Black Magic Woman

"Black Magic Woman" is a song written by Peter Green that first appeared as a Fleetwood Mac single in various countries in 1968, subsequently appearing on the 1969 Fleetwood Mac compilation albums English Rose (US) and The Pious Bird of Good Omen (UK). It became a classic hit by Santana and sung by Gregg Rolie in 1970, reaching #4 in the U.S. and Canadian charts, after appearing on their Abraxas album, becoming more closely associated with Santana than Fleetwood Mac. In 2005 the song was covered by ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Snowy White on his album The Way It Is. In 1996 the song was also covered by Gary Hoey on his album Bug Alley . Santana's version, recorded in 1970, is a medley with Gábor Szabó's 1966 "Gypsy Queen", a mix of jazz, Hungarian folk and Latin rhythms. The song became one of Santana's staples and one of their biggest hits. Abraxas reached #1 on the charts and hit quadruple platinum in 1986, partially thanks to "Black Magic Woman." The Santana version is also used as a cover in the music/rhythm video games such as Guitar Hero III and Guitar Hero: On Tour. While the song follows the same general structure of Peter Green's version, also set in common time, in D Dorian and using the same melody and lyrics, it is considerably different, with a slightly altered chord pattern (D minor 7 | D minor 7 | A minor 7 | A minor 7 | D minor 7 | D minor 7 | G minor 7 | G minor 7 | D minor 7 | A minor 7 | D minor 7 | D minor 7). A curious blend of blues, rock, jazz, 3/2 afro-Cuban son clave, and "Latin" polyrhythms, Santana's arrangement added conga, timbales and other percussion, in addition to organ and piano, to make complex polyrhythms that give the song a "voodoo" feel distinct from the original.[1] The introduction of the song, which was adapted from Szabo's "Gypsy Queen", consists of simple hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides, before moving into the introduction solo of "Black Magic Woman." After the introduction solo, which follows the same chord progression as the verse, the song moves into an eight-bar piano solo on D minor, and proceeds to two verses sung by keyboardist Gregg Rolie. Two verses of guitar solo follow the two sung verses, which is then succeeded by another verse, before moving into a modified version of the "Gypsy Queen" section from the beginning of the song, to end the piece. There is also a single edit that runs for 3:15. On the radio the piano solo is sometimes omitted while "Gypsy Queen" is almost always omitted, whilst other longer versions have since been released, including one which runs for 8:56.

Got a black magic woman Got a black magic woman I got a black magic woman Got me so blind I can't see That she's a black magic woman She's tryin' 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 messin' 'round with your tricks Don't turn your back on me baby You just might pick up my magic sticks Ah! Got your spell on me baby Got your spell on me baby Yes, you got your spell on me baby Turning my heart into stone I need you so bad, magic woman I can't leave you alone