<p id=”par-1_47″>Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” doesn’t sound too much like any of <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/the-beatles/”>The Beatles</a>‘ albums. However, the <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/1-donovan-song-paved-way-george-harrisons-my-sweet-lord.html/”>“Wear Your Love Like Heaven” singer </a>said that one of the Fab Four’s albums drew from the musical ideas in “Season of the Witch.” He may have had a point.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-why-donovan-said-season-of-the-witch-inspired-the-beatles-sgt-pepper”>Why Donovan said ‘Season of the Witch’ inspired The Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’</h2>
<p id=”par-2_57″>Donovan had a string of hits in the mid-to-late 1960s, including “Sunshine Superman,” “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” “Atlantis,” “Mellow Yellow,” <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-beatles-michelle-inspired-donovans-jennifer-juniper.html/”>and “Jennifer Juniper.”</a> However, he might be most known for his album track “Season of the Witch” today. While it wasn’t a hit at the time, it’s become a standard, inspiring a <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/heres-lana-del-reys-best-cover-songs.html/”>spooky cover by Lana Del Rey</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-3_75″>During a 2021 interview with <a href=”https://www.grammy.com/news/2021-donovan-david-lynch-i-am-the-shaman-tales-of-aluna-interview” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Grammy.com</a>, Donovan said “Season of the Witch” was important because of the way it fused different genres. “Well, most of the bands up until ’66 were quite formatted,” he said. “Four guys, same suits, of course, long hair. Blues had arrived and was tearing things apart a bit, but nobody was thinking to fuse all forms of classical, Indian, folk music, poetry, jazz, and rock — ‘Season of the Witch.’”</p>
<p id=”par-4_79″>In Donovan’s opinion, “Season of the Witch” and its parent album, <em>Sunshine Superman</em>, inspired The Beatles’ <em><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/best-song-the-beatles-sgt-pepper.html/”>Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band</a></em>. Like Donovan’s music, <em>Sgt. Pepper</em> fused elements of classical music, Indian music, poetic lyrics, and rock ‘n’ roll. Notably, <em>Sunshine Superman</em> features a sitar, which George Harrison incorporated <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/john-lennon-this-beatles-song-beats-george-harrisons-my-sweet-lord.html/”>into “Within You Without You”</a> from <em>Sgt. Pepper</em>. Together, Donovan and The Beatles created a subgenre called raga rock, which drew from both Indian classical music and Western rock.</p>
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<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-donovan-said-the-song-was-meant-to-push-boundaries”>Donovan said the song was meant to push boundaries</h2>
<p id=”par-5_52″>Donovan said his decision to combine genres happened naturally. “I didn’t plan it,” he said. “I didn’t sit down and say, ‘I’m going to do this.’ It just happened, and my sense of avant-garde — if you look at what the avant-garde is described as on Wiki — it is pushing boundaries. </p>
<p id=”par-6_44″>“At first, [it was] quite unacceptable,” he added. “But of course, I had ‘Sunshine Superman.’ That was the song that [producer] Mickie [Most] knew would go whizzing up the charts, and it did. Opening doors with that album was a great pleasure to me.”</p>
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<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
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<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/paul-mccartney-said-song-the-beatles-white-album-1-best-melodies.html/”>
Paul McCartney Said a Song From The Beatles’ ‘White Album’ Has 1 of His Best Melodies </a>
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<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-season-of-the-witch-mattered-to-artists-besides-the-beatles”>‘Season of the Witch’ mattered to artists besides The Beatles</h2>
<p id=”par-7_87″>“Season of the Witch” did not chart on the <a href=”https://www.billboard.com/artist/donovan/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Billboard Hot 100</a>. The tune’s parent album, <em>Sunshine Superman</em>, was a decent hit nonetheless. It reached No. 11 on the Billboard 200, lasting on the chart for 29 weeks. Meanwhile, the title track became Donovan’s only chart-topper in the United States. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week, lasting on the chart for 13 weeks. The tune recently garnered more attention for appearing in Netflix’s <em>Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Stor</em>y.</p>
<p id=”par-8_70″><em>Sunshine Superman</em> remains an acclaimed album. In 2017, <a href=”https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-albums-of-the-1960s/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Pitchfork</a> ranked <em>Sunshine Superman</em> as the 199th best album of the 1960s. The publication noted the album’s <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/david-bowie-copied-part-ziggy-stardust-song-the-beatles-sgt-pepper.html/”>influence on David Bowie</a>, Marc Bolan from T. Rex, and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. Notably, Bowie and Led Zeppelin worked mysticism into rock, just as Donovan had done. The singer might have given the Fab Four a few ideas as well.</p>