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The Chambers Brothers
The Chambers Brothers are an American psychedelic soul band, best known for their eleven-minute 1968 psychedelic soul hit "Time Has Come Today". The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions with modern psychedelic and rock elements. Their music has been kept alive through frequent use in film soundtracks. There were four brothers, though other musicians were also in the group.
Originally from Carthage, Mississippi, the Chambers Brothers first honed their skills as members of the choir in their Baptist church. This arrangement ended in 1952 when the eldest brother, George, was drafted into the Army. George relocated to Los Angeles after his discharge, and his brothers soon joined him. Beginning in 1954, the foursome played gospel and folk music throughout the Southern California region, but remained little known until 1965 when they began performing in New York City.
Consisting of George (September 26, 1931 – October 12, 2019) on washtub bass (later on bass guitar Danelectro and Gibson Thunderbird), Lester (b. April 13, 1940) on harmonica, and Willie (b. March 3, 1938) and Joe (August 22, 1942 – August 15, 2024) on guitar, the group started to venture outside the gospel circuit, playing at coffeehouses that booked folk acts. They played at places like The Ash Grove, a very popular Los Angeles folk club. It became one of their favorite haunts and brought them into contact with Hoyt Axton, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Reverend Gary Davis, and Barbara Dane. When Dane spotted the brothers there, she knew they would be perfect to do these freedom songs that people wanted to hear then. Dane became a great supporter, performing and recording with the brothers. Dane took them on tour with her and introduced them to Pete Seeger, who helped put the Chambers Brothers on the bill of the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The brothers were backed by Sam Lay at Newport on their first night at the festival. George Chambers was impressed by the "big sound" of Lay and asked him to back the brothers on another set. One of the songs they performed, "I Got It", appeared on the Newport Folk Festival 1965 compilation LP, which was issued on the Vanguard label.
They were becoming more accepted in the folk community, but, like many on the folk circuit, were looking to electrify their music and develop more of a rock and roll sound. Joe Chambers recalled in a May 1994 Goldmine article that people at the Newport Folk Festival were breaking down fences and rushing to the stage. "Newport had never seen or heard anything like that." After the group finished and the crowd finally settled down, the MC came up and said, "Whether you know it or not, that was rock 'n' roll." That night they played at a post-concert party for festival performers and went to a recording session of the newly electrified Bob Dylan. Shortly after appearing at Newport, the group released its debut album, People Get Ready.[citation needed]
During the late 1960s to early 1970s, the group was managed by Charles LaMarr aka Charles La Marr.
The Chambers Brothers had an early Drummer called Michael Konnic (aka Mike Konnic). It was around the time they appeared at the Newport festival, that they had an argument with him. For some reason he wanted to fight with them and his elder brother nearly got involved. According to Joe, he said "We love you man. We want you to play drums."
The group recorded "Call Me" which was written by Joe Chambers and Willie Chambers. Backed with Joe Chambers' composition, "Seventeen", it was released in the US on Vault V-920 in 1965, and in the UK on Vocalion 9276. It was produced by Cliff Goldsmith. "Call Me" was described by Way Back Attack as a "raw and rockin' soul tune...with a prominent cowbell beat!". The group performed "Call Me" as well as "Don't Lose Your Cool" on Hollywood a Go Go on 26 June 1965. In an interview on 20 January 2020, Joe and Willie Chambers talked about "Call Me" and how it got played on a radio station, one they recalled being KRLA that had the Rocket to Stardom show. They said that their song was opposite to what the station was playing. "Call Me" was a "Record of the Week there". The UK release on Vocalion had a rapid review in the 30 July 1966 issue of Record Mirror, where the reviewer said that they manage a few interesting gimmicks on the song. They recorded "Love Me Like The Rain" and " Pretty Girls Everywhere" which were issued on Vault V-923 the following year. "Love Me Like the "Rain" was written By Brian Keenan and recorded by his group, The Losers and released as the B side of "Mersey-ssippi" on the Atco label in 1965.
The Chambers Brothers played at the Downtown discotheque club in New York during 1966. As reported in the 9 April 1966 issue of Cash Box, the group had been engaged for a further two weeks at the venue. They had been there for over a month, had been drawing huge crowds there. The drummer for the group as reported by the 26 March 1966 issue of Cash Box was Nicky Cahn (aka Jesse Cahn) who was pictured with the group in the article. It was also noted that their forthcoming LP was People Get Ready. The group was also reported to have a large following in Boston.
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The Chambers Brothers
The Chambers Brothers are an American psychedelic soul band, best known for their eleven-minute 1968 psychedelic soul hit "Time Has Come Today". The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions with modern psychedelic and rock elements. Their music has been kept alive through frequent use in film soundtracks. There were four brothers, though other musicians were also in the group.
Originally from Carthage, Mississippi, the Chambers Brothers first honed their skills as members of the choir in their Baptist church. This arrangement ended in 1952 when the eldest brother, George, was drafted into the Army. George relocated to Los Angeles after his discharge, and his brothers soon joined him. Beginning in 1954, the foursome played gospel and folk music throughout the Southern California region, but remained little known until 1965 when they began performing in New York City.
Consisting of George (September 26, 1931 – October 12, 2019) on washtub bass (later on bass guitar Danelectro and Gibson Thunderbird), Lester (b. April 13, 1940) on harmonica, and Willie (b. March 3, 1938) and Joe (August 22, 1942 – August 15, 2024) on guitar, the group started to venture outside the gospel circuit, playing at coffeehouses that booked folk acts. They played at places like The Ash Grove, a very popular Los Angeles folk club. It became one of their favorite haunts and brought them into contact with Hoyt Axton, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Reverend Gary Davis, and Barbara Dane. When Dane spotted the brothers there, she knew they would be perfect to do these freedom songs that people wanted to hear then. Dane became a great supporter, performing and recording with the brothers. Dane took them on tour with her and introduced them to Pete Seeger, who helped put the Chambers Brothers on the bill of the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The brothers were backed by Sam Lay at Newport on their first night at the festival. George Chambers was impressed by the "big sound" of Lay and asked him to back the brothers on another set. One of the songs they performed, "I Got It", appeared on the Newport Folk Festival 1965 compilation LP, which was issued on the Vanguard label.
They were becoming more accepted in the folk community, but, like many on the folk circuit, were looking to electrify their music and develop more of a rock and roll sound. Joe Chambers recalled in a May 1994 Goldmine article that people at the Newport Folk Festival were breaking down fences and rushing to the stage. "Newport had never seen or heard anything like that." After the group finished and the crowd finally settled down, the MC came up and said, "Whether you know it or not, that was rock 'n' roll." That night they played at a post-concert party for festival performers and went to a recording session of the newly electrified Bob Dylan. Shortly after appearing at Newport, the group released its debut album, People Get Ready.[citation needed]
During the late 1960s to early 1970s, the group was managed by Charles LaMarr aka Charles La Marr.
The Chambers Brothers had an early Drummer called Michael Konnic (aka Mike Konnic). It was around the time they appeared at the Newport festival, that they had an argument with him. For some reason he wanted to fight with them and his elder brother nearly got involved. According to Joe, he said "We love you man. We want you to play drums."
The group recorded "Call Me" which was written by Joe Chambers and Willie Chambers. Backed with Joe Chambers' composition, "Seventeen", it was released in the US on Vault V-920 in 1965, and in the UK on Vocalion 9276. It was produced by Cliff Goldsmith. "Call Me" was described by Way Back Attack as a "raw and rockin' soul tune...with a prominent cowbell beat!". The group performed "Call Me" as well as "Don't Lose Your Cool" on Hollywood a Go Go on 26 June 1965. In an interview on 20 January 2020, Joe and Willie Chambers talked about "Call Me" and how it got played on a radio station, one they recalled being KRLA that had the Rocket to Stardom show. They said that their song was opposite to what the station was playing. "Call Me" was a "Record of the Week there". The UK release on Vocalion had a rapid review in the 30 July 1966 issue of Record Mirror, where the reviewer said that they manage a few interesting gimmicks on the song. They recorded "Love Me Like The Rain" and " Pretty Girls Everywhere" which were issued on Vault V-923 the following year. "Love Me Like the "Rain" was written By Brian Keenan and recorded by his group, The Losers and released as the B side of "Mersey-ssippi" on the Atco label in 1965.
The Chambers Brothers played at the Downtown discotheque club in New York during 1966. As reported in the 9 April 1966 issue of Cash Box, the group had been engaged for a further two weeks at the venue. They had been there for over a month, had been drawing huge crowds there. The drummer for the group as reported by the 26 March 1966 issue of Cash Box was Nicky Cahn (aka Jesse Cahn) who was pictured with the group in the article. It was also noted that their forthcoming LP was People Get Ready. The group was also reported to have a large following in Boston.