Time of the Season (4:43)

“Time of the Season” is a song by 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 Rep, Al Kooper. One of the singles Kooper pushed for was the quite uncommercial sounding “Butcher’s Tale”, which he and 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, after previous singles flopped, and made its breakthrough in early 1969, over a year after the band split up, reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 in Canada. It did not chart in the band’s native Britain.

The song’s characteristics include the unique voice of lead singer Colin Blunstone, the memorable 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 fifty seconds into the track). Both stereo and monaural original releases contain vocal responses.