If you have listened to classic rock, there are artists for whom you aren't sure of their names, but you know the melody and can place the music to a certain era. The Chambers Brothers are one of those bands that could finally be getting the recognition they deserveand the royalties owed for past album sales. One saddening notion to hear about are the musicians, who haven't been paid for their past record sales in the pre-digital download era. It is currently far easier to track the sale of music through streaming and downloads, thus allowing the sales to be transparent, instead of fuzzy math. For all the musicians that came before the explosion of Itunes and other digital outlets, getting exact figures on album sales was a shady aspect of the business. The sad part is that we still know of bands this is happening to, due to bad business dealings and out right thievery. Social Media and the explosion of the internet have created a whole new outlet for bands to grow. As an artist be on top of your music and the business end of it, to build a solid foundation for your efforts to flourish. Find out more about Lester Chambers on Kickstarter
"Record companies screwed over Lester Chambers of The Chambers Brothers for decades and as a result, today he's poor. My social enterprise, breadpig, is working with Lester and his son Dylan to organize this Kickstarter to back a new album by (and entirely owned by) Lester Chambers himself so the man can finally get his due. The open internet can make right what the music industry has done so wrong. ---
As seen on r/videos and the frontpage of YouTube, this trailer of Lester's story has now had over 500,000 views!
Lester Chambers' hand written note on never receiving royalties for his music
“I am the former lead singer of a 60′s band. I did not squander my
money on drugs or a fancy home. I went from 1967-1994 before I saw my
first royalty check. The music giants I recorded with only paid me for 7
of my albums. I have never seen a penny in royalties from my other 10
albums I recorded. Our hit song was licensed to over 100 films, TV &
commercials without our permission. One major TV network used our song
for a national commercial and my payment was $625 dollars. I am now 72,
trying to live on $1200 a month. Sweet Relief, a music charity, is
taking donations for me. Only the 1% of artists can afford to sue. I am
the 99%.”
The music industry may have screwed Lester Chambers for decades, but we the internet public can right their wrong. Thanks to the open internet (things we fought for against SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, etc.), sites like Kickstarter and other innovations that are being worked on by entrepreneurs right now, we have the opportunity to do right by artists and cut out those who'd mistreat them. We have the opportunity to create solutions that will support artists in the digital world.
The Chambers Brothers
Lester Chambers is putting together a new album titled "Lester's Time Has Come." With this project, we have the opportunity to support not only the awesome work of a storied and talented musician, but we have the chance to stand up against the tyranny of the record industry. Stand with Lester, and stand for innovation that supports artists' rights. A note from Lester: "I thank God for the opportunities I have been blessed with and when Alexis Ohanian called all I could say was WOW. All the times I sat hoping and wishing I could make another record had finally come true. In this record I promise to have some of the worlds GREATEST songs from your past and some Great New songs for your new year to come!" Read more about Lester in his interview with Vice.
Lester Chambers with his son Michael Dylan
Even with a daunting list of illnesses and a life of hardship at the
hands of the music industry, Lester is not a beaten man, far from it,
and it's clear that his son is a big part of that. "My son, Michael Dylan, said 'Dad don't worry. I'm never gonna leave you. Always stay by your side.' He slept on the floor with me.... Every father in the world should have a son like I have." "Fathers be aware,
if your son is not what Michael Dylan is to me, to you -- straighten him
out."
Lester & Dylan Chambers
Funds from this project will go to Lester via the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, which provides financial assistance to career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. Sweet Relief has been supporting Lester and other musicians in need, and they will be helping produce Lester's album. This project is managed by Breadpig, an online publisher headed by Alexis Ohanian. Breadpig gives a majority of its profits to its artists (in this case 100%). We cannot thank Lester and his son Dylan for opening up to us and taking a day to tell their story. May this kickstarter campaign let us all finally say that Lester's Time Has Come.
Lester Chambers performing in San Francisco
** Special thanks to Lerone Wilson of Boondoggle Films for all video work, as well as Maneli Jamal, who generously rocked the music on said video. Here is Lester's detailed budget for this album, Lester's Time Has Come. Rehearsal costs: $3,800 Producer: $8,000 Musicians (Band): $8,000 Five Weeks Studio Time: $10,000 Mastering: $2,400 Musician fees (including Tower of Power Horns, Lenny Williams, Zakiya Hooker, Ant Dog, & Marin City Choir): $6,200 TOTAL: $38,400
The Christmas songs are all set, and we'll be sending those along to all our backers on a rolling basis.
The album "Lester's Time Has Come" is a work in progress. We'll be working on the album, and the art as this campaign rolls along. We hope to keep you as looped into the process as much possible. We'll send updates your way, and let you know if there are any delays in production.
And of course if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to any of us."
"I need my TPS reports ASAP. You are my rock star, make it happen"
Categories are forever binding an idea or item into segmentation, thus putting said item under controlled observation. What we are speaking of specifically, is the boondoggle of a place known as the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame. Defining what or who can exactly be labeled as rock n' roll, is about as simple as saying that everyone who cooks, with any sort of panache, is a chef. Every year the debate begins again about who are the on short list for induction and then there are those who think, that someone such as Donna Summer, should be in the rock n' roll hall of fame. We can only scratch our head in amusement, as the categorizations about "Rock N' Roll" even include corporate offices telling employees they are rock stars, for a job well done. Corporate schmucks, we ask kindly, find another term and quit ruining something as sacred as America's greatest invention. Maybe your corporate board even voted for Donna Summer.
Donna Summer performs in October 2011. Summer, who died in May, is
nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year for the fifth
time. Ethan Miller - Getty Images
"Let's be fair: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is never going to satisfy everybody. When it comes to the annual griping over the list of acts it enshrines — actually, two rounds of griping, the short list of nominees in the fall and the final list of inductees in the winter — some grievances are fairer than others. Complaining about the Hall's overemphasis on a certain strain of blues-based, Boomer-friendly guitar act? Legit. Bitching that Madonna or Grandmaster Flash don't belong, because hey, it's not called the Dance Hall of Fame or the Rap Hall of Fame? That attitude is even lamer than the Rock Hall at its lamest. (And those who claim rock 'n' roll shouldn't be in a hall of any kind? You have my sympathies, but come on — that ship's sailed. Let's at least make them get it right.) Still, most of the Rock Hall's perception problems are of its own making. Acts become eligible 25 years after their first record release — a reasonable cutoff, but then certain acts coast in during their first year of eligibility while other, greater acts are left cooling their heels. Die-hard fans of a band keep close tabs on when they become Hall-eligible (heads up, fellow Pixies lovers: Come On Pilgrim just turned 25 last month), and every year past that date adds to the mounting fan resentment.
Moreover, by creating a voting system whereby only six to eight acts get in annually, the Hall has generated a huge backlog of snubbed artists they'll never catch up with. You can understand why they don't want to start inducting 15 to 20 acts a year; it would make the award less special, and the televised induction ceremony would be eight hours long. But it also means KISS fans are going to be waiting a long time before the Rock Hall has worked its way through enough overlooked acts to let Gene Simmons strut across the ceremony stage. All this leaps to mind when perusing this week's announcement of the 2013 nominees, 15 acts in total. It's one of the better lists of recent years, with no outright howlers like the Red Hot Chili Peppers last year. (Inducted on their first ballot — and The Replacements remain un-nominated? Insanity.) But that doesn't mean the list isn't littered with grievances. In fact, the tally of 2013 nominees mostly reads as an effort to right past Hall wrongs. Fewer than half of the nominees are first-timers; there's a lot of long-overdues here. And even some of the first-timers are long, long overdue — including one Canadian trio that has arguably been the biggest subject of fan derision against the Hall in its history. More on them in a minute. Let's break these artists down into categories, themed around Hall predilections and biases. In most of these categories, only one or two acts will make the final list of inductees next January; I'll offer my modest predictions. Leftover '60s Acts, or We're Running Out of Past: Albert King, the Marvelettes, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Procol Harum Number likely to be inducted: Two
Every major rock or pop act that peaked in the 1960s is already in the Hall — even low-selling legends like The Velvet Underground — so the nominating committee is casting an ever-wider net for nominees that will appeal to the electorate's Boomer skew. Given that well-known bias, figure on at least two, perhaps even three of these acts getting in. All are certainly worthy, but the Marvelettes (of "Please Mr. Postman" fame) aren't exactly The Supremes or The Ronettes. Only the late Butterfield has been nominated before, and his band suffers from a bit of also-ran status: no radio hits or top-selling albums, living in the shadow of better-known electric-blues acts like The Yardbirds — but they're good and they're due, and they backed Dylan at Newport. The late King is one of the last of the stately blues guitarists (he peaked in the '60s but predates rock) not to get inducted, and again, he lives in the shadow of his inducted peers, B.B. King and Buddy Guy. The best bet? Oddly, it's probably Procol Harum, a near-one-hit-wonder — but Holy Church Organ, what a hit: "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is already enshrined in the Hall's greatest-songs list. Figure on them, Butterfield and possibly King getting the nod. Wait, They're Not in Yet?: Deep Purple, Heart, the Meters, Randy NewmanNumber likely to be inducted: One
Three of these four '70s-vintage acts are on their second nomination (Deep Purple is the debutante). While it's not entirely shocking that none has been inducted, compared with their already-inducted peers it's a little insulting — Heart are at least as skilled as Aerosmith, The Meters are every bit as influential on the New Orleans scene as Dr. John and Randy Newman in his Sail Away period was twice the songwriter Jackson Browne was. Deep Purple, Heart and Newman are likely suffering from perceived latter-day sins: the two bands' reinventions in the '80s as leather-studded MTV acts; and Newman's '90s–'00s success as Pixar's hacky soundtracker. The Meters are more like the Paul Butterfield Blues Band: undeniably amazing, too far under the radar. Of the four, I see Newman as likeliest to get the nod, assuming enough left-leaning Hall voters recall what a sardonic firebrand he used to be. But Heart is the dark horse thanks to Ann and Nancy Wilson's just-released and well-timed memoir, which chronicles how they survived the horribly sexist rock world. Okay, Okay, We Accept That This Dance Stuff Isn't Going Away: Chic, Kraftwerk, Donna Summer Number likely to be inducted: One shoo-in
The Hall has fundamental problems with certain subgenres, including metal and progressive rock — but one receiving particularly shoddy treatment is dance and electronic music, especially disco. Sure, Madonna got in on her first ballot, because she postdates disco, and because she's Madonna; and the Bee Gees made it in after several years of eligibility. You start to wonder whether some of these Hall voters are hiding secret pasts among the rioters at Comiskey Park in the summer of '79, when you consider that Chic, the single greatest band in dance music history, has been nominated seven times without induction. (Props to the nominating committee: they keep putting Chic forward, and the voters keep blowing them off.) I wouldn't bet the farm on Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers getting their due this year, either. Teutonic electro-rock godfathers Kraftwerk stand a somewhat better chance in 2013, thanks to last April's rabidly praised series of comeback shows at the Museum of Modern Art. But the absolute shoo-in this year also ranks as one of the Hall's all-time embarrassments: Donna Summer, who shuffled off this mortal coil last spring after four unfulfilled Hall nominations (this year's is her fifth). In the wake of Summer's death, inductee Elton John called the ongoing snub "a disgrace" and Rock Hall nominating committee chairman Jon Landau told Billboard magazine, "Our voting group has failed," and all but guaranteed a correction this year. It will be belated justice — but giving the symbolic Queen of Disco her due will, in the end, be less about her and more about the Hall. Having finally exorcised their disco demon, hopefully they'll see their way to inducting Chic's Rodgers before he follows Summer and his late partner Edwards to that velvet rope in the sky. Entering Rap's Golden Age: N.W.A, Public Enemy Number likely to be inducted: One
The Hall's history with rap is a somewhat more respectable, if mixed, record. Inductees Grandmaster Flash and Run-D.M.C. were no-brainers; the Beastie Boys, inducted earlier this year, likely got in as much for their rock versatility as their skills on the mic. Other than Eric B. and Rakim (nominated once before) and LL Cool J (twice), the Hall hasn't overlooked anybody undeniable yet — then again, old-school rappers just started crossing the Hall's 25-year recording eligibility line. With that line now at 1987, the Hall enters the widely agreed-upon Golden Age of Rap (roughly 1987–93), with two titanic crews leading the way. Given that only one rap act a year has ever been inducted, you can expect either Public Enemy or N.W.A to get in this year, but not both. N.W.A boasts two living hip-hop legends in Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, but their recorded legacy is a mixed bag. PE is the more obvious first-round pick: several great albums in their catalog, one legendary single ("Fight the Power") and two irrepressible frontmen that voters will want to hear from at the induction ceremony — Chuck D will give a stately speech, and Flavor Flav will drop lines that make the next day's press. The Elephant in the Room: Rush Number likely to be inducted: One, if the voters know what's good for them
The difference between fans of other Hall-snubbed bands and Rush fans is that in the former category most think the Hall is basically a joke. Rush fans, by contrast, are seriously insulted that rock's ultimate power trio of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart remain excluded, a decade and a half after they became eligible. (Check out this Rush fan site's long Rock Hall page on the history of slights.) Rush's brand of muscular, expansive progressive rock has long been unfashionable with rock critics and insiders, which explains why, until this year, they weren't even nominated. But you don't have to be a fan of the band (I'm not) to see it's high time they were inducted, already. However lugubrious Rush's music often is, it's more economical than that of the Grateful Dead and less self-pitying than that of Pink Floyd — longtime inductees, both. Still, Rush die-hards are likely steeling themselves to see their heroes snubbed again. In a way, Rush have the opposite problem as a disco act: they had to get past the prejudices of the nominating committee, not the voters. Having made it out of committee, I suspect the more populist voting body will wave Rush into the Hall, the "Spirit of the Radio" spurring them on. Addendum: That covers 14 of the nominations. Give Joan Jett credit — she doesn't fit into any of the above categories: a straight-up '80s rocker with little Rock Hall baggage. That might mean Jett and the Blackhearts get lucky on this, their second nomination, and score the Hall's last open inductee slot. I'll be rooting for Jett, but something tells me she might be waiting another year."
One band that we cannot take out of our playlist is Rival Sons. These dudes flat out kill it with their classic rock vibe and well written songs. Upon hearing about the new album slated to roll out later this year, we are signing up for pre-release and checkin' the tour dates as this is one band we have to catch live asap!
"The band’s next release will be called Head Down, the follow-up to 2011′s Pressure & Time. Head Down was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with Grammy-nominated producer Dave Cobb (Jamie Johnson, Shooter Jennings) and Grammy-wining engineer Vance Powell (Jack White, The White Stripes, Kings Of Leon). The artwork was created by Jason Holley (Josh Ritter, Ray LaMontagne).
Says frontman Jay Buchanan: “We took a lyric from one of the songs that exemplified the process of making the record. Head Down comes from the term ‘Keep your head down and keep on swinging’. I thought it was fitting and it works perfectly with the album cover.”
Guitarist Scott Holiday says of the album artwork: “I began searching for the right artist for our cover on the interwebs, just mulling around, and very quickly came across Jason Holley. I saw a couple of covers that he had done for Josh Ritter and Ray LaMontagne which I loved. I was immediately taken aback by his aesthetic and style and felt he had a few pieces already done that I would be into using.
“I sent some of his images over to Jay and he had the same immediate feeling I did… Which is pretty rare. He could have been from anywhere in the world, but he just so happened to live about 30 minutes away from me, so I gave him a ring and we started talking.
“We sent him the record and discussed ideas that we felt reflected the music and process. He then created an original piece, painted in oil. The end result is pretty symbolic and interesting – something that, in my opinion, reflects the record beautifully.”
Head Down is due to be released in late August on Earache Records."
Music is the blood that fuels our thirst for the daily grind and what could be better than finding new bands to get stoked to listen to. This whole weekend has been one playlist and two bands that are just rockin' like no tomorrow. Give'em a listen and recognize the bravado and swagger as they both have it in spades and approach it such a different way.
Rival Sons come out swingin' with a Doors, Zeppelin and Motown kind of vibe, while the Black Spiders almost take a classic rock approach. Either way you shake it, these bands are smokin'.
