Chambers Brothers - Time Has Come Today

What a mess! Three different 45s, all mono (never mixed to stereo), an 11-minute long LP version, and a parade of non-hit stereo edits.

Let's tackle this chronologically.

Non-hit 1966 mono 45 version (printed 2:37, actual about 2:39)

This 45 came out as Columbia 4-43816 (matrix number 115801). Discogs lists the release date as being Sep 12, 1966 - two years before the song was a hit.

It turned up first on CD on Columbia/Legacy's Time Has Come: The Best Of The Chambers Brothers (1996), where it's called "Single Version One". This disc is an excellent overview of the band, produced by Bob Irwin and mastered by Mark Wilder. It sounds great here.

It's also on Columbia/Legacy's 2000 reissue of the full The Time Has Come album.

Non-hit 1967 mono 45 version (printed 3:05, actual 3:09)

The Chambers Brothers, along with the same producer (David Rubinson), rerecorded the song and released it on 45 as Columbia 4-44414 (matrix number 135996-1). Discogs lists the release date as being Dec 26, 1967.

The 45 label makes no mention of the The Time Has Come LP, so I assume that this 3:05 45 was released before the full album.

This version is essentially lost to history. It didn't chart, and it doesn't appear on CD. The last 28 seconds of this version don't appear on any other mono version of the song, so you can't edit anything else down to get the 3:05 45 version.

Hit 1968 mono 45 version (printed 4:45, actual 4:47)

One more time! Columbia assembled yet another mono mix and released it, also with catalog number Columbia 4-44414 but a slightly different matrix number (135996-3 - note the "3" at the end). Discogs lists the release date as being after July 1968. The song hit the Hot 100 in Aug 1968, so summer 1968 certainly sounds plausible.

The 45 label says: From the Columbia LP "The Time Has Come". Discogs lists the LP release date (both stereo and mono flavors) as 1967, so this 4:45 version of the 45 was released after the full album.

This 4:45 version is the same as the 3:05 45 version, until about 2:40. At about 2:40, the 4:45 starts back up again (while the 3:05 45 version wound down).

The 4:45 45 version, in all its mono glory, appeared on CD first on Columbia's Rock Classics Of The 60's (1989). The same analog transfer is used on:

• Sony's Seems Like Yesterday Vol. 6 (1990)
• Sony's Forever Soul Vol. 1 (1995)
• Realm's 3-CD Greatest Hits Of The '60s Vol. 1 (1995)

Based on what's in the database, I expect that all instances of a mono version running 4:47 can trace their masterings back to Rock Classics Of The 60's.

LP version (runs about 11:03)

Discogs shows the LP being released in stereo and in mono, both in 1967. The mono LP version is lost to history. I don't know if it's a dedicated mix or a fold-down of the stereo LP version.

The stereo version turns up on CD, on reissues of the The Time Has Come album, some Chambers Brothers collections, and on a few multi-artist compilations.

Most notably, it's on DCC Compact Classics' Rock Of The 70's Vol. 5 (1992). That's surprising to me because Sandstone's Reelin' In The Years Vol. 5 (1991), which is basically the same disc with the same mastering but a different track order, uses an edit of the song, not the full LP version. This one song is the only difference in all of the Reelin' In The Years discs and the corresponding Rock Of The 70's discs. Interesting.

Non-hit 1989 stereo edit by Bill Inglot to mimic mono 4:45 45 version (runs 4:54)

Keep in mind that the 45s are all dedicated mixes (at least I think they are), and can't be edited down from the stereo LP version. Any stereo version of the song shorter than 11 minutes is an after-the-fact recreation. Even if the edit is correct, the recreation won't match any of the mono 45 mixes.

This 4:54 stereo edit first appeared on Rhino's Nuggets Vol. 3 aka Even More Nuggets (1989). The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's Guitar Rock Vol. 12 The Late '60s (1994)

A different analog transfer of the 4:54 stereo edit is used on Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 19 1968 Shakin' All Over (1989). It doesn't sound as clear as the Rhino disc, probably due to a higher-generation tape source. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 33 The '60s Generation (2001)

The 4:54 edit has different stuff at the end of the song, compared to the 4:45 45.

Non-hit 1991 stereo edit by Steve Hoffman (runs 3:31)

This edit uses the first 2:25 of the stereo LP version, and the last 1:09 of the stereo LP version, and just deletes everything in the middle. As edits go, this one is the most straightforward to get the song down to a reasonable length. It doesn't even pretend to correspond to any of the 45 versions.

This 3:31 stereo edit first appeared on Sandstone's Reelin' In The Years Vol. 5 (1991).

The same edit, but different masterings, appears on Columbia/Epic/Legacy's multi-artist collections Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack For A Century (Box Set) and Rock: The Train Kept A Rollin' (both 1999). Somehow, this edit found its way back into the Sony vaults!

Non-hit 1996 stereo edit by Bob Irwin to mimic 4:45 45 version (runs 4:51)

This 4:51 stereo edit first appeared on Columbia/Legacy's Time Has Come: Best Of The Chambers Brothers (1996). The 4:51 edit also has different stuff at the end of the song, compared to the 4:45 45.

Non-hit 1998 stereo edit to mimic mono 3:05 45 version (runs 3:09)

This edit is close in song structure to the 3:05 45, but it's clearly a different mix. Listen to the end of the opening tick-tocks, and you'll hear different stuff behind the cowbells.

This 3:09 stereo edit appears only on Varese Sarabande's On The Radio Vol. 3 (1998).

Bottom line

If it's in stereo and is shorter than 11 minutes, then it's an after-the-fact edit that won't match any of the three 45s that were released.

If you want the hit, it will be in mono. I recommend Columbia's Rock Classics Of The 60's (1989) for the 4:45 45 version.

Link to July 1968 promo 45rpm (3:05 listed)

https://www.45cat.com/record/nc126333us

eriejwg wrote: Over at 45cat, they show a promo 45 with the 3:05 listed version and a SPECIAL RUSH RESERVICE on the label listed as being released in July, 1968. Was the record company answering requests from radio stations to reissue the short version who perhaps didn't want to play the 4:47 version?

I was just a weekend DJ at a station that didn't even play that song (though we did play the follow-up "I Can't Turn You Loose") in the summer of
'68, but my suspicion is that someone at Columbia really believed in that record and launched a concentrated push to get airplay for it.

I don't believe I've ever heard any station play the 3 minute version...even WRKO which played a LOT of house edits at the time played the full
4:47 single. The only reason I even knew the short version existed is that a friend of mine bought the 45 and that's what he got.