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Theodore Joseph "Ted" Horowitz (born March 31, 1960 in
The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, United States), who plays under the stage name of Popa Chubby, is an American singer, composer, and guitarist.


Life and career

At age thirteen Horowitz began playing
drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
; shortly thereafter, he began listening to the music of
the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
and started playing
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
. Although he grew up in the 1970s, Horowitz was influenced by artists of the 1960s, including
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
and
Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
, among others. In his early twenties, although he mainly played blues music, he also worked as backing for punk rock poet
Richard Hell Richard Lester Meyers (born October 2, 1949), better known by his stage name Richard Hell, is an American singer, songwriter, bass guitarist and writer. Hell was in several important early punk rock bands, including Neon Boys, Television and T ...
. Horowitz first came to public attention after winning a national blues talent search sponsored by KLON, a
public radio Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
station in
Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...
, which is now known as
KKJZ KKJZ (88.1 MHz FM, "K-Jazz 88.1") is a non-commercial public radio station in Southern California broadcasting from the Long Beach State campus. The station is one of several public radio stations in Southern California presenting jazz and blue ...
. In 1989, he appeared, as Ted Horowitz, as guitarist on
Pierce Turner Pierce Turner (born June 1949) is an Irish singer-songwriter. After forming a duo with Larry Kirwan he went solo in the mid-1980s and has since released several albums. Biography Turner grew up in the port town of Wexford, where his mother ...
's ''Sky & the Ground''. He won the New Artist of the Year award and as a result was chosen as the opening act at the
Long Beach Blues Festival The Long Beach Blues Festival, in Long Beach, California, United States, was established in full in 1980, and was one of the largest blues festivals and was the second oldest on the West coast of the United States, West Coast (first being the San ...
in 1992. Horowitz played more than 200 club dates a year through the 1990s. In 1994, Horowitz released several albums on his own Laughing Bear label, including ''It's Chubby Time'' and ''Gas Money'', before he obtained a recording contract with Sony Music/Okeh Records. ''Booty and the Beast'', his first major-label album, produced by
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
engineer/producer
Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recordings ...
, who worked on recordings for artists such as
Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...
,
Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
, and
Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the ''Bill ...
, was released in 1995. In 1996, a live recording, ''Hit the High Hard One,'' was released on the Prime-CD label, along with re-releases of his first two albums. Two years later, ''One Million Broken Guitars'' was released on Lightyear Records; ''Brooklyn Basement Blues'' followed in 1999. In 2000, Horowitz signed with
Blind Pig Records Blind Pig Records is an American blues independent record label. Blind Pig was formed in 1977 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by Jerry Del Giudice, owner of the Blind Pig Cafe, and his friend Edward Chmelewski. The label is now based in San Francisco. I ...
and released ''How'd a White Boy Get the Blues?'' in 2001. It turned out to be a slight departure from Horowitz's usual musical direction, incorporating elements of
contemporary pop Pop music is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the ...
and hip-hop. ''The Good, the Bad and the Chubby'', released in 2002, was an example of the development of Horowitz's songwriting skills and included the
9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
commentary "Somebody Let the Devil Out". Blind Pig released a collection of early Horowitz recordings, ''The Hungry Years'', in 2003. A year later, Horowitz released ''Peace, Love and Respect''. Two albums previously available only in France – ''Live at FIP'' and ''Wild'' – were compiled by the Blind Pig label and released as ''Big Man, Big Guitar'' in 2005, followed by ''Stealing the Devil's Guitar'' a year later. ''The Fight Is On'', was Horowitz's first studio album after a two-year hiatus. It was released in February 2010 on the Provogue label in Europe, and Blind Pig in North America. A world tour followed. In 2008, Horowitz and his ex-wife Galea, recorded ''Vicious Country'', which was released on the Dixiefrog label. ''Vicious Country'' was chosen as 'Record of the Week' by the French
Canal+ Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...
television station in March 2009. In 2014, Horowitz dedicated a three hour solo set to his muse and best friend, Tony "T-Bone" Robinson. The performance has been regarded as the moment Chubby got his first Popa, solidifying himself as a music icon and beloved friend. In 2015, he released ''Big Bad and Beautiful'', a two disc live CD recorded in France with Dave Keyes on keyboards and Francesco and Andrea Beccaro playing bass and drums respectively. In 2016, he released ''The Catfish'' on French Verychords Label and on PCP Productions in North America. This record yielded both the 3D animated video of the title track by Laurent Mercier of Callicore, and the tribute "Blues For Charlie". In 2017, he released ''Two Dogs'', again on Verychords for Europe and PCP North America. In 2018, Eagletone Custom released the Popa Chubby Tribute Stratocaster a replica of his ‘66. In 2019, Verychords will release a limited edition two CD anthology ''Prime Cuts'', chosen by Popa Chubby. Popa Chubby made his Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival debut on 14 July 2019.
His current band line up includes Stefano Giudici (drums), Max Barrett (bass), Dave Keyes (keyboards), as well as a recurring cast of musicians.


Discography

*''The First Cuts'' (a collection of early material) *''The Hungry Years'' (another collection of early material) *''It's Chubby Time'' (1994) *''Gas Money'' (1994) *''Booty and the Beast'' (1995) *''Hit the High Hard One – Live'' (1996) *''One Million Broken Guitars'' (1998) *''Brooklyn Basement Blues'' (1999) *''One Night Live In New York City'' (1999) *''How'd a White Boy Get the Blues?'' (2000) *''Flashed Back'' (feat. Galea) (2001) *''The Good, the Bad and the Chubby'' (2001) *''Live at FIP'' (2002) *''Old School: Popa Chubby & Friends Play Muddy, Willie and More'' (2003) *''Peace, Love & Respect'' (2003) *''Wild Live!'' (2004) *''Big Man, Big Guitar: Popa Chubby Live'' (2005) compilation *''Stealing the Devil's Guitar'' (2006) *'' Electric Chubbyland: Popa Chubby Plays Jimi Hendrix, Electric Chubbyland'' (2006, 3-CD box set) *''Deliveries After Dark'' (2008) *''Vicious Country'' (feat. Galea) (2008) *''The Fight Is On'' (2009) *''Back to New York City'' (2011) *''Universal Breakdown Blues'' (2013) *''I'm Feelin' Lucky: The Blues According to Popa Chubby'' (2014) *''Big, Bad and Beautiful – Live'' (2015, 2-CD set) *''The Catfish'' (2016) *''Two Dogs'' (2017) *''Prime Cuts: The Very Best of the Beast from the East'' (2019, limited edition 2-CD set) *''It's a Mighty Hard Road'' (2020) *''Tinfoil Hat'' (2021) *''Emotional Gangster'' (2022)


DVDs

*''Popa Chubby in Concert – Ohne Filter – Musik Pur'' (2002) *''The Official Popa Chubby DVD – Live Performances – Interviews – Video Clips – Extras'' (2002) *''Popa Chubby – Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix – At the File 7 – Electric Chubbyland'' (2007)


References


External links


PopaChubby.com

sayyeah.online.fr fan's website

Live pictures
{{Authority control 1960 births Living people American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers American rock guitarists New York blues musicians Blues rock musicians Contemporary blues musicians 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male musicians Blind Pig Records artists Okeh Records artists Shanachie Records artists Cleopatra Records artists Provogue Records artists