Songfacts®:

• This song was originally recorded by the jazz trombonist Kai Winding and his Orchestra on the Verve Records label in October 1963. His version was mostly instrumental with just the lyric "time is on my side" sung by the background trio of Cissy Houston, Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick.
  
  The first fully vocal version was recorded by the New Orleans soul singer Irma Thomas; her version was released as the B-side of "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)" in June 1964. The Rolling Stones released their version of the song in the US on September 26, 1964, and it became their first Top 10 hit in America. Thomas' version contains a spoken part in the middle that the Stones left out.
• The lyrics were most likely written by Jimmy Norman, who was a member of The Coasters. The songwriting credit is unclear, and usually lists Jerry Ragovoy, who wrote "Piece Of My Heart" and "Try" for Janis Joplin, as the only writer, sometimes as "Norman Meade," which he used as a pseudonym. Thomas' original single lists the credit as "J. Norman - N. Meade." Ragovoy, who also produced the song for Thomas, died in 2011 at age 80. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Dave - Greenville, SC
• In this song, Mick Jagger has lost his girl, but he knows it's just a matter of time until he returns. After all, he's got "the real love, the kind that you need."
• Keith Richards said of this song: "In America we were basically known for heavy, slowish kind of ballads. 'Time Is On My Side,' 'Tell Me,' 'Heart of Stone,' that was what we were known for. Strangely enough that was our thing. Every single was a slow song. Who would believe it? You'd think they'd be clamoring for out-and-out rock and roll, but no, it was the soul ballads that happened for us in America." >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Bertrand - Paris, France
• This was one of two songs The Stones performed on their first Ed Sullivan Show appearance, October 25, 1964. The other was "Around And Around," a Chuck Berry cover.
  
  That February, The Beatles made their historic debut on Sullivan to crowd hysteria. The Stones hadn't yet developed a fan base in America, but the teenage girls in the audience still went crazy. The appearance earned them lots of attention and helped send "Time Is On My Side" up the chart - it reached #6 on December 5.
  
  The Stones returned to the show five more times, always earning a wildly enthusiastic greeting from the crowd. On their fifth appearance, they capitulated to Sullivan by changing "Let's Spend The Night Together" to "Let's Spend Some Time Together."
• The Rolling Stones released two versions of this song. The US single was recorded in England and is slower, with a gospel organ. The British version was recorded at Chess studios in Chicago.
• This song played a key role in the 1998 suspense thriller Fallen with Denzel Washington and John Goodman. It was also used in the films The Sense Of An Ending (2017), Get On Up (2014), and Not Fade Away (2012). >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  John - Woburn, MA
• Irma Thomas was touring in England when Mick Jagger and Keith Richards caught one of her shows and heard her sing the tune. They told her they loved it and planned to record it with their band. By early December, the Stones' cover was a Top 10 hit in the US. Thomas grew so tired of explaining to people that she recorded the song first, she quit singing it altogether for nearly 30 years. She only relented when her friend Bonnie Raitt invited Thomas to sing it with her for a 1992 New Year's Eve broadcast from New Orleans.
• Thomas told the Dutch music series Top 2000 a go go what she thought of Jagger's take on her tune. "Vocally you have to be able to carry a note for more than a couple seconds," she said. "Melodically, he's there. But they did the way they did and I did it the way I did it and, you know, there's an interpretation of singing. I tell people, 'Mick can't sing but he's laughing all the way to the bank.'"
• This was used in the 2019 miniseries Watchmen in the episode "If You Don't Like My Story, Write Your Own."
  
  It was also used in these TV shows:
  
  Lucifer ("Weaponizer" - 2016)
  12 Monkeys ("Year Of The Monkey" - 2016)
  Elementary ("On The Line" - 2013)
  Six Feet Under ("Perfect Circles" - 2003)
  The Sopranos ("Guy Walks Into A Psychiatrist's Office" - 2000)
• The Rolling Stones rolled back the years with a surprise performance of "Time Is On My Side" during their May 2, 2024 show at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. But that wasn't all! Mick Jagger brought out a special guest to share the stage: Irma Thomas.
  
  "In 1964, which is a very long time ago, we heard this great song on the radio by this amazing singer," Jagger told the crowd. "We recorded it and it became our first kind of hit in America. The lady that did the song first, she's the Soul Queen of New Orleans! I'd like to bring out on stage now to sing the song with us."
  
  The moment took place exactly 50 years after they recorded "Time Is On My Side." It was their first time performing the song since 1998, and the second since 1982.