"Season of the Witch" was recorded at the CBS studios in Hollywood, California, where most of Sunshine Superman was recorded. According to Donovan, he and Phillips wanted a "rock-combo sound" for the song and chose some local musicians from the local clubs. They included Lenny Maitlin on keyboards, Don Brown on lead electric guitar, Bobby Ray on bass and "Fast" Eddie Hoh on drums. Donovan played the second guitar part, as he explained in his autobiography: Donovan does not mention the involvement of Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. At the time, the two future Led Zeppelin members were popular London session musicians and played on other Donovan sessions, including in 1968 for "Hurdy Gurdy Man". However, their exact contributions, if any, to "Season of the Witch" are unknown.
Critical reception
In a song review for AllMusic, Lindsay Planer commented: "Few songs so perfectly reflect the dawn of the psychedelic pop era as aptly as Donovan's 'Season of the Witch'... Both lyrically as well as musically, the languid and trippy contents project a dark foreboding atmosphere a sort of sinister tale of paranoia and the paranormal". John Bush called the song "easily the highlights of the album... a chugging eve-of-destruction tale".
On August 9, 2019, American singer Lana Del Rey released a cover of the song for the film, Scary Stories to Tellin the Dark, which plays during the film's end credits.
Background
On August 5, CBS Films and Entertainment One announced that the Guillermo del Toro film Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark would featured a cover of "Seasons of the Witch" by Lana Del Rey. The song was featured in the first official trailer for the film. The following day, August 6, Del Rey presented del Toro with his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and teased the song on her social media. Del Rey's version of the song was released for digital download and streaming on August 9, the same day at the film's premiere and the same day she released the political single, "Looking for America". While talking about his choice to have Del Rey sing the theme for the film, del Toro stated "I have admired Lana’s music for a while now and felt in my gut that she would run with 'Season of the Witch'that she would use her alchemy to transform it. She is a great artist and has been an amazing partner with us in this adventure. It is an honor for me to have met her.”
Reception
Mirko Parlevliet of Vital Thrills praised the pairing of Del Rey's sound and the film's vintage aesthetic. Savannah Sicurella of Paste stated "Del Rey managed to capture the prickly, macabre feeling of the popular Alvin Schwartz stories on which the film was based."
