CD - Popa Chubby - Back To New York City (2011)

CD - POPA CHUBBY
BACK TO NEW YORK CITY

Massive man mountain Popa Chubby AKA Ted Horowitz is back with his 22nd CD “Back to New York City” which, if you read all the promo material is a semi-autobiographical journey through his life.From the moment we kick off you get a feeling of change. The title track “Back to New York” is quite a hard hitting rock opener with the blues side taking a back seat only to resurface in “She loves everybody but me” which has a much more traditional blues/shuffle feel complete with toe curling solos and then it’s back to the rock feel with “Pound of Flesh”.Right from the start rock is clearly taking precedence over blues and with Ted showing snippets of him that we really haven’t seen before. Then right in the middle of it all he throws the first curve-ball of the match with the inclusion of Leonard Cohens “The Future”. I have to admit that this took me completely by surprise because I hadn’t looked at the track list. If I had seen it I would have in all honesty skipped right passed it because as far as I am concerned only Cohen can sing Cohen. However I have listened to it quite a few times since I’m not ashamed to admit that I now prefer this version to Cohens. Adding that blues touch really works and just brings it to another level.After Cohen were back to the rock and blues experience that preceded it with the occasional bit of slide guitar thrown in for good measure which just sits comfortably as it echoes and bounces around the house. And then were thrown the final curve-ball Bachs “Jesus joy of mans desire” which for me does not work and I still struggle to see the logic behind this classical guitar laden addition, but that’s just me.In conclusion this is Teds best CD to date, full of classic blues laced meandering journeys and grab you by the balls rock hooks and riffs. This is eating chilli dogs in Central Park, sitting in yellow cabs stuck in traffic, wailing police sirens, Kojak, Brooklyn Bridge madness, Carnegie Hall, visiting Queens for fun. This is “City Blues” at its best. However, the promo pack boasts that “Back to New York captures the fire and energy of the live shows better than the previous 20 albums” which I suppose it does, but for me it is still not quite capturing the raw energy, brilliance and beautiful essence that you walk away with from one of his live shows. It is close, just a little bit too clean and polished to quite pull it off.

Tracks
1 - Back to New York City
2 - She Loves Everybody But Me
3 - Pond of Flesh
4 - Warrior God
5 - The Future (Leonard Cohen)
6 - It's About You
7 - A Love that Will Not Die
8 - Keep Your Woodpile Dry
9 -Stand Before the Sun

10 - She Made Me Beg for it
11 - Jesus Joy of Man's Desire (J.S. Bach)

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