Time Has Come Today

"Time Has Come Today" is a hit single by the American psychedelic soul group the Chambers Brothers, written by Willie & Joe Chambers. The song was recorded and released as a single in 1966 by Columbia Records.[1] It was then featured on the album The Time Has Come in November 1967, and released again as a single in December 1967. The 1967 single was a Top 10 near-miss in America, spending five weeks at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 1968.[2] It is now considered one of the landmark rock songs of the psychedelic era.[3]

This article is about the song. For the episode of Grey's Anatomy, see Time Has Come Today (Grey's Anatomy).
"Time Has Come Today"
Cover of the 1968 French single
Single by The Chambers Brothers
from the album The Time Has Come
B-side
  • "Dinah" (original single)
  • "People Get Ready" (hit single)
ReleasedDecember 1967
Format7"
Recorded1966
Genre
Length2:37 (original single version)
3:05 (hit single version #1)
4:45 (hit single version #2)
11:06 (LP version)
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)David Rubinson
The Chambers Brothers singles chronology
"Time Has Come Today"
(1967)		 "I Can't Turn You Loose"
(1968)

Background on the song

The song has been described as psychedelic rock,[4][5] psychedelic soul[6][7] and acid rock,[8] and features a fuzz guitar twinned with a clean one.[9] Various other effects were employed in its recording and production, including the alternate striking of two cow bells producing a "tick-tock" sound, warped throughout most of the song by reverb, echo and changes in tempo. It quotes several bars from "The Little Drummer Boy" at 5:40 in the long version.

Earlier version

The original version of the song, hastily recorded in late 1966,[10][11] was rejected by Columbia.[12][13] Instead, the more orthodox single "All Strung Out Over You" b/w "Falling In Love" (Columbia 4-43957) was released on December 19, 1966, and became a regional hit. The success of "All Strung Out Over You" gave them the opportunity to re-record "The Time Has Come Today" in 1967.[14]

Album version
  • 1967 released on the LP The Time Has Come - Columbia CK 63984–11:07, includes an extended "freak out" in the middle

Released single versions
  • 1966 original version – Columbia 43816 - the original recording, 2:37 in length, which is completely different from the widely known 1968 "hit version".
  • 1968 "hit version" #1 – Columbia 44414 – 3:05 edit of the LP version. Fades out at the beginning of the "A" chord instrumental break with no other edits within the track. The label does not refer to the album The Time Has Come.
  • 1968 "hit version" #2 – Columbia 44414 – 4:45 edit. The beginning of the "A" chord instrumental break is "overlapped" with its ending, followed by the third-verse reprise. There are also several other edits within this version. The label now mentions the album The Time Has Come (NOTE: Some copies with the 4:45 version were mispressed with the 3:05 labels)

Cover versions
  • Würm released a cover of the song on the B-side of their 1982 "We're Off / I'm Dead / Time Has Come Today" 7"-single
  • Punk band the Ramones recorded a cover version in 1983, which also was released as a single. This version is available on the band's album Subterranean Jungle.
  • The song was covered in a much changed way by Angry Samoans and included on their 1982 album Back from Samoa.
  • The Smashing Pumpkins covered the song live in 1988.[15]
  • Mark Edwards, of My Dad Is Dead, released a version on the Homestead Records compilation Human Music in 1989.
  • Joan Jett covered the song for her 1990 album The Hit List.
  • German new-wave band Bluefield on their 1991 album Struggling in Darkness. The song was also included on the sampler Zillo's mystic sounds Vol. 3 in 1992.
  • Willy DeVille included a cover of the song on his 1995 album Loup Garou.
  • American Idol finalist Bo Bice released a cover for the anniversary of board game Monopoly.[16][17]
  • Punk band Die' Hunns covered the song as a 7" single and again on their 2004 album Long Legs.
  • Lords of Altamont covered the song on their 2005 album Lords Have Mercy.
  • Steve Earle and Sheryl Crow covered the song for the soundtrack to the 2000 film Steal This Movie! This version also appears on Earle's compilation album Side Tracks.
  • Garage punk rock band Dead Moon recorded the song for their 1989 album Unknown Passage.
  • Greek punk garage rock The Last Drive recorded the song for their 1989 EP Time.
  • Me'shell Ndegeocello covered the song for the soundtrack of the movie White Man's Burden which was released in 1995.
  • Bootsy Collins covered the song exclusively for the 2015 comedy-horror television series Ash vs Evil Dead, which played over the credits of season one's seventh episode "Fire in the Hole".
  • Coco Robicheaux covered the song on his 2010 album Revelator.
  • Robert Post (musician) covered the song for the soundtrack of the documentary Gunnar Goes Comfortable (2003).
  • Pearl Jam covered the song during their show at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois, on August 22, 2016.
  • Too Slim and the Taildraggers covered the song on their 2018 album High Desert Heat on Vizztone.

In other media

Film

The song has appeared in many films. Director Hal Ashby used all 11:06 as the backdrop to the climactic scene when Captain Robert Hyde (Bruce Dern) "comes home" to an unfaithful wife (Jane Fonda) in the 1978 Academy Award winning film Coming Home.

Other films it has also been used in include the following:[18]

Television

The song has also appeared on television episodes:[18]

Other

The song was also featured in the final mission of the video game Homefront, which was developed by THQ and Kaos Studios.

Howard Stern proclaimed his love for the song on The Howard Stern Show, November 20, 2013.

Pearl Jam used the song as an intro tag to their cover of the Neil Young song "Rockin in the Free World" during their August 22, 2016 concert at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Anthony Bourdain had said, in 2010, that this song 'saved his life'.[19]

The song was also featured in the trailer for the 1995 film Kiss of Death and the 2017 film Geostorm.

References
  1. Little Sandy Review. Vol. 2. 1966. p. 45. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 114.
  3. Greenwald, Matthew. "The Chambers Brothers: 'Time Has Come Today'". Review. Allmusic.com. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  4. Beate Kutschke (25 April 2013). Music and Protest in 1968. Cambridge University Press. pp. 58–. ISBN 978-1-107-00732-1.
  5. "Time Has Come Today" at AllMusic
  6. Lynskey, Dorian (21 May 2014). "Psychedelic soul: 10 of the best". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  7. Nick Talevski (7 April 2010). Rock Obituaries - Knocking On Heaven's Door. Omnibus Press. pp. 330–. ISBN 978-0-85712-117-2.
  8. Dorian Lynskey (3 March 2011). 33 Revolutions Per Minute. Faber & Faber. p. 1578. ISBN 978-0-571-27720-9.
  9. Walter Everett (7 November 2008). The Foundations of Rock: From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". Oxford University Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-19-029497-7.
  10. 45Cat - The Chambers Brothers, A: Time Has Come Today, B: Dinah
  11. 98.7 WFGR, June 7, 2012 - “Time Has Come Today” by the Chambers Brothers – Classic Hit or Miss - Matt Hendricks
  12. Way Back Attack - THE CHAMBERS BROTHERS, Time Has Come Today
  13. Lyrics.com - Time Has Come Today (Single Version One- Rejected Version)
  14. 98.7 WFGR, June 7, 2012 - “Time Has Come Today” by the Chambers Brothers – Classic Hit or Miss - Matt Hendricks
  15. "Tsp1988-11-20 – SPLRA".
  16. "Bo Bice Has Monopoly On Board Game Marketing - October 16, 2006". tvfanatic.com. 2006-10-16. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  17. "Bo Bice on Twitter – Confirms he performed track for Monopoly anniversary – Dec 14, 2015". Twitter. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  18. "Imdb: The Chambers Brothers".
  19. "In 2010, Anthony Bourdain talked about his mental health struggles and the song that 'saved' his life".
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