Brian Keenan (musician)
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Brian Edmund Peter Keenan (January 28, 1943 – October 5, 1985) was an American musician, best known as the drummer for The Chambers Brothers. Born in New York, he also lived in Conisbrough near Doncaster, Yorkshire, England and Ireland as a child.
Keenan was part of The Chambers Brothers from 1965 to 1971,[1] and also played with the pre-"Doo Wah Diddy Diddy" Manfred Mann group in England. His group, The Losers, was the house band at Ondine, the first discotheque in New York City.
Bill Graham, impresario behind The Filmore West and The Filmore East, felt Brian was an exciting live rock drummer.[citation needed] The few times The Chambers Brothers were not top-billed with Brian on drums, the top-billed group were reluctant to follow them.[clarify] The Brothers affectionately referred to Brian as 'Curley' and introduced him onstage as Brian 'Chambers' Keenan. The Chambers Brothers predated Sly and The Family Stone as harbingers of psychedelic soul.
Keenan left the group in 1971 after major financial abuses by the group's management were unresolved. He started up his own recording studio in Connecticut, but suffered a fatal heart attack in the mid 80s.[2] Keenan is buried at Queen of Peace cemetery in Stamford, Connecticut.
