Chubby Checker, the man credited with inventing “The Twist,” was born Ernest Evans on October 3, 1941, in Spring Gully, South Carolina. He was raised in the projects of South Philadelphia, where he lived with his parents, Raymond and Eartle Evans, and two brothers. By the age eight Evans had formed a street-corner harmony group, and by the time he entered South Philadelphia High School, he had taken piano lessons at Settlement Music School. After school Evans would entertain customers at his various jobs, by performing vocal impressions of popular entertainers of the day, such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Fats Domino. Evans eventually caught a small break after graduating from high school by making novelty records that were impressions of singers like Elvis Presley and Fats Domino. Kal Mann, who worked as a songwriter for Cameo-Parkway Records, arranged for young Chubby to do a private recording for American Bandstand host Dick Clark.
Evans' career took off when he met Barbara Clark, wife of American Bandstand host, Dick Clark. Barbara Clark is credited with giving young Evans his full stage name. When Barbara Clark met Evans, he was working on his Fats Domino impression at the Cameo-Parkway recording studio. Mrs Clark asked Evans what his name was. "Well", he replied, "my friends call me 'Chubby'". As he had just completed a Fats Domino impression, she smiled and said, "As in Checker?" That little play on words ('chubby' meaning 'fat', and 'checkers', like 'dominoes') got an instant laugh and stuck, and from then on, Evans would use the name Chubby Checker.
With Barbara Clark's help, Evans got a job recording a Christmas greeting card for Dick Clark’s associates. This record spawned another song called “The Class," which contained impressions of famous singers. It was a hit. Unfortunately, Chubby Checker fell into obscurity and his record label was ready to drop him. When Barbara Clark persuaded Checker to redo “The Twist,” a 1959 hit by Hank Ballard. Although the song was popular with American youth, producers at American Bandstand felt that Ballard, who looked older than his actual age, was not the right face for the show. Checker was young and could do a reasonable impression of Ballard's voice. He got the job.
Chubby Checker's version of “The Twist,” released in the summer of 1960, became popular as a dance as well. It was simple and supported an open dancing format increasingly popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s where couples moved together but did not touch. Dick Clark particularly liked this style of dancing for his popular afternoon television show. Between 1960 and 1962 the dance and song took the United States, and then the world, by storm. Chubby Checker was invited for an entire week of American Bandstand performances. The song hit top of the Billboard top 100 in 1960 and a spin-off song, “Let’s Twist again” repeated the success the following summer.
Chubby Checker recorded other songs during the rest of the decade but none proved as popular as "The Twist." His signature song made musical history. Checker was the only artist to have five albums in the top 12 at the same time; the only artist to ever have a song on the charts at #1 on two separate times; and the only artist to ever have nine double-sided hits. Almost all of this early work featured some version of "The Twist." The song also popularized a new style of couples dancing that continues to be influential to this day.
On December 12, 1963, Checker by then a 22 year old millionaire, proposed marriage to Catharina Lodders, a 21-year-old Dutch model and Miss World 1962 from Haarlem, the Netherlands. They were married on April 12, 1964 at Temple Lutheran Church in Pennsauken, NJ. The couple have three grown children and still live in the Philadelphia area.
Comments
Post a Comment