"Time Has Come Today" is a

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

by the American psychedelic soul group

the Chambers Brothers The Chambers Brothers are an American psychedelic soul band, best known for their eleven-minute 1968 psychedelic soul hit " Time Has Come Today". The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions ...

, written by

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and ...

& Joe Chambers. The song was recorded and released as a single in 1966 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. 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. In Canada, the song reached No. 9. It is now considered one of the landmark

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

songs of the psychedelic era.

Background

The song has been described as

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

, psychedelic soul and

acid rock Acid rock is a loosely defined type of rock music that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage rock, garage punk movement and helped launch the psychedelia, psychedelic subculture. While the term has sometimes been used interchangeably with "psyc ...

, and features a fuzz guitar twinned with a clean one. Various other

effects Effect may refer to: * A result or change of something ** List of effects ** Cause and effect, an idiom describing causality Pharmacy and pharmacology * Drug effect, a change resulting from the administration of a drug ** Therapeutic effect, ...

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 In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then decay as the sound is a ...

echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

and changes in

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

. The long version quotes several bars from "

The Little Drummer Boy "The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum") is a popular Christmas song written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Austrian Trapp Family, the song was further popularized ...

" at 5:40. Writer

Chuck Eddy Chuck Eddy (born November 26, 1960) is an American music journalist. Life and career Chuck Eddy was born in Detroit, Michigan. After starting his journalism career with ''The Village Voice'' and ''Creem'', where he published one of the first nati ...

includes the song in a list of examples of "''pre- dub'' dub-

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

", and comments on its "

feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause and effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handle ...

-drenched" sound. Eddy names it "probably the most outlandish ball of rock-mucus ever expectorated: voluminous

Blue Cheer Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues rock or acid rock style. The ...

boomthud quoting 'Little Drummer Boy', cuckoo clocks, tick-tocks, 'shroom-groomed cackles, echodrum hypnotics that beat everybody 'cept maybe Dr. John to the dub/ acid-house game, plus some of the most despairing anxiety-of-displacement in the American songwrite archives, all about homeless and loveless gape-generation subway-strife." The publisher for the song, future original compositions was Chambro Music which was handled by E. E. Prager of 185 East 85th Street, New York.

Earlier version

The original version of the song, hastily recorded in late 1966, 98.7 WFGR, June 7, 2012
“Time Has Come Today” by the Chambers Brothers – Classic Hit or Miss - Matt Hendricks
/ref> was rejected by Columbia. Instead, the more orthodox single " All Strung Out Over You" b/w "Falling In Love" (Columbia 4-43957) 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.

Recording the song

Oldest brother

George Chambers The Hon. George Michael Chambers ORTT (4 October 1928 – 4 November 1997)

originally wanted no part of the song. According to brother

, he didn't like playing the song live and thought it was silly and ridiculous.

Album version

*1967 released on the LP '' The 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''. (Some copies with the 4:45 version were mispressed with the 3:05 labels.)

Cover versions

Würm Wurm or Würm may refer to: Places * Wurm (Rur), a river in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany * Würm (Amper), a river in Bavaria, southeastern Germany ** Würm glaciation, an Alpine ice age, named after the Bavarian river * Würm (Nagold ...

on the B-side of their 1982 "We're Off / I'm Dead / Time Has Come Today" 7" single. *The song was rendered in a much changed way by Angry Samoans and included on their 1982 album, '' Back from Samoa''. The video includes a bunker scene where

Joe Chambers Joe Chambers (born June 25, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, vibraphonist and composer. In the 1960s and 1970s, Chambers gigged with many high-profile artists such as Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter, and Chick Corea an ...

makes an appearance. In the scene, the lead singer of The Angry Samoans is about to push the nuclear button which would cause nuclear annihilation. However the president (Played by Joe Chambers) chooses life. *Seminal punk rock band the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...

covered the song on their 1983 album ''

Subterranean Jungle ''Subterranean Jungle'' is the seventh studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones, released by Sire Records on February 28, 1983. Overall, the album featured a return to a somewhat more hard punk rock style compared to the band's previo ...

'' and released it as a single. *

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...

performed it live in 1988. * Mark Edwards, of

My Dad Is Dead My Dad Is Dead was a recording project of musician Mark Edwards. The project began in Cleveland, Ohio in 1984. My Dad Is Dead released twelve full-length albums before it officially ended in 2011. A new group called Secular Joy was formed late ...

, on the Homestead Records compilation ''Human Music'' in 1989. *

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin; September 22, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music#J, Godmother of Punk", she is regarded as a Pop icon, rock icon and ...

for her 1990 album '' The Hit List''. * 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 Willy DeVille (born William Paul Borsey Jr.; August 25, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, DeVille created song ...

on his 1995 album '' Loup Garou''. *''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' finalist

Bo Bice Harold Elwin "Bo" Bice Jr. (born November 1, 1975) is an American singer and musician who was the runner-up against Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to auditioning for ''American Idol'', Bice released a solo ...

for the anniversary of board game ''

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

''. *Punk band Die' Hunns, on a 7" single and again on their 2004 album ''Long Legs''. * Lords of Altamont on their 2005 album ''Lords Have Mercy''. *

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American country, rock, and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Earle's breakthrough album was his 1986 debut album '' ...

and

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is noted for her Optimism, optimistic and Idealism, idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including Rock music, rock, Po ...

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 for their 1989 album ''Unknown Passage''. *Greek punk garage rock The Last Drive for their 1989 EP ''Time''. *

Me'shell Ndegeocello Meshell Ndegeocello ( ; born Michelle Lynn Johnson on August 29, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her mid-career work. ...

for the soundtrack of the movie ''

White Man's Burden "The White Man's Burden" (1899), by Rudyard Kipling, is a poem about the Philippine–American War (1899–1902) that exhorts the United States to assume colonial control of the Filipino people and their country.'' In "The White Man's Burden ...

'', which was released in 1995. *

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s before joining the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, Collins established himse ...

, exclusively for the 2015 comedy-horror television series ''

Ash vs Evil Dead ''Ash vs Evil Dead'' is an American comedy horror television series developed by Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, and Tom Spezialy for Starz. The series is set in the '' Evil Dead'' universe created by Raimi, with Bruce Campbell reprising his role a ...

'', 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'' (2003). *

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

performed it during their show at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, on August 22, 2016. * Too Slim and the Taildraggers on their 2018 album '' High Desert Heat'' on Vizztone.

In popular culture

Film

The song has appeared in many films. Director

Hal Ashby William Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988) was an Cinema of the United States, American film Film director, director and Film editing, editor. His work exemplified the countercultural attitude of the era. He directed wide-rangi ...

used the full 11-minute track as the backdrop to the climactic scene when Captain Robert Hyde (

Bruce Dern Bruce MacLeish Dern (born June 4, 1936) is an American actor. He has received several accolades, including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and the Silver Bear for Best Actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Suppo ...

) "comes home" to an unfaithful wife (

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Jane Fonda filmography, Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television. She is the recipient of List of a ...

) in the 1978 Academy Award–winning film '' Coming Home''. It has also been used in the following films: *' (1977) *''Babylon Pink'' (1979) *'' Bad Dreams'' (1988) *'' Casualties of War'' (1989) *''

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

'' (1991) *'' Crooklyn'' (1994) *'' Girl, Interrupted'' (1999) *''

Remember the Titans ''Remember the Titans'' is a 2000 American biographical sports drama film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Boaz Yakin. The screenplay by Gregory Allen Howard is loosely based on the true story of coach Herman Boone, portrayed b ...

'' (2000) *'' The Hebrew Hammer'' (2003) *'' Riding the Bullet'' (2004) *'' Edison Force'' (2005) *'' Nearing Grace'' (2005) *'' The Zodiac'' (2006) *''

Neal Cassady Neal Leon Cassady (February 8, 1926 – February 4, 1968) was a major figure of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic and counterculture movements of the 1960s. Cassady published only two short fragments of prose in his lif ...

'' (2007) *'' Talk to Me'' (2007) *'' Yves Saint Laurent'' (2014) *'' Kong: Skull Island'' (2017) *'' Roman J. Israel, Esq.'' (2017) *''

On the Basis of Sex ''On the Basis of Sex'' is a 2018 American biographical legal drama film based on the life and early cases of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was the second woman to serve as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Directed by Mimi Led ...

'' (2018) *'' Da 5 Bloods'' (2020) *'' Totally Under Control'' (2020) *'' Boss Level'' (2021) * The Holdovers (2023)

Television

The song has also appeared in the following television episodes: *Theme tune used for the time-travel series '' Seven Days'' produced by

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...

from 1998 to 2001 *'' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' – "Ellie" (2001) *''

Cold Case ''Cold Case'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series. It ran on CBS from September 28, 2003, to May 2, 2010. The series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department division that specializes in invest ...

'' – "The Runner" (2003) *''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

'' – "Everybody Loves a Clown" (2006) *''

My Name Is Earl ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia (producer), Greg Garcia for NBC. It aired for four seasons from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, with a total of List of My Name Is Earl episodes, 96 episodes. It wa ...

'' – "Monkeys in Space" (2006) *A shortened version was used as a theme song for the fourth season of ''

Early Edition ''Early Edition'' is an American fantasy comedy-drama television series that aired on CBS from September 28, 1996, to May 27, 2000. Set in Chicago, Illinois, it follows the adventures of a man who mysteriously receives each ''Chicago Sun-Times' ...

''. *Theme song for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

series ''

American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...

'' from 2009 to 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 Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

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 ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

''. *Bootsy Collins recorded a special version for the end credits of the seventh episode of ''

''. *Season 2 finale of '' Outlander'' on July 9, 2016 *Season 2 finale of ''

Legends of Tomorrow ''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', or simply ''Legends of Tomorrow'', is an American Time travel in fiction, time travel superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klemmer, ...

'' on April 4, 2017 *Used in the "Dr Braino Show" on SCTV. *Closing song on the seventh episode of the first season of the TV show ''What We Do in the Shadows'' *Closing song on episode two of season two of '' Home Before Dark'' on June 18, 2021, *Featured in Season 2, episode 3 of ''

Will Trent ''Will Trent'' is an American police procedural television series developed by Liz Heldens and Daniel T. Thomsen based on the series of novels by Karin Slaughter. The series, starring Ramón Rodríguez in the title role, premiered on January ...

'' on March 5, 2024 In TV commercials: *A

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

TV commercial A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

for

Amazon Web Services Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) is a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Amazon that provides Software as a service, on-demand cloud computing computing platform, platforms and Application programming interface, APIs to individuals, companies, and gover ...

to mark the start of the

2020 NFL season The 2020 NFL season was the 101st season of the National Football League (NFL). The regular season started with the NFL Kickoff Game on September 10, in which defending Super Bowl LIV champion Kansas City defeated Houston. The playoffs were ...

Other

Anthony Bourdain Anthony Michael Bourdain ( ; June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018) was an American celebrity chef, author and Travel documentary, travel documentarian. He starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the huma ...

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 science fiction film ''

Geostorm ''Geostorm'' is a 2017 American science-fiction disaster film directed, cowritten, and coproduced by Dean Devlin (in his feature directorial debut). The film stars Gerard Butler, Jim Sturgess, Abbie Cornish, Ed Harris, and Andy García. It f ...

''.

References

External links

* Early version * Later version {{Authority control The Chambers Brothers songs Songs written by Joe Chambers (singer) Ramones songs Protest songs 1966 singles 1967 singles Columbia Records singles Acid rock songs