Time Has Come Today

"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)
Released	December 1967
Format	7"
Recorded	August 9, 1967 (hit version)
Genre	Psychedelic soul acid rock psychedelic rock
Length	2:37 (original single version) 3:05 (hit single version #1) 4:45 (hit single version #2) 11:06 (LP version)
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Willie Chambers Joseph Chambers
Producer(s)	David Rubinson
The Chambers Brothers singles chronology
"Time Has Come Today" (1968) "I Can't Turn You Loose" (1968)

"Time Has Come Today" is a hit single by the American soul group the Chambers Brothers, written by Willie & Joe Chambers. The single was released in 1968, recorded in 1966 and released on the album The Time Has Come in November 1967. Although the single never quite reached the top ten in America, spending five weeks at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 1968,^[1] it is now considered one of the landmark rock songs of the psychedelic era.^[2]

Various 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 also quotes several bars from “The Little Drummer Boy” at 5:40 in the long version. The song blends a fusion of psychedelic rock,^[3][4] soul^[3][5] and acid rock^[6] with its use of the guitar's fuzz/distortion.^[7]

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.

Cover versions

• Punk band the Ramones recorded a cover version of this song 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 much changed way by Angry Samoans and included on their 1982 album Back from Samoa.
• 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. This song was also included on the sampler Zillo's mystic sounds Vol. 3 in 1992.
• Willy DeVille recorded the song for his 1995 album Loup Garou.
• American Idol finalist Bo Bice released a cover of this song for the anniversary of board game Monopoly.^[8][9]
• Punk band Die' Hunns covered this 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.
• Techniques and Uniques frontman Slim Smith did a reggae version on the Explosion label (EX2074) in 1972.
• 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).

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:^[10]

• Babylon Pink (1979)
• Bad Dreams (1988)
• Casualties of War (1989)
• The Doors (1991)
• Crooklyn (1994)
• Girl, Interrupted (1999)
• Remember the Titans (2000)
• Riding the Bullet (2004)
• Edison Force (2005)
• Nearing Grace (2005)
• The Zodiac (2006)
• Neal Cassady (2007)
• Talk to Me (2007)
• Yves Saint Laurent (2014)

Television

The song has also appeared on television episodes:^[10]

• Theme tune used for the time-travel series Seven Days produced by UPN from 1998–2001
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – "Ellie" (2001)
• Supernatural – "Everybody Loves a Clown" (2006)
• My Name Is Earl – "Monkeys in Space" (2006)
• A shortened version was used as a theme song for the fourth season of Early Edition.
• Theme song for the PBS series American Experience from 2009-2010. It has since been succeeded by a calm piano theme (with some string and wind instruments).
• Featured in the 13-episode miniseries by Stephen King titled Kingdom Hospital.
• Featured in the First episode of the History Channel's Vietnam in HD.
• Scandal (season 3) - "Icarus" (2013)
• Featured in the opening of the first episode of the third season of Grey's Anatomy.
• Bootsy Collins recorded a special version for the end credits of the seventh episode of Ash vs Evil Dead.

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.

References