The group was formed in 1964 in Los Angeles, California by four brothers from Mississippi, George, Willie, Lester and Joe Chambers. They toured extensively throughout southern California, but did not achieve nationwide success until 1965 when, with the addition of drummer Brian Keenan, they appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Shortly after this they recorded their debut album People Get Ready. The band scored their first major hit in 1968 with "Time Has Come Today", from their similarly named third album The Time Has Come. The song spent five consecutive weeks at 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, just missing the Top Ten. However they found it difficult to build on this success and eventually split up in 1972. They reformed in 1974 to record Unbonded, and have toured regularly since. Keenan died of heart failure in 1985.\r In late 2006, former American Idol finalist, Bo Bice, performed a cover of "Time Has Come Today." Legendary punk-rock band The Ramones also covered and released a music video of the same song for their 1983 studio album "Subterranean Jungle." Hardcore punk rock bands Angry Samoans and Die Hunns have also released covers of this song. Die Hunns shot a video of the song for the documentary "Who Cares: the Duane Peters Story."\r \r