The Chambers Brothers – Call Me
The Chambers Brothers performing ‘Call Me’ on Hollywood A Go Go
Listen/Download – The Chambers Brothers – Call Me MP3
Greetings all.
The Chambers Brothers are one of the coolest, and also most misunderstood acts of the 1960s.
Though they created one of the signature psychedelic records of the era in ‘Time Has Come Today’, one of those tunes that serves as musical shorthand for the 60s itself, their discography is much more diverse and interesting than that record would suggest.
Hailing from Mississippi, the Chambers Brothers – George, Lester, Willie and Joe – got their start singing gospel (evidenced in their strong, tight harmonies), worked their way up through the folk revival – appearing at Newport in 1965 and backing Barbara Dane and Hoyt Axton on a couple of records.
‘Call Me’ was one of their very first recordings, released on the LA-based Vault label in 1965 (it appeared on their debut LP ‘People Get Ready’).
The song has touches of contemporary rock, though the brothers’ voices push it well into the realm of R&B. They even do a little homage to the Isley’s ‘Twist and Shout’ in the middle of the song.
There’s a great clip of the group performing the song on Hollywood A Go Go.
They had a great knack (like Sly and the Family Stone) for wiping away the dividing lines between soul and rock, recording records like ‘Uptown’ and the oft-sampled ‘Funky’ as well as out-and-out psyche like ‘Time Has Come Today’. They would record well into the 1970s for Columbia and Avco (with Vault releasing material recorded in the mid-60s for years), getting funkier along the way.
Though the early Vault 45s can be kind of hard to find, their Columbia material is everywhere and is highly recommended.
I hope you dig the track, and I’ll see you all on Friday.
See you on Monday.
Keep the faith
Larry
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Funky16Corners, R&B, Soul, Soul 45
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Funky16Corners, R&B, Soul
Themocracy
I have a Chambers Brothers LP on Vault. It’s “Shout!” from 1968. Half studio stuff, half live, all compiled from older material.
Sort of has a touch of reggae/ska to it as well.
Great song. I was always familiar with the live version of “Call Me” The single version is on “Hollywood A Go Go”. I’ve been told that the drummer in the video is Mike Konnic. He was with them until they got to Newport. He had some disagreement with them and I guess that he left. They had another drummer called Jesse Cahn I think. Then Brian Keenan.
I’m guessing here that Mike Konnic played on “Call Me”. I love the song, both the live and single versions. I hope that it’s on a comp. It’s a real rocker!
Joe and Willie on vocals. Joe, the taller guy does the ad-libbing as well. Lester on cowbell. A super laid back George on bass. And a you drummer, possibly Mike Konnic.