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Time Is on My Side

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"Time Is on My Side"
Song
"Time Is on My Side"
Song
B-side"Congratulations" (Jagger/Richards)
"Time Is on My Side"
Song

"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.

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 Ragavoy granted Sherman 50% of the publishing rights, which he kept until an expensive divorce in 1983)[citation needed]. But Ragavoy had thought of no lyrics for the song other than "time is on my side". Produced by Creed Taylor 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."[1] He managed to finish moments before Thomas entered the studio to record it. [citation needed] 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.

Rolling Stones version

The Rolling Stones recorded two versions of "Time Is on My Side" in 1964. The first with the organ intro was released in the U.S. in 1964 on single and on the 12 X 5 album. The rerecording with the guitar intro was released in the UK on January 15, 1965 on the The Rolling Stones No. 2 album. This is the version that appears on all the "best of" compilations. Both Rolling Stones' versions copy several distinctive elements of the Irma Thomas version, including the vocal interjections between the chorus lyrics, the monologue in the middle of the song, and the guitar solo which intertwines with this monologue.

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 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.

Other covers

"Time Is on My Side" has since been covered by artists such as Indexi, 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[2], Andrés Calamaro (for his "El Salmón", a CD with 103 songs), and The Moody Blues (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 recorders commercial, which also served as promotion for her second album, Harmonium (2004), and received heavy rotation on U.S. television during early 2005.[3] 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?"[4] 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,[1] 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.

In film and television

The Stones version (with the guitar intro) is sung repeatedly by the demon Azazel in the 1998 Denzel Washington film Fallen. This is keeping with the Stones' "Satanic Majesties" image.

The Irma Thomas version is played at the end of the Sopranos Season Two premier episode, Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office....

It is the title for a Season three episode of Supernatural

In the 1998 supernatural thriller Fallen, starring Denzel Washington, the song 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 Gandolphini and John Goodman), and the song is featured in the opening scenes and well as the final one.

Notes

  1. ^ a b Sisario, Ben (2004-11-03). "The songs (with a bumpy detour) never end". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  2. ^ Patti Smith's b-side
  3. ^ JS Online: Time Warner's DVR is on your side!
  4. ^ Metroland Online - Noteworthy

References

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