Song of the Day 8/5: Chairmen of the Board, “Give Me Just a Little More Time”

Put on your shaggin’ shoes. This song is on any Carolina Beach Music compilation worth hearing. General Johnson, lead singer of the Chairmen of the Board, toured the beach circuit for most of the ’60s with his Norfolk band the Showmen, scoring several regional hits before leaving to go solo in 1968. By 1970 he was in Detroit, where he hooked up with legendary hitmakers Holland-Dozier-Holland, who had just left Motown. They wrote and produced this hit and used the Funk Brothers to back him.

The Chairmen of the Board had several hits, many written by Johnson, but none after 1973. Johnson became a producer and songwriter later in the ’70s, and eventually returned to touring on the Carolina beach circuit almost until his death in 2010.

The song was recorded a couple of times over the years, but none had as much emotion as the original, or this cover by the Jam, recorded live at a 1981 charity show.