single, which included Chubby’s imitations of Fats Domino and Elvis Presley, eventually died and his singing career seemed on life support.
“I felt like a 17-year old has been,” Checker said this week in a telephone interview. “Nothing was happening; I figured it was the end of Chubby Checker. So I asked my mom to pray to God to help me.”
Eartle Evans did just that, and had a dream that Chubby would have a hit record. Soon, after, Chubby went into a studio to cover a song by Hank Ballard.
“I told my mother, ‘I’m going to sing a song called ‘The Twist,’ is this it?’ She just smiled.”
In the studio, producer Dave Apple wasn’t all that happy. “He said I didn’t sound right on the lyric, “Daddy’s just sleeping/And momma ain’t around.’ I didn’t have a lot of time to keep recording. I told him, ‘Dave, I got to study, I want to graduate with my high school class.’”
And Ernest Evans did graduate with the Class of 1960. A few months later, after a couple of appearances on Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand” he had the No. 1 record in the world.
In fact, “The Twist” became Billboard Magazine’s all-time No. 1 song on the Hot 100 record chart. It topped more than 25,000 songs on the chart for the past six decades.
It’s the only song to hit No. 1 in two different years, 1960 and ’62. Here’s Chubby twisting:
“Even as old as it is, ‘The Twist’ still sounds great,” Checker, 75, said. “The song represents the dance in rock and roll. And you see the dances still being done today.”
Contemporary acts like Beyonce, Britney Spears or Justin Bieber all incorporate dance into live performances. Checker was among the first in rock and roll to do so, and ‘The Twist’ enabled the fans to get in on the act. It was a record that dominated pop culture in the early ‘60s.
Everyone from Zsa Zsa Gabor to First Lady Jackie Kennedy could be seen twisting. The Peppermint Lounge in New York City was the twisting place to be.
In 1961, Checker released “Let’s Twist Again,” another smash. In ’62, the original “The Twist” was re-released and raced to the top of the charts all over again.
In an 18-month span, Checker had 5 albums in the Top 12. He created other dance crazes like “The Fly,” “The Pony” and “Mess Around.”
Everybody wanted to meet Chubby, including a young boxer who came to visit him after a 1960 concert in Louisville, KY.
“This kid named Cassius Clay came backstage,” Checker said. “He asked me to help write some words to promote his fights. He told me he wanted to be the greatest and best ever.
“I told him, ‘If you’re the greatest let people know. You got to have a big mouth. I called him Fat Mouth.’”
Well Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali and lived up to expectations.
“I saw him a few months before he died,” Checker said. “I made a fist and put it in front of him. He smiled. God bless him.”
Things changed for Chubby in 1964. The Beatles came along and dominated the charts. “They had 5 songs in the Top Ten at the same time,” he said. “The big one was ‘Twist and Shout,’ which the Isley Brothers did first. So the Beatles were doing the twist.”
Twistmania eventually ebbed, but Chubby kept on going and the kids kept dancing. The rock and roll dance never went out of style.
“It’s like Thomas Edison with light; Alexander Graham Bell with the phone and Walt Disney with animation,” Checker said. “People don’t think of them when they turn on a light, talk on the phone or watch animation.
“It’s the same for me. People don’t think of me when they dance to rock and roll. But I’m the one with the twist who really started it.”
Despite Checker’s revolutionary song, somehow, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has ignored him. Many feel it’s a grave injustice.
After Ice Cube, of the rap group N.W.A., was inducted into the Hall of Fame he said: “Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Chubby Checker help invent Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
Daryl Hall, of Hall & Oates, is another Hall of Famer who said during his acceptance speech: “Chubby Checker — how about the biggest single in the entire world — ChubbyChecker, why isn’t he in?”
“I don’t want to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame building,” Checker said. “I want them to put my statue in the courtyard of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I think I deserve it. I want people to see me doing the twist and show what it means to rock and roll.”
Checker also criticized what he called “the racist” music industry for lack of radio play and touring dates for many black artists.
Much of America was segregated when Checker was topping the music charts. But his music and dancing transcended skin color and still does.
“My audience is very loyal and most of them are white – not only in America but all over the world,” he said. “They stay with me and I love them. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing.”
Despite some bitter memories, Chubby loves living in the present and performing.
“Even with all my complaining, I’m very happy,” he said. “I’m so fortunate that the Lord is looking after poor me. I try to live a good and straight life.”
One way is his work to raise money for fighting childhood cancer with the #Twist Challenge.
“We are challenging everyone to do The Twist and post their images and video on their social media accounts using the hashtag #TwistChallenge he stated online. For information go to MascotsForACure.org
Checker seems remarkable healthy, energetic and youthful – especially on stage –despite his 75 years.
“Don’t speak of me in the past tense,” he said in a strong voice. “I still like to rock.”
And that’s what Chubby Checker intends to do in The Villages.
“You tell the people in The Villages, we’re going to blow that place down,” he said.
