Needed Times

Ah, memories. It was an autumn weekend night nearly 50 years ago now and Pamela and Charlie went to a theater in downtown Huntington — probably the Keith-Albee — is see a new Cicely Tyson/Paul Winfield work called “Sounder.” Wow, what a wonderful movie, and Charlie especially loved the bluesy musical score performed almost exclusively by Taj Mahal, who also played the character “Ike” in the film. Charlie loved it so much, in fact, that he started haunting Davidson Records Store down the street, just waiting to buy the soundtrack LP and learn some of the tunes. And, you know, while Taj Mahal’s music was memorable, for Charlie the real star of the soundtrack was the legendary blues master Lightnin’ Hopkins doing a gospel tune called “Needed Time.” Now in the winter of 1972-73, The Flood was just getting started, and as soon as Charlie shared “Needed Time” with the band’s fellow founders Dave Peyton and Roger Samples, the song quickly got played regularly at our fledgling jam sessions. Well, of course, these days Dave and Rog are both long gone from The Flood, but the tune remains. Oh, now — like back then — we do a much livelier, more raucous version of the song than Hopkins’ solemn, soulful original, but even in its transformation, the tune is still a tribute for a special time in our lives. Here from a rehearsal back in March — before the COVID-19 shutdown started keeping us apart — is a rocking rendition of “Needed Time.”