![[photo]](../band_pictures/chamber_bros.jpg)
The Chambers Brothers
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Like their West Coast contemporaries Sly and the Family Stone, the
Chambers Brothers shattered racial and musical divides to forge an
incendiary fusion of funk, gospel, blues, and psychedelia which
reached its apex with the perennial 1968 song "Time Has Come
Today." The Chambers siblings -- bassist George, guitarist Willie,
harpist Lester, and guitarist Joe, all of whom contributed vocals --
were born and raised in Lee County, MS; the products of an
impoverished sharecropping family, the brothers first polished their
vocal harmonies in the choir of their Baptist church, a collaboration
which ended after George was drafted into the army in 1952.
Following his discharge he relocated to Los Angeles, where the
other Chambers brothers soon settled as well; the foursome began
performing gospel and folk throughout Southern California in 1954,
but remained virtually unknown until appearing in New York City in
1965. The addition of white drummer Brian Keenan not only made
the Chambers Brothers an interracial group, but pushed their music
closer to rock & roll; a well-received appearance at the Newport
Folk Festival further enhanced their growing reputation, and they soon recorded their debut LP, People
Get Ready.
As the Chambers Brothers toured rock clubs (including the famed Fillmore in San Francisco) and R&B
venues (most notably the Apollo Theatre) alike, their music increasingly embraced elements of both;
after recording 1968's Shout! for the Vault label, the group signed to Columbia to issue Time Has Come
Today, scoring a major pop hit with the title track, an 11-minute psychedelic soul epic in its original
album incarnation. The follow-up, A New Time--A New Day, yielded another Top 40 hit, a cover of the
Otis Redding's classic "I Can't Turn You Loose," but subsequent efforts including 1969's Love, Peace
and Happiness and 1970's Live at Fillmore East failed to maintain the commercial momentum. Upon
completing 1972's Oh My God!, the Chambers Brothers disbanded, only to reunite two years later for
Unbonded. Right Move appeared in 1975, and although no new studio records were forthcoming, the
group regularly performed live in the decades to follow, with the brothers also pursuing individual
projects; the Chambers Family Choir, a gospel group including the siblings' own children, remained a
priority as well.
--Jason Ankeny, All-Music Guide
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