santana- black magic woman - santana- black magic woman

What this video is

Filmed in 1971 for Germany's Beat-Club — the pioneering European rock TV program broadcast on Radio Bremen — this performance captures Santana at the peak of their Abraxas breakthrough. 'Black Magic Woman,' originally written by Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green and released as a 1968 single, had been radically reimagined by Santana as a medley with Gábor Szabó's 'Gypsy Queen,' layering Afro-Cuban son clave, timbales,…

Why it matters

This performance is a primary document of the Latin rock genre at its founding moment. Santana's version of 'Black Magic Woman' is the definitive demonstration of the band's signature aesthetic: blues-rock guitar vocabulary fused with Afro-Cuban polyrhythm, Hammond organ, and multi-percussionist…