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) |
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.