“Season Of The Witch” by Donovan

"Season of the Witch" comes from Sunshine Superman, Donovan's third album, from 1966, and it's the Scottish songwriter fronting a real electric band. He and Shawn Phillips wanted the feel of a rock combo, so at the CBS studios in Hollywood, where most of the album was made, they drafted players out of the local clubs: Lenny Matlin playing keyboards, Don Brown handling lead guitar, Bobby Ray holding the bass and "Fast" Eddie Hoh at the drum kit. Mickie Most produced.

Donovan holds the credit, although Phillips, who worked with him on and off, has claimed he wrote it. A quarrel with Donovan's record company kept a UK release on hold until June 1967, but the song has never lacked takers since: Al Kooper and Stephen Stills, Vanilla Fudge, Dr. John, Joan Jett, Hole, Robert Plant and Lana Del Rey are among the many who have covered it.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.