It would be a massive understatement to suggest that Carlos Santana is a well-known figure in the music industry. Since his appearance at Woodstock in 1969, Santana has toured the globe, bringing together individuals and musical genres from all over the world. Carlos Santana, who is a current inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and who is ranked No. 15 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, is well-known for his distinctive guitar tone as well as his bluesy, afro-slash-rock mashups. It’s been asserted that Santana can be recognized from the very first note he plays.
We Look Behind The Inspirations Of These 11 Great Santana Songs:
MARIA MARIA (1999)
Santana recalled to Giselle Fernandez (via YouTube) the evening Wyclef Jean started penning the lyrics to the song. In the conversation, he claimed that the lyricist approached him head-on and started singing the tune and composing lyrics. “My face was like a chart,” says Santana, “with music and with lyrics.” The song “Maria Maria” alludes to Maria’s tribulations in the famous musical “West Side Story” both lyrically and literally.
OYE COMO VA (1970)
Santana discussed the musicians who influence his music in a discussion with PRS Guitars. Santana claimed in the discussion that he had managed to learn from legends such as Tito Puente, B.B. King, and others who “all look at [Santana] with eyes of encouragement” and advised him to “‘walk like a giant. You’re one of us.'” He sees himself as a delegate of these musicians, saying, “I am what I love.” There is nothing comparable to motivating as hearing that you blend perfectly in from your musical heroes. Given that Santana has been informed he is a successor of the great musicians he idolizes, it becomes sense that he felt compelled to include some of himself into Fuente’s “Oye Como Va.”
JINGO (1969)
Santana discussed his connections to many genres of African music and the influence he draws from them in a 2019 interview with NPR. African rhythms and melodies, they have a nutrient and ingredient that supplies vast amounts of hope and courage, which equals joy,” he said. He claimed that all of his preferred musical genres, such as those he listens in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other islands, originate in Africa. In the same conversation, Santana expressed the wish that these African sounds “would be the mystical medicine music for a twisted, crooked world.”
EVERYBODY’S EVERYTHING (1971)
Carlos Santana is a craftsman of sound, and he specializes with rhythm. It seems sense therefore that a tune on his third album, “Santana III,” has a history that is heavily influenced by the strength of both. According to Songfacts, Santana was so moved by Tower of Power’s horn part that he felt compelled to make a piece and incorporate the same horns into it. “Everybody’s Everything” was created as a result.
JOY (2021)
Carlos Santana’s 2021 album, “Blessings and Miracles,” contains the song “Joy,” it is a word which is so important to him that it probably inspired the album’s name. During a 1992 interview with Whoopi Goldberg, Santana said, “Music is what reminds us of compassion…. When you hear good music, it pulls you away [from life], and when you pull away, that’s only when you can have compassion.” This kind of spiritualism permeates all of Santana’s music.
DO YOU REMEMBER ME (2019)
According to Santana.com, Santana claims that his first encounter with the “Mona Lisa,” a renowned artwork by Leonardo da Vinci, served as the basis for the tune and the entire album. Months later, he claims that the artwork appeared in his nightmares because it had followed him. One night, Santana awakened from a dream with the words of “Do You Remember Me” distinct in his memory.
SMOOTH (1999)
Carlos Santana’s 1999 album “Supernatural” was widely regarded as the musician’s rebirth because it perhaps garnered the greatest interest since his Woodstock appearance in 1969. (via Esquire). Rob Thomas and Itaal Shur worked together with Santana to compose the tune “Smooth.” The lover who confounds and intrigues the musician is the subject of the song.
SAMBA PA TI (1970)
Santana made an effort to clarify what specifically prompted him to create “Samba Pa Ti” in a conversation with Mojo Magazine (via In reality, the song “Black Magic Woman,” which Carlos Santana featured on his 1970 album “Abraxas,” was a version of the bluesy 1968 Fleetwood Mac song “I Loved Another Woman” penned by Peter Green (via Songfacts). Santana’s affinity for Fleetwood Mac is not widely known. According to Santana, he regularly went to Fleetwood Mac performances, according to John Tobler and Stuart Grundy’s “The Guitar Greats” book (reported by Far Out Magazine). He said he was amazed by them.). He claimed that he has difficulty verbally expressing his ideas and that this failure to do so frequently frustrates him. He sang from genuine emotion as he did the recording. The guitarist claimed that he felt, for the first time, that he was able express accurately what was on his thoughts and that it would be something that anyone could comprehend.
BLACK MAGIC WOMAN (1970)
In reality, the song “Black Magic Woman,” which Carlos Santana featured on his 1970 album “Abraxas,” was a version of the bluesy 1968 Fleetwood Mac song “I Loved Another Woman” penned by Peter Green (via Songfacts). Santana’s affinity for Fleetwood Mac is not widely known. According to Santana, he regularly went to Fleetwood Mac performances, according to John Tobler and Stuart Grundy’s “The Guitar Greats” book (reported by Far Out Magazine). He said he was amazed by them.
WHITER SHADE OF PALE (2021)
Winwood’s vocals had an impact on Santana, who wished to collaborate with him on a tune. Santana said during a conversation with Evan Toth, “I love him. Stevie Winwood is meant for all seasons,” and added in the same interview that a significant factor in his choice to collaborate with Winwood is his spirituality, a key component of the 2021 album “Blessings and Miracles.” Santana also stated in the same interview that he desired to provide a piece of music that had already been a classic and a little more sexiness.
LOS INVISIBLES (2019)
Los Invisibles, the opening track from Carlos Santana’s 2019 album “Africa Speaks,” features only Yoruba lyrics. Santana stated during an interview with Stereogum that he had wanted to produce a single in the tongue ever since he released “Jingo,” adding that Latin music, like Latin music in general, has its beginnings in the rhythm and beat of African percussion. To honor this mother of music, he had the concept for “Los Invisibles.” Santana claims that “Africa is saying to me, bring hope and courage to the listener and give them encouragement.”