The Story of Coven

One of the most played bands on Arcana Obscura would have to be Coven. Helmed by the mysterious blonde siren Jinx Dawson, Coven released their first album in 1969 entitled Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls, which sounded much like one would imagine a satanic version of Jefferson Airplane.
The album contains a full length "satanic mass" and some gems such as "White Witch of Rose Hall" and "Dignitaries of Hell," which accurately details many of the prominent demons of the infernal regions and their respective ranks and habits (as referenced in Colin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal).

Though not incredibly popular, Coven was encircled with controversy. When they performed in their hometown of Chicago, police had a mandate forbidding the band to speak in between songs, for fear that they would invoke their dark master, I suppose. All of this came to a head when the Manson murders cast aspersions onto the occult subculture and Coven was released from their recording contract.

Coven re-emerged in 1972 with a self-titled album consisting of a very different sound. Reflective of the general evolution of rock in the 70s, Coven had moved towards a more emotional, riff-heavy sound akin to a fusion of Carly Simon and Heart. This album had a song entitled "One Tin Soldier" which was their biggest hit. In 1974, Coven reached the pinnacle of their achievements with Blood on the Snow, one of my all-time favorite albums. The best two tracks on the album are "Lady O" and "Blue Blue Ships."

It is important to remember that Coven is almost definitely the first band to throw up the horns onstage, starting in 1969. Though Gene Simmons and Ronnie James Dio both try to stake that claim, the photos do not lie:

And whatever happened to Coven, you ask? Well, Jinx is still around and looking incredibly hot:

What kind of dark deal did she make Lucifuge Rofocale to retain her youth so? We may never know. But you can visit her personal MySpace page as well as the Coven MySpace page. You can also buy Coven albums and merch via their CafePress store.

You can download this MP3 of "Lady O" to see what I'm talking about. If you like it, buy their albums!