Santana – Black Magic Woman ….Under The Covers Tuesday

This song was not written by guitarist Carlos Santana but by the great guitarist for Fleetwood Mac. No not Lindsey Buckingham or Bob Welch…but the great blues guitarist Peter Green. I have to admit I like both versions about the same. Two legendary guitar players make this song come alive. I always thought Santana wrote it until a few years ago.

This song was Santana’s first single from their second album Abraxas. The album was released in 1970. It was a year after their acclaimed appearance at Woodstock. That performance launched Santana into national fame. When Carlos Santana played Woodstock, he had yet not released an album.  He was one of the most unknown artists.  Basically, his manager, Bill Graham, forced the band’s way onto the bill.  A couple of weeks later, riding the great press from his Woodstock performance, Santana released “Black Magic Woman” and the rest is history.

Peter Green made friends with an occult group that dabbled in black magic. In turn, they turned Green on to acid which untimely destroyed him. He left Fleetwood Mac a couple of years after that. Green was probably happy that Santana covered this song. Green was convinced to give all of his money away. The royalties from this song helped him later on to live. He ended up taking jobs wherever he could find work, including one as a grave digger.

Fleetwood Mac’s version peaked at #37 in the UK charts in 1968. It was a non-album single. It later appeared on the band’s 1969 compilation album, The Pious Bird of Good Omen. Fleetwood Mac played the song on their last tour with Stevie Nicks singing it from a woman’s point of view. It just didn’t have the power that the original band did.

Santana’s version peaked at #4 on the Billboard 100 and #4 in Canada in 1970-71.

Christine McVie: “Something snapped in him, he dropped this fatal tab of acid and withdrew. He still has this amazing power, but it’s negative. You don’t want him around. We’ve all cried a lot of tears over Peter. We’ve all spent so much time and energy talking him into more positive channels. He’ll just sit there and laugh. ‘FUCK IT . . .’”

Santana: “I used to go to see the original Fleetwood Mac, and they used to kill me, just knock me out, to me, they were the best blues band.”

Mick Fleetwood: “Three minutes of sustain/reverb guitar with two exquisite solos from Peter.”

Santana AND Green

Black Magic Woman

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
She’s trying to make a devil out of me

Don’t turn your back on me, baby
Don’t turn your back on me, baby
Yes, don’t turn your back on me, baby
Stop messing ’round with your tricks
Don’t turn your back on me, baby
You just might pick up my magic sticks

You got your spell on me, baby
You got your spell on me, baby
Yes, you got your spell on me, baby
Turnin’ my heart into stone
I need you so bad
Magic woman I can’t leave you alone

Unknown's avatar

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

60 thoughts on “Santana – Black Magic Woman ….Under The Covers Tuesday”

  1. I swear, the members of Fleetwood Mac are/were so much more talented than their hits reveal. Peter Green’s life story is another heartbreaking one. It’s sad that this song sort of signals when his life changed.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      2. Oh cool! I want to hear more of this music. Not must his guitar playing which was fantastic but his songwriting and singing were excellent also.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Thanks for acknowledging Peter Green. BB King was quoted as saying of Peter Green, “He was the only one that gave me the cold sweats.” When Eric Clapton left the Bluesbreakers, John Mayall said, “Don’t worry. We got someone better.” That someone was Peter Green. Santana’s cover was good, but Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green was transcendent. (“I’ve Got a Mind to Give up Living” is phenomenal.)

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Green was just as good or yes better than Clapton and I would throw in Santana also. I saw a documentary on him not long back…just an incredible player and a nice person…he just trusted the wrong people.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. Yes you are right…the vocal is mellow on there. I like both versions but I do like Green’s live version on guitar.

      Like

      Reply

    1. It was very interesting…I wish I would have found that before I published it. There are a few things that I didn’t know in there.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. If I ever knew it was written by Peter Green, I’d forgotten it. The Fleetwood Mac version is peppy and pretty good but I think I still prefer the slower paced Santana one. Interesting to hear the original though anyway.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I like them both becasue of Green’s guitar…and this is one track I like hearing live by him. It’s a shame people don’t remember how great that guy was…he was up there with Clapton and Santana.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  6. I cut my music teeth on this music. I still listen to both these bands regularly. The Green version of Mac. This music is timeless in my book. Just found out a while ago that Santana’s version of ‘Evil Ways’ was a cover. After years of listening. Way to go CB you dumb shit.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. lol…I’m with you…I didn’t know Evil Ways was a cover either. So scoot over on the dumb shit bench…you have company.
      I just found the Green Fleetwood Mac only a few years ago. I first learned about them with the song “Oh Well” when Buckingham did it live…oh…thats an old song!

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      2. Yea I like it also. It’s a fun song to play on guitar…I’m not a soloist but I love playing the main riff. I’ll check that version out.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. That version is really cool. They use acoustics which I never really thought about in that song. It grounds it… I’ll remember this version in the future.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. I do like Rolie. I’m the lone one that says…as far as Journey….I liked some of their stuff until he left…then pretty nothing else after that.
        I saw him live when I saw Ringo at the Ryman…he did this song.

        Liked by 1 person

      8. Yes he did…and then Steve Perry came and they shared vocals… which was cool…but Rolie left and they turned into a pure top 40 band.
        They were progressive > Rock Band > a bad Top 40 band

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Speaking of black magic, I’ve always feared driving my car anywhere with this song playing with the more intense Santana version ruining my concentration on the road.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Some songs hit me in a wierd way also while driving. When Led Zeppelin’s D’yer Mak’er comes on the radio while I’m driving…I turn it off…I get a bad omen from that song. It makes no sense because I love the song….as long as I’m not driving.

      Like

      Reply

    1. It’s not that great….she sings “I’m A Black Magic Woman” but it really tones the song down…for me it doesn’t work.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    2. I wish you hadn’t told me that. I just listened to it and really wish I hadn’t. I need to clean my ears out with more Peter Green. (Done – just listened to a great rendition of “Have You Ever Loved a Woman?” I feel better now.)

      Liked by 4 people

      Reply

      1. Thank you…I’m glad you feel the same. It wasn’t that she was bad…but her version was boring with no energy.
        Green was a hell of a guitarist.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. When I read it…Like Halffast did…I had to look it up…knowing full damn well how it was going to be. It that way…it didn’t disappoint! So I’m just spreading the pain.

        Liked by 3 people

  9. Yeah, I always knew Santana’s was a cover of Greens. I like ’em both. One thing acid does NOT do is help someone with a fragile ego to keep it real. I bought his ‘In The Skies’ album and there are moments of genius- but it wasn’t what it was. At his best he was otherwordly
    I know I want ‘Albatross’ playing me either in or out when they ship me out in my box!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. I only know his stuff from the 3 or so Fleetwood Mac albums. I need to check that album out.
      That sounds like a good one to exit with.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. I have heard this forever and I really like it. What a coincidence, because Connie sent me a Santana song yesterday in Spanish called ‘Corazon Espinado’. It is most excellent Max. Cheers.

    Like

    Reply

  11. I had known and really come to love Santana’s rendition of “Black Magic Woman” many years before I heard Peter Green’s original for the first time. Initially, I was a bit underwhelmed with the latter, but it has grown on me and now I like is as much as Santana’s version.

    I listened to “In the Skies” a few years ago in the wake of Green’s death and really liked it – good reminder to give it another spin. Apart from being a great guitarist, Green also was a pretty decent vocalist.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. I like Green’s version live…he rips the solos and fills like crazy.
      I’m going to give In The Skies a shot… I love his playing with Fleetwood Mac..and you are right…his voice wasn’t bad at all.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  12. You have really surprised me with this one, Max. I had *no* idea that 1) Santana didn’t write it, and 2) that Peter Green did write it. Kickazz tune that Santana has gotten a lot of mileage out of.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Good…thats what I try to do. I had no idea either until a couple of years ago. I was shocked. I’m happy they covered it becasue it kept Green above water for a long time. Glad you liked it.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  14. Great discussion going on here! Just to add a bit on the Santana version, it’s officially credited as Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen the latter written by Gabor Szabo. I believe Santana covered another one of his songs as well.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Wow…Gypsy Queen? wow….again. Does it blend in at the end? I thought that was just a jam…that is odd.

      Like

      Reply

      2. Yea that is what I saw…By Green…so that is why I’m surprised. See….I always look at you as the expert on these matters. That is where your passion is…and you are damn good at it.
        I didn’t know Evil Ways wasn’t them also.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. I didn’t know that…I wonder if he wrote “I’m Winning”….I covered that song a long time ago but I forgot…

        Like

  15. What a fantastic dual performance by Santana and Peter Green in the first video! I too wasn’t aware it was written by Green and first performed by Fleetwood Mac, who I’d not yet heard of in 1968. I didn’t learn about them until 1971, when I heard their beautiful song “Show Me a Smile”, sung by Christine McVie, but didn’t bother checking out more of their music. Of course, back then, the only way one could hear music was to either buy it, or hear it on a friend or relative’s copy.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment