Black Magic Woman

When You Do That Voodoo

Black Magic Woman by Santana

Recommended by Kim C.

"This one is for my dad who loves Santana. Also have you ever attempted this on the hard Guitar Hero level? Not easy my friend. Not easy."

Honestly, I have never attempted anything on the "hard level." I'm just out to have a good time.

This song, originally released as a 1968 Fleetwood Mac single, was written by Peter Green. He's an amazing guitarist - 38th on Rolling Stones' Top 100 and 3rd according to Mojo - and it shows in the instrumentation, with the bluesy riffs between the vocals (x).

The track took off to become a classical hit two years later, only after Santana covered it (x).

A mix of jazz, Hungarian folk, and Latin rhythms, the Santana arrangement has more character. It was created out of a "hippie ethos" and the "recreational activities of that time and place" (x/x). A bunch of musicians sharing a communal living space in San Francisco in the mid 1960s. You know.

More specifically, this version differs from the original in its addition of Caribbean percussion instruments, altered chord progressions, and complex polyrhythms. The mood-setting introduction is almost a minute and a half of conga drums, timbales, and simple guitar and bass riffs (x).

Another quirk: Santana's Black Magic Woman is typically (as in the recording above) played as a mashup with Gypsy Queen by Gábor Szabó. The Hungarian jazz musician is said to have been a major influence on Carlos Santana's guitar playing (x).

Overview:

Genre:
Psychadelic Rock

Favorite Lyrics:
Got me so blind I can't see
that she's a black magic woman.

Verdict:
It puts a spell on you.