- Writer: Peter Green
- Producer: Fred Catero and Carlos Santana
- Recorded: Spring and summer 1970 in San Francisco
- Released: October 1970
- Players:
Carlos Santana — guitar
Gregg Rolie — vocals, keyboards
Michael Shrieve — drums
David Brown — bass
Jose “Chepito” Areas — timbales
Michael Carabello — congas - Album: Abraxas (Columbia, 1970)
- Also On:
Santana’s Greatest Hits (Columbia, 1974)
Lotus (Columbia, 1974/1992)
Moonflower (Columbia, 1977)
Viva Santana (Columbia, 1988)
Sacred Fire — Live In South America (Polydor, 1993)
Dance Of The Rainbow Serpent (Columbia Legacy, 1995) - Carlos Santana, a native of Autlan De Navarro, Mexico, who emigrated with his family to the San Francisco Bay area, formed the Santana Blues Band in 1966.
- The group debuted June 16th, 1968, at the Fillmore West in San Francisco.
- Santana made his recording debut on The Live Adventures Of Mike Bloomfield And Al Kooper.
- Thanks to manager Bill Graham‘s connections, Santana appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and at Woodstock before their debut album was released in 1969.
- “Black Magic Woman” was originally recorded by Fleetwood Mac, and was written by their first frontman Peter Green.
- Santana recalled that the idea to record “Black Magic Woman” first came from singer-keyboardist Gregg Rolie at a soundcheck in Fresno, California: “We immediately fell into it… If you really take out the components of ‘Black Magic Woman,’ there are elements of ‘Who’s Been Talking’ by Howling Wolf and also ‘All Of Your Loving’ by Otis Rush.”
- On record and in concert, Santana paired “Black Magic Woman” with Gabor Gzabo‘s “Gypsy Queen.”
- Abraxas, Santana’s second album, was Number One on the Billboard 200 for six weeks and has sold more than four million copies.
- Abraxas also hit Number Seven in the U.K.
- Second guitarist Neal Schon joined Santana shortly after Abraxas was released.
FAST FORWARD:
- Santana has continued to lead many editions of his band over the years.
- Santana was among a handful of bands to perform at both the original Woodstock in 1969 and the second Woodstock festival in 1994.
- Santana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
- The members of the original Santana band quietly slipped away in the ensuing years. Bassist David Brown left in 1971, though he returned from 1974 to 1976; Schon and Rolie left in late 1971 to form the band Journey; drummer Michael Shrieve stayed until 1974; conga player Michael Carabello left in 1971; and timbales player Jose “Chepito” Areas stayed until 1977.
- Rolie and Shrieve later put together a band called Abraxas, which was named after Santana’s second album.
- The original group staged a reunion tour in 1988. They also reunited onstage for one benefit show in January 2007 in San Francisco.
- Santana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
