The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions with modern psychedelic and rock elements.

Beginning in 1954, the foursome played gospel and folk music throughout the Southern California region, but remained little known until 1965 when they began performing in New York City.

It became one of their favorite haunts and brought them into contact with Hoyt Axton, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Reverend Gary Davis, and Barbara Dane.

With the addition of Brian Keenan (January 28, 1943 – October 5, 1985) on drums, Dane took them on tour with her and introduced them to Pete Seeger, who helped put the Chambers Brothers on the bill of the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

Joe Chambers recalled in a May 1994 Goldmine article that people at the Newport Folk Festival were breaking down fences and rushing to the stage.

That night they played at a post-concert party for festival performers and went to a recording session of the newly electrified Bob Dylan.

[13] The band scored its only major hit in the fall of 1968 with "Time Has Come Today", an 11-minute opus written by Joe and Willie Chambers and highlighted by echoing vocal effects and Keenan's drumming which gave the song a psychedelic feel.

"Time Has Come Today" was edited for release as a single and spent five consecutive weeks in September–October at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, just missing the Top Ten.

Guitarists Willie and Joe worked as session men; George went back to singing gospel music[16] and would later become a deacon of his church.

[16] Lee Szymborski, an American session drummer also from Stamford, Connecticut, was hired by George Chambers to replace Brian Keenan in 1980 and performed live with The Chambers Brothers at the Hollywood Bowl's Fourth Annual Survival Sunday Anti-Nuclear Benefit Concert, with Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Stephen Stills, Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash, Gary U.S. Bonds, Peter Yarrow, Kenny Rankin and others in Los Angeles on June 14, 1981.

Szymborski also performed live with The Chambers Brothers and Etta James for two shows at McCabe's Guitar Shop, 3101 Pico Blvd.

In 1997, the four original Chambers Brothers reunited, this time featuring session drummer Fabian Jolivet, to play a historic sold out Gospel & Soul show at Santa Monica's legendary venue, The Ash Grove.

[22] In 2016, Willie, Joe and, occasionally, George, along with their nephew Jerry Warner on bass, Crazy Tomes on guitar, and L.A. drummer Jon McCracken, reformed as the Chambers Brothers to do shows in the Los Angeles area;[23][24] including the Grammy Museum at L.A.