''A Long Time Comin is the first album by American rock band the Electric Flag, released in 1968. The album has a mix of musical styles, including

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

along with blues and rock, with a horn section. It opens with an updated take on the

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade car ...

blues classic " Killing Floor" and includes an adaptation of Sticks McGhee's "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee" titled "Wine". The album also contains "Groovin’ Is Easy" and "Over-Lovin’ You", which had been released as a single in 1967.

Critical reception

It is widely seen by music critics as an ambitious debut album. The album was somewhat of a failure in the charts, much to the disappointment of Bloomfield, who had worked hard on it. His disappointment was worsened by the success of the

Al Kooper Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity. ...

directed ''

Super Session ''Super Session'' is an album by Al Kooper, with guitarists Mike Bloomfield on the first half and Stephen Stills on the second half of the album. Released by Columbia Records in 1968, it peaked at No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' 200 during a 37-week ...

'', which, featuring Bloomfield, charted much higher than ''A Long Time Comin' '' despite having been recorded over a period of only two days. It was voted number 4 in the 50 All-Time Long Forgotten Gems from

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

''.

Track listing

The original

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...

has 10 tracks, and a 1988

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

reissue on CD has four bonus tracks. Side one # " Killing Floor" (Chester Burnett a.k.a.

) – 4:11 # "Groovin' Is Easy" (Ron Polte) – 3:06 # "Over-Lovin' You" (

Mike Bloomfield Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American guitarist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his ...

Barry Goldberg Barry Joseph Goldberg (born December 25, 1942) is an American blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. Goldberg has co-produced albums by Percy Sledge, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, and the Textones, plus Bob Dylan's ...

) – 2:12 # "She Should Have Just" (Ron Polte) – 5:03 # "Wine" (Traditional arr. Bloomfield) – 3:15 Side two # "Texas" (Bloomfield,

Buddy Miles George Allen "Buddy" Miles Jr. (September 5, 1947February 26, 2008) was an American composer, drummer, guitarist, vocalist and producer. He was a founding member of the Electric Flag (1967), a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys (1969–1 ...

) – 4:49 # "Sittin' in Circles" (Goldberg) – 3:54 # "You Don't Realize" (Bloomfield) – 4:56 # "Another Country" (Polte) – 8:47 # "Easy Rider" (Bloomfield) – 0:53 CD bonus tracks # " Sunny" (

Bobby Hebb Robert Von Hebb (July 26, 1938 – August 3, 2010) was an American R&B and soul singer, musician, songwriter, recording artist, and performer known for his 1966 hit entitled " Sunny". Biography Hebb was born in Nashville, Tennessee. His par ...

) – 4:02 # "Mystery" (Miles) – 2:56 # "Look into My Eyes" ( Harvey Brooks, Miles) – 3:07 # " Going Down Slow" (James Oden a.k.a.

St. Louis Jimmy ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

) – 4:43

Personnel

– lead guitar, vocals *

– drums, vocals *

– keyboards * Harvey Brooks – bass *

Nick Gravenites Nicholas George Gravenites (; born October 2, 1938) is an American blues, rock and folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his work with Electric Flag (as their lead singer), Janis Joplin, Mike Bloomfield and several influential b ...

– vocals, guitar *

Herb Rich Richard Herbert Rich (October 7, 1928 – March 28, 2008) was an All-Pro American football safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts, Los Angeles Rams and New York Giants. Early and personal life Rich was born in Newar ...

– organ, vocals, baritone saxophone, guitar *

Michael Fonfara Michael Fonfara (11 August 1946 – 8 January 2021) was a Canadian keyboard player who was most notable for his work as a member of The Electric Flag and Rhinoceros in the 1960s, Rough Trade and Lou Reed's backing band in the 1970s and The Downch ...

– keyboards * Marcus Doubleday – trumpet * Peter Strazza – tenor saxophone *

Stemsy Hunter Stemziel "Stemsy" Hunter is a saxophonist and vocalist. During the 1960s, he was a member of The Electric Flag. He has also played on recordings by Buddy Miles, as well as being a member of Miles's band. Other artists to whose recordings he has c ...

– alto saxophone ;Additional personnel *

Richie Havens Richard Pierce Havens (January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk, soul (both of which he frequently covered), and rhythm and blues. He had a rhythmic guitar styl ...

– percussion,

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form i ...

Sivuca Severino Dias de Oliveira (May 26, 1930 – December 14, 2006), known professionally as Sivuca, was a Brazilian accordionist, guitarist and singer. In addition to his home state of Paraíba, Brazil, and cities Recife and Rio de Janeiro, he worked ...

– guitar, percussion *

Paul Beaver Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

– keyboards,

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014 ...

*Leo Daruczek – strings *Charles McCracken – strings *

Bobby Notkoff Bobby Notkoff (31 December 1940 - 5 October 2018) was a violinist who played with The Rockets in the 1960s and Family Lotus in the 1970s. Notkoff was also part of one of the first supergroups Electric Flag, with Mike Bloomfield and Buddy Mil ...

– strings *Julius Held – strings *Roy Segal – engineer * Jim Marshall – cover photo *Joe Church – percussion, producer *John Court – percussion, vocals, producer *

Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Mama Cass and later on as Cass Elliot, was an American singer and voice actress. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas. After the group brok ...

- vocal on "Groovin' Is Easy"

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long Time Comin', A 1968 debut albums The Electric Flag albums Columbia Records albums