For friends and fans of ... Lester Chambers

My "friend of a friend of ..." series may have been interrupted a bit lately, but it's not done yet.  Consider this more along the lines of "halftime" in that series.  None of the "connections" I've taken a look at so far would have been made if I hadn't had the opportunity to meet legendary blues and soul musician Lester Chambers in person at a birthday party in Petaluma, California, on New Year's Eve 2011.

Now, Lester Chambers' time has come.

Lester Chambers

After teaming with Reddit.com co-founder Alexis Ohanian on a successful Kickstarter funding campaign last winter, Lester has released a new album of music, "Lester Chambers' Time Has Come."  And, as of today, he also has a new website at www.lester-chambers.com.  The website has photos, videos, biographies, links to song samples, contact information, and a link to order the CD.

The album features Lester and his five-piece band, The Mud Stompers -- David Aguilar on guitar, Kenneth Roy Berry on keyboards and percussion, Marcia Miget on saxophone, Kenny "Mo" Susan on drums, and Baron Chase on bass along with music director, engineering, and producing duties.

Not surprisingly, the album includes a mix of rock, soul, blues, and gospel-tinged classics that harken back to the days when Lester and his siblings, The Chambers Brothers, rode the top of the charts in the 1960s and '70s on songs like "People Get Ready" and the timeless classic "Time Has Come Today," both part of the new album with a crisp, modern sound.

The band also shines on classic tunes like "Are You Ready?", "Let's Get Funky," "I Got The Blues," "Hold On," and "Boogie Children," along with the Christmas "teaser" tunes that were released early to Kickstarter donors, "Merry Xmas Happy New Year" and "Jingle Bells."

Now, after the fund-raising campaign followed by recording sessions and engineering and working out copyright issues, the album is ready.

Lester and The Mud Stompers are more than ready themselves.  The time has come.

"Old school" meets "new school," part 2

Lester Chambers and Alexis Ohanian

I wrote here last week about Reddit.com co-founder Alexis Ohanian and soul/rock/blues/gospel music legend Lester Chambers teaming up on Kickstarter (at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1195088551/lesters-time-has-come-today) to launch a public funding campaign so Lester and his current group, The Mud Stompers, can record a new album in the coming months, and so Lester can "pay it forward" by giving money back to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund charity with part of the proceeds from his new album going to Sweet Relief through Ohanian's Breadpig site.

Tomorrow will mark a full week since Lester and Alexis' Kickstarter campaign was launched, and the goal of reaching $39,000 just to cover recording expenses by January 9 is under one-fourth of the way there as of this writing.

It's a busy time of the year, that's for sure.  One thing to consider during this time of giving might be to look at this campaign as a way of sharing a special gift for friends or loved ones in a variety of ways through the investment in/purchase of new music that could be given to music fans through the items that are available by pledging at the various levels:  a digital copy of the new album for a pledge of $10 or more; a limited edition CD and more for a pledge of at least $20; all of these items plus a specially designed shirt or an autographed copy of the new CD ... it just gets better.

And don't think Lester and The Mud Stompers aren't ready to get this thing going.  Here's a nearly half-hour taste of an appearance they made on a Bay Area public television program in the last few months.

The Battle of the "People Get Ready" versions

In the world of soul music, there's one song that I know I could go on and on with when it comes to all the different versions of a song that have been performed by scores of various musicians from all across the musical globe.

The song is "People Get Ready," written in the early 1960s by Curtis Mayfield and gaining popularity first with the group Mayfield was in, The Impressions.  Rolling Stone magazine named it the 24th greatest song of all time, and deservedly so among modern music.

It's a song that is indeed timeless, and even though it's a gospel-tinged classic it touches the heart of just about anyone who listens to it.

I did a music playlist in another blog of mine back in early February of this year, back when my wife was thinking of performing this song herself.  I included a variety of versions so she could get a good taste of how it's been done through the years.  In that blog alone, I came up with 15 different videos of the same song.

A VIEW FROM THE MIDDLE (CLASS):  My music playlist for today (February 2, 2012 edition)

It's too hard to pick just one favorite version of this song, because each one of them is performed with tons of heart, soul, and gospel feeling.  You can't beat that.

One of the versions has been performed by The Chambers Brothers, with lead vocals done by my friend Lester Chambers.  Lester's performing again Saturday night, October 20, at The Mystic Theatre in Petaluma, CA, along with his band The Mud Stompers.  If you're in the area, I encourage you to check it out.  Chances are that they'll do another rendition of "People Get Ready," and Lester will sing it with just as much heart, soul, and gospel feeling as he did in the 1960s.

Lester Chambers and The Mud Stompers at The Mystic Theatre in Petaluma, CA

So, people, do get ready for a stone-cold soul classic.  Don't feel like you have to choose the best version on this one.  Just sit back and enjoy.