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Time of the Season

"Time of the Season"
Time of the Season cover.jpg
Single by The Zombies
from the album Odessey and Oracle
B-side "I'll Call You Mine" (UK)
Friends of Mine (US)
Released March 1968 (1968-03)
Format 7-inch single
Recorded
Length 3:34
Label CBS
Writer(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)

"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 keyboard player Rod Argent and recorded at Abbey Road Studios in August 1967.

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 non-commercial-sounding "Butcher's Tale", which Columbia thought might catch on as an anti-war statement, at the time a popular trend. "Time of the Season" was only released at Kooper's urging, initially coupled with its original UK B-side, "I'll Call You Mine", without success. After previous singles flopped, Date rereleased "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 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March, topped the Cashbox chart, and reached number 1 in Canada. It did not chart in the band's native Britain, but Rob Argent has said that it later became "a classic in the UK, but it's never been a hit." In mid-1969, it peaked at number 2 on the South African hit parade.

The song's characteristics include the voice of lead singer Colin Blunstone, the bass riff (which is similar to Ben E. King's hit "Stand By Me"), and Rod Argent's fast-paced psychedelic improvisation. The lyrics are an archetypical depiction of the emotions surrounding the Summer of Love. It is famous for such call-and-response verses as "What's your name? (What's your name?) / Who's your daddy? (Who's your daddy?) / He rich? (Is he rich like me?)" approximately 50 seconds into the track. Both stereo and mono original releases contain vocal responses.


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