Across 110th Street

LA's interracial soul outfit The Chambers Brothers are perhaps best known for their inspired slice of psychedlic-soul-rock, 1968's 11-minute stormer "Time Has Come Today", taken from the equally brilliant "The Time Has Come" LP. And if you are going to be remembered for anything then this is really not a bad place to start, a portentious fusing of Hendrix, Sly Stone and James Brown, which truly stands on its own as a precursor to the directions that each of these three artists were soon to go, and deserves its place amongst any musical review of the late 1960s. And this despite the fact that it has fallen off many a radar since its release.

This fusion of rock and soul, along with the swirly psychedelic free spirit of the age, is itself something of an under-rated and hard to define trend in music's history. It is a genre which isn't really coherent enough to be called a genre, but in many ways is more reminiscent of the age itself than anything else, defining as it does a loosening of these strict divisions and labels for music, and instead showing that anything is possible. The Chambers Brothers sang church-trained vocals over the funkiest of soul and imbued with a hard-driving rock sensibility and musicianship. It may sound like a mish-mash on paper, but when done well is in many ways the blueprint of a certain type of funk and rock that dominated much of the 1970s landscape, as those key artists mentioned above would testify.

This is not to say that the Chambers Brothers are music's lost pioneers, far from it, but their music is certainly of a calibre to warrant a revisit, and perhaps a reappraisal. But that task is not ours to follow here, for more important is to point out some highlights of their work. A recently remastered version of the classic album mentioned above is a great place to begin, if only for the full-length explosive version of "Time Has Come Today". But the album is also full of other standouts, including my own personal favourite "Uptown". Telling the story of a search for some good times in Manhattan's northern streets, the song simply oozes an incredible energy that conjures up images of the best party across 110th that you will never get to see.

A voice-cracking, cowbell and horn-fest record of pure energy, written by none other than the outstanding Betty Davis, the one time wife of Miles, and herself a subject worthy of intense study. other standouts from the album are gospel soul classic cover "People Get Ready", funk workout "All Strung Out Over You", and in fact any number of tunes throughout. Their live recordings are also worth some time in tracking down, as these display their funky tightness at its best. I don't think it is available on disk, but a show at Frisco's Filmore West at the tail end of their 1968 US tour, in between Richie Havens and Buffalo Springfield on the bill, is the true money (recorded in May of that year, if you can find it in the online vaults then you're in for a real treat). They also did a cover of Willson Pickett's "In The Midnight Hour" that takes a song already drenched in energy, and simply take it up a notch or five. Brilliant stuff and a band that time has forgotten somewhat, taking it back Uptown.