Lester Chambers of The Chambers Brothers, Moonalice

Songfacts Podcast

Even by the lofty standards of the late '60s, The Chambers Brothers were visionaries, blending rock, gospel and psychedelia into a musical bouillabaisse seasoned with social awareness. Lester is the third of the four Brothers, who were joined by a white drummer named Brian Keenan.

The Chambers family is from Mississippi, but they formed their band in Los Angeles after the oldest brother, George, was discharged from the Army and settled there. "He went to California because he no longer wanted his brothers and sisters to grow up in a place like Mississippi," Lester says. "We got in the car one night and drove up. And, after two-and-a-half to three days we wound up in California, but it was a struggle getting out of Mississippi on the road."

They started performing in 1961 and added Keenan in 1965, the year they earned great acclaim with a performance at the Newport Folk Festival, where they went electric hours before Bob Dylan. Their first album, The Time Has Come, was released in 1967 and includes their masterpiece "Time Has Come Today," a song that still rings true five decades later. That album also includes "Uptown," a song you can see the band perform in the documentary Summer Of Soul.

We touch on all these topics in this conversation with Lester, who also talks about his latest venture, the band Moonalice.

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This show is part of Pantheon Podcasts.

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