This may sound like sacrilege, but by going electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, did Bob Dylan help to influence psychedelic music? After many years on the Southern gospel circuit, the members of The Chambers Brothers relocated to Los Angeles in the early 1960s. Through various connections made on the West Coast, they found themselves in the lineup for the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 – alongside artists such as the aforementioned Dylan, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and many more. Their song “I Got It” appeared on the Vanguard-issued compilation of the festival performances the same year.

Following their well-received performance at Newport, the brothers played around the country and worked in studio time for a full-length record. The original version of the (nearly) title track “The Time Has Come Today” was not well-received by their label Columbia and the band ended up working on new material. The first track on The Time Has Come is “All Strung Out Over You,” by Rudy Clark. Clark is known as a songwriter and performer who also wrote the hits “Got My Mind Set On You” (recorded in 1987 by George Harrison, “The Shoop Shoop Song” and “Good Lovin’” the massive hit for the Young Rascals. Readers may also know the song as being sampled in the 1990s by Fatboy Slim for his song “Weapon Of Choice.”

While The Time Has Come featured other covers as well – including “People Get Ready,” “In the Midnight Hour” and “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” the balance of the album features Chambers Brothers originals – the most significant being “The Time Has Come Today.” Originally recorded in 1966 as a single, as mentioned previously, Columbia was not happy with the recording and opted for “All Strung Out Over You” as a single. Musically, the 1966 version is similar in structure and progression as compared to the long version that appeared on the album – at least at the beginning.