The Chambers Brothers

Formed in 1954, psychedelic soul group The Chambers Brothers was comprised of a group of actual brothers from Carthage, Mississippi: George, Joe, Lester, and Willie Chambers. Heavily influenced by gospel and folk music, the group came together in 1954 as a live act in Los Angeles, California after eldest brother George was discharged from the US Army. Initially playing the folk clubs and coffee houses, the group added drummer Brian Keenan to the line-up and went on tour, playing high profile shows like the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. After the release of the 1965 live album People Get Ready, the group changed musical direction and began playing their own unique brand of psychedelic rock. The Chambers Brothers relocated to New York, where they became a popular live act. Signing with Columbia Records, they released the album The Time Has Come in 1967. The album included the eleven-minute title track, their best-known song. Rather than folk or gospel, the album and the single were drenched in the acid rock and psychedelia of its time. This proved to be their biggest hit in what was a lengthy if disrupted career, spending five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at number 11. The group were never able to reach those commercial heights again, and split up in 1972, reforming in 1974. Despite not releasing any new material since 1975, the remaining Chambers Brothers continued to tour sporadically. Drummer Brian Keenan died in 1985, bassist George Chambers died on October 12, 2019, and Joe Chambers passed away on August 15, 2024.

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