Scary Season

Song 378: This week on the playlist is time for Season of the Witch by Donovan, written by Donovan and Shawn Phillips, and you can find a YouTube video of it here. With Halloween a little more than a week away, it seems like a good time to post this track. I must have had a friend who owned Sunshine Superman because I did know the record during my HS years, but I didn't hear it that often, so I didn't get to know it well until I started my own LP collection when I began my college era. Once I had the disc, it became a regular spinner on my turntable, and while I enjoyed side 1, I preferred side 2, starting as it did with this cut, followed by The Trip (Song 270). I quickly figured out how to play the tune, and would sometimes share it with fellow players in guitar circles at parties and campfire gatherings. Looking back, I can now see how this song and The Trip both influenced my composition Under the Table (and you can find a lyric video of that on YouTube by clicking on the title). During my time in Oakland, CA, my housemate Doug told me a story about how another musician claimed that Sunshine Superman's producer Mickie Most stole Season of the Witch from him and gave it to Donovan, but at this point, I don't remember any of the details, such as who that other songwriter might have been, or if there might have been any reason to believe the story, so while this track reminds us that we've got to pick up every stitch, I don't think I could say who that other cat looking over his shoulder at me might be.