Back before I was born Ernest Evans was out across America spreading cheer and rallying crowds. This is significant for 2 reasons. First is the fact that as a Black man in the late 50’s and early 60’s, Mr. Evans was doing this for crowds of Black and White Americans in a segregated America. The second is the fact that as Chubby Checker he was helping to usher in Rock 'n Roll, which at the time had the same opposition that gangsta rap thrives off of today.
But let me ask a question to my younger (at least younger than me) readers. Can you name a song that Chubby Checker sang? Can you tell me the last time you heard a song of his on the radio?
I imagine that the answer to the first and second question will be “I can’t”.
And that is a shame. Because Chubby Checker is a stellar performer. He is a singer and songwriter. He is the only entertainer to have 5 albulms on the Top 12 all at the same time. The Beatles didn’t do it, Elvis didn’t do it, the Rolling Stones didn’t either.
Chubby Checker recorded albums for 6 consecutive years, and had songs featuring him 23 and 43 years after his last album was created. Few if any artists, in Rock and Roll or any other music genre, can say. In fact the number of entertainers that can say they have 6 years of consecutive success and a career that spans 49 years are almost nil.
But you don’t hear the songs of Chubby Checker on the radio. You probably have never heard his rendition of Georgia on My Mind – which reportedly rocked the crowd in the Apollo. You never heard the song Dance the Mess Around, or Birdland. And you never hear his name mentioned in the all-time greatest Rock And Roll artists.
That is until now. As of today Billboard has named The Twist as the #1 Top Hot 100 song of the past 50 years. Above the Beatles, Elvis, Santana, Frankie Avalon and Fabian (both of which he went to school with), or Los Del Rio’s hit The Macarena. And it’s about time.
Considering the longevity of Chubby Checker, the popularity he had then and now, and the challenges he overcame in that time in American history I have to wonder why he has received such little acclaim. Why has it taken so long to acknowledge his talent, especially when so many minor talents get constant attention over the years.
My only answer is that Chubby Checker symbolizes a time in America most Americans don’t want to acknowledge. Segregation, Jim Crow, and a severely racist America are all key features of the time that Evans came to national attention for. To recognize him is to bring up images of that time. And America is remiss to acknowledge the wrongs based in race that it has done.
That’s a real shame because there is no question of the talent of this entertainer. Billboard recognizes it, millions have heard it.
So for those that have not heard of Chubby Checker, for those that want to hear him again, and for those that want to see one of the few African Americans that was able to break the race barrier on television (appearing without being portrayed as a buffoon or stereotype) at the time, I present the Grammy winning song Let’s Twist Again.
And for something a little different here is a song you might have heard in movies, commercials and other places and didn’t know it was a Chubby Checker song – Limbo Rock
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