The Philosophy of Modern Song. Black Magic Woman – Carlos Santana

Posted on June 16, 2026 by Tony Attwood

 

By Tony Attwood

I have this thing about Carlos Santana….

… in that his work is clearly highly regarded and loved by multitudes, but it is not just the music; he is just universally admired.  Besides, I know, there is nothing I can say about Carlos Santana that has not already been said 10,000 times before and 100,000 times better than anything I could write.  And yet I have to confess I don’t have any Santana albums in my house, although a few of his songs are in my head.

And of course, yes, I know he has played alongside Bob on occasion, and the vast majority of people in the know recognise Carlos Santana as one of the very greatest exponents of music on the electric guitar.  And I haven’t even started with the awards…

So yes, of course Bob has to include Carlos Santana in his “Philosophy”, and of course I don’t have anything to say that hasn’t been said before, although I would stress I have always kept his statement that, “There’s a difference between an entertainer and a musician” next to my computer where I write.  That is so true, and he is an unbelievable musician and as it happens a brilliant entertainer too.  And the point is not everyone managed to be both.

Thus we have “Black Magic Woman” written by Peter Green and which first appeared on the Fleetwood Mac album of 1968.  And I should also confess that yes, I like Fleetwood Mac too.  Although in the case of this song, I think one does have to point out one other factor and that is that “Black Magic Woman” is based on “All your love” by Otis Rush (of which there is a recording below).

And then, while I am in the business of pointing things out, I should also clarify that there are two Peter Greens who can get mentioned from time to time, although only one gets a particular mention on this website – this one, who worked with Fleetwood Mac and recorded many tracks.

But for clarity’s sake, perhaps I might also say that the other was a highly regarded historian and translator who, like his namesake, has an article about him in Wiki.    I know you are never likely to get the two confused, but I thought I’d just show off the fact that I had done some research prior to writing this.

But back to the main point: Black Magic Woman.

“Black Magic Woman” itself was influenced by “All Your Love” by Otis Rush, that was recorded a few years before by John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers who at the time had  Eric Clapton on lead guitar which in turn was largely based on “I Loved Another Woman”.  I hope that makes it all clear.

Previously in this series

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *