Black Magic Woman

You're listening to a musical presentation from Tom Podcast on Mixcloud, the music from my youth.

Uh, we're gonna kick it off with this, uh, next section with Black Magic Woman by Santana, American Woman by The Guess Who, Run Through the Jungle by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Mama Told Me by Three Dog Night.

Bam, baby.

[gentle upbeat music] Got a black magic woman.

Got a black magic woman.

I've got a black magic woman.

Got me so blind I can't see.

That she's a black magic woman.

Santana.

I've got a black magic woman I've got a black

magic woman Well, I've got a black magic woman Got me so blind

I can't see I've got a black magic woman Trying to make the devil out of me Turn your back on me, baby

Turn your back on me, baby Don't turn your back on me, baby Stop messing around with your tricks Don't turn your back on me, baby

Just might pull out my magic sticks

Santana, of course.

Written by Peter Green from Fleetwood Mac, but made famous by Santana.

The next two albums established Santana as a major force.

Abraxas in 1970, perhaps the definitive early Santana album, that contained Samba Pati, Oye Como Va, and Black Magic Woman.

Santana, sometimes referred to as Santana III in 1971, was another major success with the original band at its most virtuosic.

These records established something important about Carlos Santana's identity as a guitarist.

No, no, no.

I don't remember any other celebrity appearances on the tour.

But and if you were lucky at the at the encore, you'd get like Black Magic Woman or Oye or something else, you know, that was all you're going to get.

Um, but I, I think it was from that record.

Part two.

Is this the kind of thing Carlos Santana had in mind when he wrote Black Magic Woman? August 28th, 2003.

One day in Erie, Pennsylvania, police responded to a very strange scene.

A man handcuffed behind his back and sitting cross-legged on a shopping center parking lot.

More importantly, the documentary created a huge audience waiting for what came next.

And months later, in September 1970, Santana released Abraxas, featuring the hits Black Magic Woman...

And hoyo como va.

The album raced to number one.

So the concert introduced Santana, but the movie made them stars.

And the album Abraxas in 1970 proved they were built to last.

Black Magic Woman, of course, being the Peter Green tune that Carlos put on that album.

And actually, did he not give royalties to what he felt was the original inspiration?

The band's early 1970s records had fused rock, blues, jazz, and Latin percussion in a way that nobody else quite sounded like.

Songs like Evil Ways, Black Magic Woman, Oy Como Va, and Everybody's Everything had made Santana a superstar.

But music was changing.

The 1970s were ending.

And right in the middle of that album was Russ Bowers' winning.

What Santana did with the song was fascinating.

They didn't try to turn it into another black magic woman.

They didn't turn it into a 10-minute guitar jam.