| There Was a Time | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | James Brown |
| Album: | I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me |
| A-Side: | I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me) |
| B-Side: | I Feel All Right (maxisingle) |
| Recorded: | June 24–25, 1967, Apollo Theater, New York, NY |
| Genre: | Funk |
| Label: | King 6144 |
| Producer: | James Brown |
| Chronology: | James Brown charting |
| Prev Title: | I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me) |
| Prev Year: | 1967 |
| Next Title: | You've Got to Change Your Mind |
| Next Year: | 1968 |
"There Was a Time" is a song written and performed by James Brown.
"There Was a Time" was recorded in June 1967 during a live performance at the Apollo Theater in a medley with "Let Yourself Go" and "I Feel All Right", and was first released November 1967 in edited form as the B-side of the single "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)". The song charted #3 R&B — higher than the A-side — and #36 Pop.[1] This edit of the song also appeared on the 1968 album I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me.[2] A 14-minute-long edit of the Apollo medley was issued on Brown's 1968 album Live at the Apollo, Volume II. Though it was nominally only one song in the medley, "There Was a Time" became the colloquial name for the entire sequence.[3] The complete medley was finally issued on the Deluxe Edition of Live at the Apollo, Volume II, released in 2001.[4] The medley was also edited into two tracks which began the B-side of the 1969 King album It's a Mother retitled "The Little Groove Maker Me."
| Chart (1967-68) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 36 | |
| US Best Selling R&B Singles (Billboard) | 3 |
Brown made additional recordings of "There Was a Time" with the acoustic jazz combo the Dee Felice Trio for his 1969 album Gettin' Down to It, and with the Louie Bellson big band for 1970's Soul on Top, in a performance cut from the original LP release but restored for its 2004 CD reissue. A live performance from 1969 appears on the 1970 album Sex Machine.[5] Another live recording of "There Was a Time", from an August 1968 concert in Dallas, Texas, was first issued on the 1991 Star Time box set,[6] then remastered for the 1998 release .[7] Brown also performs the song in the concert films and .
An instrumental version of "There Was a Time" with saxophonist Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis was released in 1968. It was an overdubbed version of the tune credited to The Dapps.
"There Was a Time" was part of The Jackson 5's repertoire beginning early in their career. They perform it in concert on the album Live at the Forum. In a famous incident, Michael Jackson and Prince performed the song while sharing the stage with Brown and his band at Los Angeles' Beverly Theater in 1983.[8]
Other artists who have recorded the song include Gene Chandler, Eddie Harris, and The Blue Sky Boys.