"The Witch Queen of New Orleans" is about a 19th-century practitioner of voodoo from New Orleans named Marie Laveau,[5][6] referred to in the song lyrics as "Marie la Voodoo veau".

It debuted in the Billboard Hot 100 chart in November 1971 in the US where it reach a peak of No.

2 in the UK single chart in October 1971 behind Rod Stewart's "Maggie May".

Australian group Chantoozies released a version of the song in 1987 as their debut single, retitled "Witch Queen".

The song peaked at number 4 on the Australian Kent Music Report.