"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. 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. It is now considered one of the landmark rock songs of the psychedelic era.
Background on the song
The song has been described as psychedelic rock, psychedelic soul and acid rock, and features a guitar twinned with a clean one. 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, was rejected by Columbia. Instead, the more orthodox single "All Strung Out Over You" b/w "Falling In Love" 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.
Album version
1967 released on the LPThe 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
Cover versions
Würm on the B-side of their 1982 "We're Off / I'm Dead / Time Has Come Today" 7"-single.
Punk band the Ramonescover version in 1983; this version was released as a single. It is available on the band's album Subterranean Jungle.
The song was rendered in a much changed way by Angry Samoans and included on their 1982 album, Back from Samoa.
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 on his 1995 album Loup Garou.
American Idol finalist Bo Bice for the anniversary of board game Monopoly.
Greek punk garage rock The Last Drive for their 1989 EP Time.
Me'shell Ndegeocello for the soundtrack of the movie White Man's Burden which was released in 1995.
Bootsy Collins, 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 on his 2010 album Revelator.
Robert Post for the soundtrack of the documentary Gunnar Goes Comfortable.
Pearl Jam performed it during their show at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois, on August 22, 2016.
Too Slim and the Taildraggers 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 "comes home" to an unfaithful wife in the 1978 Academy Award winning film Coming Home. Other films it has also been used in include the following:
Season 2 finale of Legends of Tomorrow on April 4, 2017
Used in the " Dr Braino Show " on SCTV.
Closing song on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_We_Do_in_the_Shadows_ Season 1 ep. 7 2019
Other
The song was also featured in the final mission of the video gameHomefront, 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'. The song was also featured in the trailer for the 1995 film Kiss of Death and the 2017 film Geostorm.
