This,
the Chambers Brothers
' coming-of-age record, was a well-timed and even better executed exercise in modern record-making. The brothers had recorded several excellent
gospel
-
folk
sides on a few labels (including
CBS
) in the mid-'60s. They were darlings of the
set, and even sang backup on a few unreleased
Bob Dylan
sessions in 1965. By 1967, they were at loose ends. Having demoed a slightly demented song that year called
"Time Has Come Today,"
the group entered the studio with producer
David Rubinson
, who was fresh from some critical acclaim after recording
Moby Grape
. The resulting album and subsequent title track hit were huge successes, especially on FM radio. The rest of the album shows the brothers not just embracing the
psychedelic
trends, but also redefining their
R&B
leanings. [The 2000 CD reissue of
Time Has Come
on
Columbia
/
Legacy
adds three 1966-1967 non-LP B-sides, as well as the first single version of
which is substantially different from the familiar one on the album.] ~ Matthew Greenwald