Donovan – Season of the Witch

I’ve always liked the groove of this song. Season of the Witch was released in 1966 on the Sunshine Superman Album but not as a single. It remains one of Donovan’s (Donovan Leitch) most well-known songs. The song has been covered many times and often bands start the song and draw it out to a jam.

In 1966 bands were releasing songs about drugs at this time. The Beatles had Dr. Robert and The Stones released Mother’s Little Helper. Season Of The Witch was recorded in Hollywood and clocked in at 5 minutes. He played it with Bobby Ray (bass) and “Fast” Eddy Hoh, although the electric guitar work has been credited by fans to Jimmy Page, who worked on the album. (The Hollywood session notes do not indicate Jimmy Page or John Paul Jones were present.) The organist is unidentified.

It has a spooky feeling to it. The repetition works nicely and that small riff is driven into your head. I rediscovered the song in 2012 when it was in the animated movie “Paranorman.” The song was written by Donovan and Shawn Phillips.

The song was written in an evening at folk music notable Bert Jansch’s house in north London. John Renbourn showed Donovan a D ninth chord. From that, Donovan built up a riff that, according to the memories of those present, he then played solidly for the next seven hours.

During Led Zeppelin’s soundchecks, they often warmed up by playing this. The song allows for lots of jamming when played live, which makes it a popular cover for many bands.

Donovan: I played a white Fender Telecaster Electric Guitar on “Witch,” chunking down on the chord pattern, wailing a chilling chorus. A major seventh with an open G, to D 9th with a G-flat bass (Bert Jansch chord). The riff is pure feel.

Donovan: “I remember the bass line going down and Mickie saying, ‘We’ve got a problem. The engineers are saying that they can’t turn the bass up.’ I said, Why? They said, ‘Well, it’s going into the red.’ And so he said to the engineers, ‘Look, you go into the red, I’m giving you permission. Go in the red! That’s the bass sound I want. Very, very loud.’ And they said, ‘Well, we’ll have to have a meeting.’ So they went upstairs and had a meeting about whether the bass should go into the red. And they came down, they said, ‘No, I’m sorry, the equipment can’t stand it.’ So Mickie Most said, ‘Look, I’ve just made a record deal with your boss Clive Davis for $5 million and seven bands. And he’s given me $1m right now. So do you think if I phone him up, you’d give me a little bit more bass?’ And they looked at each other, and immediately realized that their jobs were on the line. They said, ‘OK, you’ve got more bass.’ We got more bass the needle went into the red, the equipment didn’t blow up. I guess next time they made that needle, they did that thing by just moving the red bit a bit farther to the right, like in Spinal Tap: ‘My amp goes up to 11!'”

Season of the Witch

When I look out my window,
Many sights to see.
And when I look in my window,
So many different people to be
That it’s strange, so strange.

You’ve got to pick up every stitch,
You’ve got to pick up every stitch,
You’ve got to pick up every stitch,
Mmm, must be the season of the witch,
Must be the season of the witch, yeah,
Must be the season of the witch.

When I look over my shoulder,
What do you think I see?
Some other cat looking over
His shoulder at me
And he’s strange, sure he’s strange.

You’ve got to pick up every stitch,
You’ve got to pick up every stitch,
Beatniks are out to make it rich,
Oh no, must be the season of the witch,
Must be the season of the witch, yeah,
Must be the season of the witch.

You’ve got to pick up every stitch,
The rabbits running in the ditch,
Beatniks are out to make it rich,
Oh no, must be the season of the witch,
Must be the season of the witch,
Must be the season of the witch.

When I look out my window,
What do you think I see?
And when I look in my window,
So many different people to be
It’s strange, sure is strange.
You’ve got to pick up every stitch,
You’ve got to pick up every stitch,
The rabbits running in the ditch,
Oh no, must be the season of the witch,
Must be the season of the witch, yeah,
Must be the season of the witch.
When I look, when I look.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

76 thoughts on “Donovan – Season of the Witch”

  3. great song, I have always loved this. “You’ve got to pick up every stitch” implies that when you practice witchcraft you should not to leave anything personal behind such as clothing, hair, fingernails, blood, or otherwise someone else may get hold of it and cast a spell on you.

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  4. One of the few songs by him I know. It struck me how different it sounded from ‘Mellow Yellow’ , so perhaps he has more range than I would have guessed… I should check out a a bit more of his work. I remember Davis raving about him in his autobiography, but man, that was a lot of money back in those days! I’d guess Columbia lost some cash on that deal.

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    1. I like Atlantis also…but this one has more of a rock feeling than some of his. You play that riff and you could play for hours…

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  6. Man, I’m surprised The Cult hasn’t nixed that title Season of the Witch as that sounds like it would be up Astbury’s aisle as they do have a tune called The Witch.
    Great writeup Max

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  7. Have not heard this song in 30 years or so but it all came back, it’s a great tune. Quite the pedigree with Jimmy Page, JPJ and as you said hanging at “Bert Jansch’s house in north London. “ plus John Renbourn . Like a who’s who of the greatest guitarists of that time. Very cool story Max.

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  8. A very un-Donavon tune that lit up the radio back then. The guitar work is top-notch, and now the story on the bass line…great stuff, Max. The band I was in learned the tune and often played it live. The recording was different back then, and everything was tape and analog, so you had only a few tracks to work with, and the equipment could go down. When my band recorded our first 45, we went through a similar situation about the bass and my guitar being too loud, but it worked out in the end. I had no idea Page was on the cut.

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    1. Phil…you guys had a single…I hope one day you will post it if you haven’t already. We recorded in the mid 80s on a 8 track and I had a 4 track cassette recorder for me at home.

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      1. I have it somewhere on my old laptop, so I will try and recover it for posting. In 66, the studio we used had a 4 track machine, by 68 when we recorded our second 45, they had an 8 track and everything worked better.

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      2. It’s hard bouncing all the tracks on a 4 track…8 track to us was like have unlimited after fooling around with the 4 track.
        I’m going to post a few of my demos as welll in a few weeks.

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  10. The “edge” thing works for me. He has a couple others that I like. But here’s the thing Max, I’ll post a cover below from an album I’ve been grooving to for a while. Might blow your mind. One of them there “covers” you are into. I think it’s a Donavon song.

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    1. Man…that is really good and while it was playing…I was thinking…that sounds like Iggy Pop singing…then I looked on the credits and it is!
      It’s really a cool cover they made their own. Love the video as well.

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      1. That’s funny. I knew you’d get a kick out of Iggy on vocals. I didnt mention it so it would get your brain working, It works big time for me. Donavan, Lonnie and Iggy. What a collaboration.

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      2. You got me on that one…I’m surprised that I knew it but it’s no mistaking that voice. Lonnie Smith…I’ve heard of him but I can’t place him…I’ll look some more up.

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      3. Smith is a jazz keyboard guy. Been around for ages. This cut is off a new album he dropped. I love the organ. Yeah it caught me off guard when Pop came in. Same reaction as you. Love cool surprises like that. Im looking at Donavan with a new pair of glasses.

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      4. You know the Allman Brothers used to jam on one of Donovan’s songs. A song called Mountain Jam.
        I’ve been listening to Smith…yep…he IS awesome.

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      6. I’m re-reading it now. I’m listening to that live take…dude I LOVE the rythm that Carlos’s band laid down. It’s so solid it sounds like something you can lay in.

        BTW I watched the first 20-30 minutes or so of Friends of Eddie Coyle…I love the atmosphere and I never saw Mitchum in anything like this before. I ran out of time…I’m finishing it this weekend. This is not a typical hollywood movie…you can tell they used locations with this one.

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  12. There are only 2 songs which I really dig from him: ‘Catch the Wind’ (the version in the Wonder Years episode) and ‘To Sing For You’ from Don’t Look Back. I have heard some of his other music, especially the ‘flower-power’ stuff on Sunshine Superman and it just didn’t do it for me. I’m sure there might be other material which I might like. Cheers Max.

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      2. I had to track it down because the part they play is in the middle of the song…it doesn’t sound like him as much but it is.

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      3. That’s it. The song is flower power stuff (declaration of sorts) in the first minutes, then it converts to a repeating chorus or mantra. That’s the part I like as seen in the movie. Well Scorsese knows his stuff. Haha

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      4. He does…I probably would never have found that song if not for that movie. I love it. The poem I could take or leave but I do like the chorus….. I’m reading the Wiseguy book now that the movie was based on.

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      5. I’ve seen interviews with the guy who wrote the book and the film was based on. I hope you enjoy reading it. The movie seems a fairly accurate depiction. Yeh, the repeated in that song chorus is excellent.

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      6. It is really good…and yes it is pretty accurate. Henry Hill…he wasn’t as big time as the movie has him but he was there.

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      8. I would say so Matt….but there are a lot I like by him. Taxi Driver, Casino, Mean Streets, The Last Waltz… just so many.
        I wish he would do more documentaries…the one he did on George Harrison is excellent!

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      9. I didn’t know he did one on George. Why haven’t I heard about that one??!! His doco ‘No Direction Home’ is pretty remarkable as well. Regarding his movies, I think it’s hard to weigh up. The one I have rewatched more than any other is Casino. I never grow tired of seeing it. Then you The Departed and Raging Bull as well. We saw Taxi Driver as a family about a month ago. Robert Deniro doesn’t feel like he’s acting in it. He is that person.

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      10. Matt…it’s really good. It goes through the good and bad about him. The bad would be his womanizing lol….oh yes! I forgot about No Direction Home. He made the George doc around the same time…maybe a little after.
        Raging Bull is another…DeNiro is great.

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      11. The womanizing is in relation to the George Doco, yeh? I never knew about that as well. I would love to see it one day. Yeh DeNiro on his game with the right director and material could do it better than anyone.

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      12. His wife was talking about it…”we had some hiccups” in our marriage lol. He probably was the most active Beatle in that way.

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      14. Oh there are stories everywhere about him. He loved women. Great guy though. If I could have met with any of them…1st would have been John…George would be second.
        Him and Olivia really connected…more than he did with Pattie

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      15. I never knew that. I’m not going there with Olivia or Pattie since I don’t know who they are. Anyhows Noone’s perfect. You reached a higher stratosphere in the personal realm of George and I’ll leave it at that. Have a good one Max.

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  14. Best version of “Season of the Witch,” to me, is the one Al Kooper and Stephen Stills did on the Supersession album. Something about the wah-wah pedal Stills used…

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  15. He had a nice little hippyish niche for a few years. I still like ‘Catch The Wind’ (though it’s so faux Dylan) ‘Colours’ and ‘To Suzie On TheWest Coast Waiting.’ Bit of trivia; I recall from some live Donovan album I heard long ago, George Harrison wrote a few lines for ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’when they were all in the Maharishi’s thrall but they weren’t used on Donovan’s record.
    Not many would not have used ANY Beatles connection to sell more records, but I guess it was Don’s song. Last album of his I listened to was ‘Cosmic Wheels’ and that is one flakily patchy album IMO.

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    1. I watched Don’t Look Back and he was singing Catch The Wind…this is before I knew anything about his folk side.
      I love trivia…that is the one thing I’m good at lol.
      He also taught John and Paul and new way of picking a guitar…I forgot the style but John listened…thats how he wrote Dear Prudence….

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      1. I saw ‘Don’t Look Back’ a year or so ago and was surprised at how appreciative Dylan was of this upstart English kid. Dylan could be pretty surly when it came to passing out compliments.

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  17. Cool tune! What I still find fascinating is that “Season of the Witch” is by far the most streamed Donovan song on Spotify with 60.72 million streams. By comparison, “Sunshine Superman”, which I thought was the most popular Donovan song, “only” has 46.69 million, less than “Catch the Wind” (48.71 million) and “Hurdy Gurdy Man” (55.21 million). “Atlantis”, one of my favorite Donavon tunes, “has accumulated a “measly” 15.71 million streams.

    To be clear, I dig all of the aforementioned songs. I’m just surprised by these streaming numbers.

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    1. See…it’s my favorite Donovan song! One of the reasons for that is the groove and because his big hippy songs have been played to death. BUT…I still like them believe me.
      He has quite a catalog

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      1. I think of him as a late 60s-early 70s singer/songwriter. He played a Gibson 12 string, probably open tunings from the sound – but what do I know? I’m not a guitarist. Maybe more jazzy than the average rock-influenced folkie.

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