Time of the Season

"Time of the Season" is a song by the British rock band the Zombies, featured on their 1968 album Odessey and Oracle. It was written by keyboardist Rod Argent and recorded at Abbey Road Studios (then known as EMI Studios) in September 1967. Over a year after its original release, the track became a surprise hit in the United States, rising to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Cashbox chart. It has become one of the Zombies' most popular and recognizable songs, and an iconic hit of 1960s psychedelia.

"Time of the Season"
Side A of 1968 UK single
Single by the Zombies
from the album Odessey and Oracle
B-side	"I'll Call You Mine" (UK) "Friends of Mine (US)[1][2]
Released	March 1968 (1968-03)
Recorded	14 September 1967
Studio	EMI, London
Genre	Blue-eyed soul[3] psychedelia[4]
Length	3:34 (album version) 2:56 (single edit)
Label	CBS
Songwriter(s)	Rod Argent
Producer(s)	The Zombies
The Zombies singles chronology
"Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)" (1968) "Time of the Season" (1968) "Imagine the Swan" (1969)
Lyric video
"The Zombies – 'Time Of The Season' (lyric video)" on YouTube

Song information

Several other songs from Odessey and Oracle were released as singles prior to "Time of the Season". Columbia Records supported the album and its singles at the urging of new A&R representative Al Kooper. One of the singles issued on Columbia's Date label was the noncommercial-sounding "Butcher's Tale", which Columbia thought might catch on as an antiwar statement, at the time a popular trend. "Time of the Season" was released only at Kooper's urging, initially coupled with its original UK B-side, "I'll Call You Mine", without success. After previous singles flopped, Date re-released "Time of the Season" backed with another UK flop single, "Friends of Mine", and it made its breakthrough in early 1969, over a year after the band split up. It reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in March,^[5] topped the Cashbox chart,^[6] and reached number one in Canada. It did not chart in the band's native Britain, despite being re-released twice, but it later found fame there with Rod Argent saying that it became "a classic in the UK, but it's never been a hit."^[7] In mid-1969, it peaked at number two on the South African hit parade.

The song makes extensive use of call-and-response vocals (from singer Colin Blunstone) interwoven with fast-paced psychedelic keyboard improvisation by Rod Argent.

In 1998, Big Beat Records released a CD reissue of Odessey and Oracle containing both the original stereo and monoaural versions of "Time of the Season". It also featured a newly remixed alternate version containing instrumental backing underneath the vocals during the entire chorus. These instrumental backings had been mixed out on the original 1968 stereo and mono versions to create a cappella vocal sections. The outro is also different, with a different organ solo featuring only one organ, instead of the two interleaved organs in the original mix.

Milwaukee's Third Coast Daily.com called the song "something of a counterculture anthem".^[8]

In 2012, NME named the track the 35th-best song of the 1960s.^[9] In 2021, it was ranked at No. 349 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".^[10]

Personnel

Partial credits from Richard Buskin and Rod Argent.^[11]

• Colin Blunstone – lead and backing vocals
• Rod Argent – Hammond L100 organ, backing vocals, sound effect
• Chris White – bass, backing vocals
• Paul Atkinson – guitar, backing vocals
• Hugh Grundy – drums, backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1969) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report) 43 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[12] 44 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[13] 1 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 12 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 14 South Africa (Springbok)[16] 2 US Billboard Hot 100[17] 3 US Cash Box Top 100[18] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1969) Rank Canada[19] 19 US Billboard Hot 100[20] 39 US Cash Box[21] 15

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[22]	Silver	200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[23]	Gold	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions and samples

The song has been covered many times by other bands in recordings, including:

• In 1969, Thyme covered "Time of the Season" for A-Square records.^[24]
• In 1981, Pino D'Angio included an Italian version of "Time of the Season" with different lyrics titled "Signorina" on his album ...Balla!
• Michael Damian covered the song as the title track of his 1994 LP.
• In 1997, Kurt Elling recorded a jazz version on the album The Messenger.
• Scott Weiland released a cover version on the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack, credited to a fictitious band called "Big Blue Missile" featuring Weiland.
• In 2003, Ben Taylor recorded the song for his album Famous Among the Barns, later featured in the horror film Prom Night (2008).
• In 2005, The Guess Who released a cover of the song in the compilation album Let's Go.
• Dave Matthews Band had the song on the CD-DVD Weekend on the Rocks (2005) and Live Trax Vol. 9 (2007).
• Also in 2007, it was recorded by Tommy Shaw (of Styx) and Jack Blades (of Night Ranger) for their album Influence.
• America remade "Time of the Season" for their 2012 release Back Pages, a cover album.
• In 2018, Hawaiian ukulele artist Jake Shimabukuro covered the song on his album, The Greatest Day.^[25]

It has been sampled many times, including in 2005 on the Necro album The Sexorcist in the opening track "Who's Ya Daddy?"; in 2009 by Melanie Fiona in her single "Give It to Me Right"; in 2011 on the ScHoolboy Q album Setbacks in the bonus track "Rolling Stone", which features the rap supergroup Black Hippy; in the outro on Miguel's "Don't Look Back" from the 2012 album Kaleidoscope Dream; Eminem's 2013 album The Marshall Mathers LP 2, in "Rhyme or Reason"; and on Insane Clown Posse’s 2019 album Fearless Fred Fury, in “Low”.

References

1. "The Zombies - Time Of The Season". Discogs. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
2. "The Zombies - Time Of The Season". Discogs. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
3. Bruce Eder. "Odessey and Oracle". Allmusic. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
4. Deming, Mark. The Zombies - R.I.P. (2000) Review at AllMusic. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
5. Whitburn, Joel (2011). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles. Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research Inc. p. 1,002. ISBN 978-0898201888.
6. Hoffmann, Frank (1983). The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950-1981. Metuchen, NJ & London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 661.
7. "Rod Argent of The Zombies : Songwriter Interviews". www.songfacts.com. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
8. "The Zombies return to Milwaukee, this time at the Pabst". Urban Milwaukee Dial. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
9. "100 Best Songs of the 1960s - #35 The Zombies - Time Of The Season". NME. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
10. "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
11. Buskin, Richard. "Classic Tracks: The Zombies 'Time of the Season'". SoundOnSound. Sound On Sound. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
12. "The Zombies – Time of the Season" (in French). Ultratop 50.
13. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 5923." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
14. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 13, 1969" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
15. "The Zombies – Time of the Season" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
16. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
17. "The Zombies Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
18. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, March 29, 1969". Archived from the original on November 17, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
19. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". 2012-10-20. Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
20. Musicoutfitters.com
21. "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 27, 1969". Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
22. "British single certifications – Zombies – Time of the Season". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
23. "American single certifications – Zombies – Time of the Season". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
24. "45 Discography for A-Square Records". Globaldogproductions.info. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
25. Graff, Gary (August 20, 2018). "Jake Shimabukuro Delivers Ukulele Version of Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of You': Premiere". Billboard. Retrieved September 16, 2018.

External links

• The Zombies - Time of the Season on YouTube