Supernatural

Yeah, we were pretty humble.

But as time went on, and of course especially after Supernatural, which happened in-

Yeah

... 2000, lifestyles changed.

Yeah, baby.

That, that is Santana featuring M- Mr. Matchbox Twenty, Rob Thomas, and, uh, that's the Supernatural album.

That was the first number one single in, in the millennia.

Yeah.

I could kind of p- I knew it was a Santana song, but, um-

And that was way before Supernatural.

So you heard, like, a cool-

Oh, yeah

Then in 1999, the song Smooth exploded on the radio, which I loved.

It featured Rob Thomas, and it was part of Santana's album Supernatural, where Santana collaborated with artists like Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, and CeeLo Green, and the album immediately became a massive global success.

What stunned me was his interview published in Rolling Stone magazine in March of 2000, and the title was The Epic Life of Carlos Santana, A Tale of Angels, Devils, Gurus, Tijuana Whorehouses & Buried Secrets, and Redemption After 30 Years of Rock & Roll by Chris Heath.

What got my attention was that early in the conversation, he casually mentioned that he had been in regular contact with the Archangel Metatron for six years.

Santana said he first started interacting with Metatron in the early 1990s at a spiritual bookstore in Santa Cruz.

Some people invited him to meditate with them, and during one of the sessions, Metatron delivered a message: "You will be inside the radio frequency for the purpose of connecting the molecules with the light." Santana understood this as guidance that he would return to the radio with new music, and he did.

The album Supernatural reached number one in 11 countries, sold around thirty million copies, and won nine Grammys, including Album of the Year.

Then the story took a more amazing turn.

He later said that between ages 10 and 12, an American tourist abused him almost every day, gaining his trust with toys and gifts.

By 10, Carlos was also playing violin in his father's band.

So it was violin, the mariachi violin, that he first learned.

And by the time the family ups and moves to Tijuana, with as many Mexicans, it's the first step going el norte, heading north to lands of greater opportunity.

And then all these new sounds coming from Chicago, like Otis Rush.

I have a store for you Where I love you, baby I know you love me too

Like Hubert Sumlin playing with Howlin' Wolf, sounds he's picking up on to the point that he really becomes a kind of scientist of the sound, the tonal quality that different musicians, especially guitarists, are able to get.

And so it'd be kind of like, how do I recreate the Otis Rush sound, that stinging, tenor-heavy approach to the guitar? And which amp is he using? And is there anything in between? Kind of figure it out himself.

And that's significant, because Santana's next major transformation wouldn't come until much later.

In fact, winning was one of Santana's last major top 40 hits before the enormous comeback of 1999's Supernatural.

Now there's another reason I think this song is more interesting than it initially appears.

Listen to the message.

They've got their Steely Dan T-shirts.

There's a couple like that, actually, because one I didn't mention, which I kind of thought about, was the... one of the Santana tracks off Supernatural.

Yeah.

Maria,

He released one of the biggest selling albums of all time.

And that album was Supernatural.

And the story behind it is almost as remarkable as the album itself.

To understand how surprising Supernatural was, you have to remember where Carlos Santana's career stood during the early to mid-90s.

Santana was already a legend.

The band's appearance at Woodstock in 1969 had introduced millions of people to this incredible mixture of rock, blues, Latin, percussion, and improvisation.

But the other part would pair Carlos with contemporary artists, writers and producers who had grown up listening to him.

Santana later remembered Davis telling him that he needed to take the energy he had on stage and focus it into songs that worked on the radio.

I still have Purity and innocence, that can never be taken away from me.

And so when I say that, I remember I said it after Supernatural, I gave an interview on Rolling Stone magazine.

And a lot of people were like, oh my God, why did you say that? That's so uncomfortable for you to reveal that.

It's embarrassing.

But when you did approach Rob Thomas, was it because of his attitude that you decided to collaborate on Smooth?

Yes, the song was sent to me.

It was the last song that we recorded for Supernatural.

You know, it was the last song.