YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 139 (Witchcraft & Wizardry)
(Originally finalized on May 15, 2025)
Preface: I don't know about you, but I enjoyed our little diversion into the nineties last week. I wouldn't want to make it a permanent fixture, but it was a nice change of pace. However, this week, we're back to business as usual - '60s and '70s rock. And Hogwarts alumni should rejoice, because the theme is... witchcraft & wizardry!
Monday: The Eagles - Witchy Woman [The Eagles, 1972]
Comments: An early hit from The Eagles' debut album; since I left this song off of my Shocktober theme (opting instead for Kooper & Stills' cover of Donovan's Season of the Witch), that means it's available for this one! "Raven hair and ruby lips; sparks fly from her fingertips."
Tuesday: Black Sabbath - The Wizard [Black Sabbath, 1970]
Comments: One of the few tracks on Sabbath's jam-heavy debut album that doesn't require a scalpel to stand on its own - and one of the heavier songs in rock history that features a prominent harmonica part - The Wizard (a tribute to Gandalf) joins the esteemed fellowship of songs inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, along with Led Zeppelin's The Battle of Evermore and Rush's Rivendell. "Casting his shadow, weaving his spell. Long grey cloak, tinkling bell."
Wednesday: Styx - Crystal Ball [Crystal Ball, 1976]
Comments: Preceding The Grand Illusion, Styx's sixth album featured the debut of guitarist Tommy Shaw, who wrote and sings this title track - in my opinion, one of the band's greatest songs from their "pre-mainstream" years. A popular magical device in fantasy stories, who among us wouldn't like a chance to gaze into the fortune teller's crystal ball, to see what the future has in store? "I wonder what tomorrow has in mind for me. Or am I even in its mind at all?"
Thursday: The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Spanish Castle Magic [Axis: Bold As Love, 1967]
Comments: The very definition of a "shooting star", Jimi Hendrix released only three albums with The Experience before moving on, and ultimately succumbing to an untimely, drug-related death. The first and third contain most of his well-known radio hits, but tucked away on the second is this short number - pound for pound, one of the hardest rockers in Jimi's catalogue. "The clouds are really low, and they overflow with cotton candy."
Friday: Focus - Hocus Pocus [Moving Waves, 1971]
Comments: We were introduced to Dutch rockers Focus on this music log during my week dedicated to side-long songs. And now here's their breakout hit, the yodeling instrumental Hocus Pocus. As far as songs named after magical invocations go, I choose this one over The Steve Miller Band's Abracadabra, which edges just a little too far into '80s pop territory.
Saturday: Uriah Heep - The Spell [Demons And Wizards, 1972]
Comments: Uriah Heep is a band that leaned heavily into the fantasy aesthetic, from a time before hard rock and metal adopted Satanism as their favorite cliche. Keeping company with Black Sabbath, their 1972 album Demons And Wizards also features a song titled The Wizard. And the title track to their followup album from the same year, The Magician's Birthday (a good story song), is both well-regarded and on theme - but I actually prefer The Spell. "You will never break the spell. I'll summon all the fires of hell."
Sunday: Rush - The Necromancer [Caress of Steel, 1975]
Comments: No fantasy story is complete without a villain, and what's more intimidating than the evil sorcerer who dabbles in the forbidden art of necromancy - raising the dead (usually for malicious purposes)? I recently discovered this progressive rock epic from Rush's transitional album Caress of Steel - initially a critical flop, later re-evaluated by fans in light of the band's subsequent musical direction. "Even now the intensity of his dread power can be felt."
Honorable Mention: Stonefield - Put Your Curse On Me [Stonefield, 2013]
Comments: There were a few good songs I had to disqualify because they've already been picked for related themes (such as Voodoo Magick). One of those is I Put A Spell On You, a blues by Screamin' Jay Hawkins covered to great effect by CCR. Here's a similar song, recorded by the Australian band of sisters Stonefield, from their self-titled debut. The album cut rocks even harder, but as before, I could only find this live acoustic version on YouTube, featuring only half of the band (singer Amy and guitarist Hannah). "Put your curse on me, baby - and set me free."