Song of the Day 11/3: The Chambers Brothers, “Time Has Come Today”

How much more cowbell could a song have? None. None more cowbell.

The Chambers Brothers were unlikely pioneers of what became known as psychedelic soul, first recording this trippy classic in 1966. Just a year earlier they had performed at the Newport Folk Festival, at the invitation of Pete Seeger himself — as a gospel group. They went secular in a big way, and by adding a white drummer became one of the first interracial bands. They released “Time,” written by guitarists Willie and Joe Chambers, in 1966, but it’s not quite the song you remember from AM radio. This version opens with a squealing electronic harpsichord, and George’s vocals don’t have the crazed energy of later recordings.

The single failed to chart, but the band hit the road, where they turned the song into an extended jam. By 1967 the music scene was awash in Sgt. Pepper-influenced psychedelia, and what had been ahead of its time a year earlier was now right in line with popular taste. The band re-recorded the song, this time as an 11-minute-plus lysergic freak-out, for their “Time Has Come” LP.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before — record company execs didn’t see its potential as a single, instead going with a more upbeat song that couldn’t crack the charts. When they finally released an edited version of “Time” it climbed to No. 11, where it stayed for five weeks.

The band kept playing the long version in concert, as in this German TV broadcast of a 1969 concert at the Fillmore East.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsBwBct0_5U

Covers abound, but the best is from the Ramones, who recorded it for their 1983 LP “Subterranean Jungle.” Fun fact: The band had just fired drummer Marky Ramone, so they recruited Billy Rogers, who had played with Johnny Thunders, for the session. By the time this video was filmed Richie Ramone had signed on, so he’s the drummer you see.