Time Has Come Today: Lester Chambers on his time with The Chambers Brothers (Book Review)

The Chambers Brothers were a soul group who had several songs in the US charts through the late 60s and early 70s including 1967’s The Time Has Come.

Originally formed by a group of brothers from Mississippi, The Chambers Brothers took off after the family had relocated to Los Angeles and built a name for themselves performing a mix of gospel and pop music. They released several albums, performed at large festivals, and made multiple appearances in the US charts. But unfortunately this success didn’t translate into wealth or good health, with the group cheated out of royalties and Lester Chambers left battling illnesses and homelessness in the early 2010s.

Earlier this year Lester Chambers published his autobiography Time Has Come Today: Revelations of a Mississippi Hippie. The book contains not just his own story and anecdotes, but collects other voices to present a full story of The Chambers Brothers and their rise thanks to the hit song Time Has Come Today.

Born in 1940, Lester opens the book recalling his families experiences growing up black in the American South. Singing amongst the cotton fields, the Chambers family found joy harmonising their voices as their singing echoed through the neighbouring hills.

After relocating to Los Angeles, The Chambers Brothers were formed and found fame in coffee houses performing their own brand of gospel. The idea of singing church songs in licensed venues was new and controversial at the time, and Lester’s book reprints some articles from the time showing how Mahalia Jackson went so far as to condemn their performances.

Undeterred, The Chambers Brothers continued to find an audience and in 1965 performed at the Newport Folk Festival the same year Bob Dylan went electric. But while the crowd booed Dylan, they went mad for The Chambers Brothers, with an enthusiastic crowd of thousands dancing along to their electric set. Dylan caught it too and invited the Brothers to sing backup on his next album Highway 61 Revisited, though their contribution didn’t make the final album.

Instead, The Chambers Brothers hit it big on their own, with their album The Time Has Come released in 1967 featuring the hit single Time Has Come Today. The song has remained famous thanks to the number of movies and TV shows it has appeared in, but as Lester explains, this hasn’t helped him much financially.

As a further blow, Lester also touches on how the group had recorded a follow up album called Oh My God that was left unreleased until 2022. Even now, it’s unclear if anyone associated with The Chambers Brothers had anything to do with the album’s eventual release, and Lester recounts the story of how after the album was shelved no one would return their calls and the whole experience left the band broke. Along with other examples in the book, these experiences caused The Chambers Brothers to break up and each go their seperate ways.

Most of the book is told in Lester’s own words, but other voices are also heard thanks to interviews conducted by co-author T. Watts. These include family members, bandmates, and people who toured with The Chambers Brothers during their time together. The story of their formation, The Time Has Come, and eventual break up is repeated, with each new voice adding new details and fresh observations. Alongside this are select excerpts from articles about The Chambers Brothers to give additional context to Lester’s own words.

All together, Time Has Come Today: Revelations of a Mississippi Hippie gives an overview of Lester Chambers’ life and career up to now. Although it does skip over some moments, and doesn’t recount every song or album recorded, it details the highs and lows of a long life in and out of the music industry. Lester is still performing, and regularly tours with his son Dylan and their band Moonalice. The book ends with their 2020 tour cancelled due to COVID-19, but there’s an added final word from 2022 thanking his fans for their support and promising there is still more to come.

Time Has Come Today: Revelations of a Mississippi Hippie by Lester Chambers with T. Watts is available now as paperback or Kindle ebook from Amazon.