Time Has Come Todayby The Chambers Brothers

This psychedelic soul classic was written by two of the four Chambers brothers, Joe and Willie. Joe wrote most of the lyric after sitting in on a class at UCLA with Timothy Leary and taking LSD. Willie put the music together and contributed the line, "My soul has been psychedelicized.": www.songfacts.com -- See an almost-15 minute live version: www.youtube.com

I played the radio edit one instead of the full-length 11 minute original because I am a coward and a fiend.

This psychedelic soul classic was written by two of the four Chambers brothers, Joe and Willie. Joe wrote most of the lyric after sitting in on a class at UCLA with Timothy Leary and taking LSD. Willie put the music together and contributed the line, "My soul has been psychedelicized.": www.songfacts.com -- See an almost-15 minute live version: www.youtube.com

Not one, but two, cow bells on this one, because what we need is always more cowbell.

Not one, but two, cow bells on this one, because what we need is always more cowbell.

The original version was released in 1966 and ran just 2:37. It went nowhere, but they started playing extended versions of the song in their live shows, and when they recorded it on their 1967 album The Time Has Come, it ran 11:06. Many freeform FM radio stations played it from the album (DJs could grab a smoke break while it ran) and in 1968 it was once again released as a single, this time with a running time of 4:45. This is the version that was a hit, going to #11 in the US.

"I will reveal my decrepit musical tastes and harken back to the days when I had to listen to KOL-FM with an pocket-sized transistor radio under my pillow at night to escape the wrath of my dear old dad." Stephen, on a two-year assignment in Panama City

This psychedelic soul classic was written by two of the four Chambers brothers, Joe and Willie. Joe wrote most of the lyric after sitting in on a class at UCLA with Timothy Leary and taking LSD. Willie put the music together and contributed the line, "My soul has been psychedelicized."

Because of their wonderful fusion of funk and psychedelia, the Chambers Brothers were able to tour rock clubs like the Fillmore and R&B clubs like the Apollo Theater. www.allmusic.com