Time Is on My Side
Encyclopedia
"Time Is on My Side" is a song written by Jerry Ragovoy
(under the pseudonym
of Norman Meade). First recorded by jazz
trombonist Kai Winding
and his Orchestra in 1963, it was covered (with additional lyrics by Jimmy Norman
) by both soul
singer Irma Thomas
and The Rolling Stones
in 1964.
and engineered by Phil Ramone
, and including background vocals by Cissy Houston
, Dionne Warwick
and Dee Dee Warwick
, the recording was released on the Verve Records
label in October 1963.
In early 1964 Irma Thomas recorded a gospel
-influenced cover of the song as the B-side for her single "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)", released on Imperial Records
. Songwriter Jimmy Norman
was enlisted by the arranger H. B. Barnum
to create some more lyrics for the song, which at that time consisted only of the words "Time is on my side" and "You'll come runnin' back." He managed to finish moments before Thomas entered the studio to record it. Produced by Eddie Ray, Thomas' version of "Time Is on My Side" provided the inspiration for the title of her 1996 greatest hits release Time Is on My Side.
. The second version (recorded November 8, 1964, more tightly arranged and featuring guitar in the intro) was released in the UK on January 15, 1965 on The Rolling Stones No. 2
. This is the version that receives airplay and appears on most "best of" compilations. Both versions incorporate elements of Irma Thomas's recording, including spoken-word interjections in the chorus, a monologue in the middle of the song, and distinctive lead guitar.
The U.S. version was released on September 26, 1964 as a single (a month after Thomas' cover) and peaked at number six on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles Chart
to become the Rolling Stones' first top ten hit in the U.S. (their previous single, "It's All Over Now
", had only peaked at number 26). When they performed "Time Is on My Side" during their first guest spot on The Ed Sullivan Show
, Sullivan was shocked by their appearance and declared that they would never be invited onto the show again, but he subsequently invited them back several times.
A live version of the song from the band's 1982 live album, "Still Life", reached number sixty-two on the UK singles chart.
, Michael Bolton
, Cat Power
, Hattie Littles
, Wilson Pickett
, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes
, The Pretty Things
, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Kim Wilson
, Tracy Nelson
, Patti Smith
, Andrés Calamaro
(for his "El Salmón", a CD with 103 songs), and The Moody Blues
(in 1966 and on the 1985 rerelease of The Magnificent Moodies
).
Pop singer and pianist Vanessa Carlton
recorded a version of the song for a Time Warner
digital video recorder
s commercial, which also served as promotion for her second album, Harmonium
(2004), and received heavy rotation on U.S. television during early 2005. The newspaper Metroland
reviewed her rendition of the song negatively, and wrote, "we tend to think time is most definitely not on her side — how else to explain the near-universal apathy to the release of her second album, Harmonium?" Harmonium was not re-issued to include the song.
In 2004, Jimmy Norman, who wrote the lyrics to "Time is on My Side" but whose name was eventually removed from credits, recorded it for the first time as the last track on his album Little Pieces.
In 2007, British
soul singer Beverley Knight
recorded a version of the song featuring Ronnie Wood for her fifth studio album, Music City Soul
.
, starring Denzel Washington
, the Stones version (with the guitar intro) is used often in the movie to depict when a character's body has been infiltrated by the demon/fallen angel named Azazel
. Various characters throughout the film sing the song (including actors James Gandolfini and John Goodman), and the song is featured in the opening scenes and well as the final one. This is keeping with the Stones' "Satanic Majesties" image.
It is the title for a season three episode of Supernatural
.
The Irma Thomas version is played at the end of the Sopranos
season two premiere episode, "Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office...".
Jerry Ragovoy
Jordan "Jerry" Ragovoy was an American songwriter and record producer.His best-known composition "Time Is on My Side" was made famous by The Rolling Stones, although it had been recorded earlier by Kai Winding and Irma Thomas...
(under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Norman Meade). First recorded by jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trombonist Kai Winding
Kai Winding
Kai Chresten Winding was a popular Danish-born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is well known for a successful collaboration with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson.-Biography:...
and his Orchestra in 1963, it was covered (with additional lyrics by Jimmy Norman
Jimmy Norman
Jimmy Norman was an American rhythm and blues and jazz musician and a songwriter. In his early career, Norman had a charting single of his own, "I Don't Love You No More ", as well as performing session work with Jimi Hendrix, but he is better known as a lyricist and songwriter...
) by both soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer Irma Thomas
Irma Thomas
Irma Thomas is an American Grammy Award-winning soul and rhythm and blues singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans"....
and The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
in 1964.
History
Winding session arranger Garry Sherman (The Drifters, Jay & the Americans, Dusty Springfield) contacted friend and colleague Ragovoy after Kai had expressed an interest in going in a more commercial and rhythmic direction (in gratitude for the gig Ragovoy granted Sherman 50% of the publishing rights, which he kept until an expensive divorce in 1983). But Ragovoy had thought of no lyrics for the song other than "time is on my side". Produced by Creed TaylorCreed Taylor
Creed Taylor is an American record producer, best known for his work with CTI Records, which he founded in 1968. Taylor’s career also included work at Bethlehem Records, ABC-Paramount, Verve, and A&M Records...
and engineered by Phil Ramone
Phil Ramone
Phil Ramone is a South-African violinist, composer, recording engineer, and record producer.-Biography:As a young child in South Africa, Ramone was a musical prodigy, beginning to play the violin at age three and performing for Queen Elizabeth II at age ten...
, and including background vocals by Cissy Houston
Cissy Houston
Emily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...
, Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
and Dee Dee Warwick
Dee Dee Warwick
Dee Dee Warwick was an American soul singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey as Delia Mae Warrick, she was the sister of Dionne Warwick, niece of Cissy Houston and cousin of Whitney Houston....
, the recording was released on the Verve Records
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
label in October 1963.
In early 1964 Irma Thomas recorded a gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
-influenced cover of the song as the B-side for her single "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)", released on Imperial Records
Imperial Records
Imperial Records is a United States based label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd and reactivated in 2006 by label owner EMI.- The independent and Liberty Records years :...
. Songwriter Jimmy Norman
Jimmy Norman
Jimmy Norman was an American rhythm and blues and jazz musician and a songwriter. In his early career, Norman had a charting single of his own, "I Don't Love You No More ", as well as performing session work with Jimi Hendrix, but he is better known as a lyricist and songwriter...
was enlisted by the arranger H. B. Barnum
H. B. Barnum
H. B. Barnum is an American pianist, arranger, record producer, songwriter, and former child actor....
to create some more lyrics for the song, which at that time consisted only of the words "Time is on my side" and "You'll come runnin' back." He managed to finish moments before Thomas entered the studio to record it. Produced by Eddie Ray, Thomas' version of "Time Is on My Side" provided the inspiration for the title of her 1996 greatest hits release Time Is on My Side.
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones recorded two versions of the song in 1964. The first version (a looser arrangement featuring a briefer, organ-only intro) was released in the U.S. in 1964, as a single from their album 12 X 512 X 5
-Personnel:The Rolling Stones*Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica, and percussion*Keith Richards – acoustic and electric guitar, and backing vocals*Brian Jones – electric and acoustic guitar, harmonica, tambourine and backing vocals...
. The second version (recorded November 8, 1964, more tightly arranged and featuring guitar in the intro) was released in the UK on January 15, 1965 on The Rolling Stones No. 2
The Rolling Stones No. 2
-Personnel:*Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica, tambourine, percussion*Keith Richards – guitars, backing vocals*Brian Jones – guitar, slide guitar, backing vocals*Charlie Watts – drums, percussion...
. This is the version that receives airplay and appears on most "best of" compilations. Both versions incorporate elements of Irma Thomas's recording, including spoken-word interjections in the chorus, a monologue in the middle of the song, and distinctive lead guitar.
The U.S. version was released on September 26, 1964 as a single (a month after Thomas' cover) and peaked at number six on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles Chart
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
to become the Rolling Stones' first top ten hit in the U.S. (their previous single, "It's All Over Now
It's All Over Now
"It's All Over Now" was written by Bobby Womack and Shirley Womack. It was first released by The Valentinos featuring Bobby Womack. The Valentinos version entered the Billboard Hot 100 on June 27, 1964, where it stayed on the chart for two weeks, peaking at No. 94...
", had only peaked at number 26). When they performed "Time Is on My Side" during their first guest spot on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
, Sullivan was shocked by their appearance and declared that they would never be invited onto the show again, but he subsequently invited them back several times.
A live version of the song from the band's 1982 live album, "Still Life", reached number sixty-two on the UK singles chart.
Personnel
- Mick JaggerMick JaggerSir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
— lead vocals - Keith RichardsKeith RichardsKeith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
— guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, backing vocals - Brian JonesBrian JonesLewis Brian Hopkins Jones , known as Brian Jones, was an English musician and a founding member of the Rolling Stones....
— guitar, backing vocals - Bill WymanBill WymanBill Wyman is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1992. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings...
— bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - Charlie WattsCharlie WattsCharles Robert "Charlie" Watts is an English drummer, best known as a member of The Rolling Stones. He is also the leader of a jazz band, a record producer, commercial artist, and horse breeder.-Early life:...
— drums - Ian StewartIan Stewart (musician)Ian Andrew Robert Stewart was a Scottish keyboardist, co-founder of The Rolling Stones and inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
— organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
Other covers
"Time Is on My Side" has since been covered by artists such as IndexiIndexi
Indexi was a Bosnian rock band popular in the former Yugoslavia. It formed in 1962 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, and disbanded in 2001 when singer Davorin Popović died...
, Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
, Cat Power
Cat Power
Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...
, Hattie Littles
Hattie Littles
Hattie Littles was an American soul singer, best known for her 1963 single, "Your Love Is Wonderful," released on Motown's Gordy label.-Music career:...
, Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes
The Tremeloes
The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, Essex, and still active today.-Career:They formed as Brian Poole and the Tremoloes influenced by Buddy Holly and The Crickets...
, The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...
, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s; "Tuff Enuff", and "Wrap It Up."-Career:...
, Tracy Nelson
Tracy Nelson (singer)
-Youth in Wisconsin:Nelson was born and grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. There she first learned about R&B music from WLAC radio in Nashville. In her teens, Nelson sang folk music in coffeehouses and with a group called The Fuller's Wood Singers and was lead singer in a band called The Fabulous...
, Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, Andrés Calamaro
Andrés Calamaro
Andrés Calamaro , is an Argentine musician, composer and Latin Grammy winner. His former band Los Rodríguez was a major success in Spain in the 1990s. He became one of the main icons of the Argentine rock in the last two decades and has sold over 1.3 million copies.-Abuelos de la Nada:Calamaro was...
(for his "El Salmón", a CD with 103 songs), and The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....
(in 1966 and on the 1985 rerelease of The Magnificent Moodies
The Magnificent Moodies
The Magnificent Moodies is the 1965 debut album by The Moody Blues first released in the UK and the first and only album featuring their R&B lineup of guitarist Denny Laine, bassist Clint Warwick, keyboardist Mike Pinder, flute player–percussionist Ray Thomas, and drummer Graeme Edge...
).
Pop singer and pianist Vanessa Carlton
Vanessa Carlton
Vanessa Lee Carlton is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Upon completion of her education at the School of American Ballet, Carlton chose to pursue singing instead, performing in New York bars and clubs while attending university. Three months after recording a demo with producer Peter...
recorded a version of the song for a Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
digital video recorder
Digital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
s commercial, which also served as promotion for her second album, Harmonium
Harmonium (Vanessa Carlton album)
Harmonium is the second album by American pop singer-pianist Vanessa Carlton, released by A&M Records in the United States on November 9, 2004 . Carlton co-wrote some of the album with Stephan Jenkins, her then-boyfriend and the lead singer of Third Eye Blind, who produced the album. Harmonium...
(2004), and received heavy rotation on U.S. television during early 2005. The newspaper Metroland
Metroland (newspaper)
Metroland is an alternative newspaper that is published weekly in Albany, New York and mainly serves the Capital District area. Distributed free of charge, the paper offers local arts and music scene coverage, news and feature articles, and political columns with a mostly liberal bent...
reviewed her rendition of the song negatively, and wrote, "we tend to think time is most definitely not on her side — how else to explain the near-universal apathy to the release of her second album, Harmonium?" Harmonium was not re-issued to include the song.
In 2004, Jimmy Norman, who wrote the lyrics to "Time is on My Side" but whose name was eventually removed from credits, recorded it for the first time as the last track on his album Little Pieces.
In 2007, British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
soul singer Beverley Knight
Beverley Knight
Beverley Knight MBE is a British soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer who released her debut album in 1995. Heavily influenced by soul greats such as Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, Knight has released six studio albums to date...
recorded a version of the song featuring Ronnie Wood for her fifth studio album, Music City Soul
Music City Soul
Vinyl Edition Released May 7, 2007Side ASide BNotes:* "*" indicates that the song features guitar played by Ronnie Wood.- Personnel :* All tracks engineered and produced by Mark Nevers - mastered by Bunt Stafford Clark...
.
In film and television
In the 1998 supernatural thriller FallenFallen (film)
Fallen is a 1998 supernatural thriller film, directed by Gregory Hoblit, and starring Denzel Washington, John Goodman and Donald Sutherland.-Plot:...
, starring Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
, the Stones version (with the guitar intro) is used often in the movie to depict when a character's body has been infiltrated by the demon/fallen angel named Azazel
Azazel
Azazel or Azazael or Azâzêl is a term used three times in the Hebrew scriptures, and later in Hebrew mythology as the enigmatic name of a character....
. Various characters throughout the film sing the song (including actors James Gandolfini and John Goodman), and the song is featured in the opening scenes and well as the final one. This is keeping with the Stones' "Satanic Majesties" image.
It is the title for a season three episode of Supernatural
Supernatural (TV series)
Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
.
The Irma Thomas version is played at the end of the Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
season two premiere episode, "Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office...".
External links
- Listen to the Irma Thomas version
- Listen to the classic (UK) version with guitar intro (albeit with strange poster comments)
- Listen to the 1964 US version with organ intro
- Irma Thomas page
- http://www.cover-vs-original.com/song-20.html
- http://www.bjbear71.com/Winding/Kai-Verve45.html
- http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=417
- http://www.secondhandsongs.com/song/17201.html
- http://www.jimmynorman.net/src/legends_timeisonmyside.html
- http://www.granatino.com/sdresource/11wnew.htm