His song is one of the enduring anthems of the turbulent 1960s, a soulful call to action awash in a psychedelic wave of sound. It has appeared in more than 100 movies and TV shows, even a multimillion-seller video game, and has been covered by artists from Sheryl Crow to Joan Jett to The Ramones. So, decades later, what does Lester Chambers have to show for”Time Has Come Today”?

‘I Am the 99 Percent’

So little that, early this year, the 72-year-old found himself posting a photo online. In it, he held a poster declaring that he was living on Social Security and charity, having gone nearly 30 years before seeing his first, paltry royalty check. The contract for “Time Has Come Today” promised a small percentage of sales, but the record company kept finding expenses that came out of the band’s share before they saw any of it. That all led Chambers, with the help of his son, Dylan, to post the Web photo as part of the “I Am the 99 Percent” movement.

“We woke up the next morning and it had 200 shares and 10,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook. Dad had 500 new friend requests,” said Dylan Chambers, who has lived with his parents and helped support them through the lean years.

‘Retain the rights’

That’s where Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, came in. Chambers’ story, he said, showed how that business really treats its own sometimes. Ohanian helped Chambers host an AMA (“Ask Me Anything”) on Reddit and create a project on crowd-funding site Kickstarter to pay for his first new album in decades. This time, Chambers will retain the rights to the songs he records.

He’s already gone into the studio to record a pair of Christmas songs, which were sent digitally to Kickstarter backers. To Ohanian, it all shows the promise of what the Internet could, and should, be.

Are you a fan of Lester Chambers? Do you know of other artists who had the same predicament?

Source: Doug Gross, CNN

Image: Dangerous Minds