C H U B B Y C H E C K E R
Ernest Evans was born in Spring Gulley, South Carolina, but
grew up in South Philadelphia, where he lived with his parents
and two brothers. When he was a small boy, his mother took
him to see Sugar Child Robinson, a child piano prodigy and also
the famous country singer Ernest Tubb. Young Evans was so
impressed, that he vowed to someday enter show business and
took his first step toward that goal by forming a street corner
harmony group when he was only 11 years old.
By the time he entered high school, Ernest had learned to
play the piano a little at Settlement Music School and could
do a number of vocal impressions. He also went to South
Philadelphia High School with his friend Fabian Forte, who
would have show business success of his own. He entertained
classmates whenever he could. After school, Chubby would sing
and crack jokes at his various jobs including Fresh Farm Poultry
on 9th Street and at the Produce Market. It was Ernest’s boss
at the Produce Market, Tony A., who gave Ernest the nickname
“Chubby”.
The storeowner of Fresh Farm Poultry, Henry Colt, was so
impressed, he began showing off his employee to his customers
through a loud speaker. Henry and his friend Kal-Mann arranged
for young Chubby to do a private recording for Dick Clark. A
Yuletide novelty tune called, “Jingle Bells” on which Chubby
did several impressions of top recording stars, was cut. Dick
Clark sent it out as a Christmas greeting to all of his friends and
associates in the music business. Cameo-Parkway liked it so
much that they wrote a song called “The Class” and it became
Chubby’s first hit in early 1959.
In June of 1959, Chubby recorded “The Twist”. Bernie Lowe,
president of Cameo Parkway records was not initially impressed
with Chubby’s recording and felt it may be a “B” side at best.
However, Chubby felt “The Twist” was something special and
worked hard promoting the record by undertaking non-stop
rounds of TV dates, interviews and live performances. Fourteen
“The Twist” was not only the #1 song but it introduced the
concept of “dancing apart to the beat”. Over the next few years,