"Black Magic Woman"
Single by Fleetwood Mac
Released	1968
Format	7" single
Recorded	February 1968
Length	2:48
Label	Blue Horizon 57-3138 (UK) Epic 5-10351 (USA)

"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 in 1970, reaching #4 in the U.S. 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. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 577 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (678 × 705 pixel, file size: 67 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) 7 Single sleeve This image is of a cover of an audio recording, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... This article is about the band. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A gramophone record, (also phonograph record - often simply record) is an analog sound recording medium: a flat disc rotating at a constant angular velocity, with inscribed spiral grooves in which a stylus or needle rides. ... In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... Blue Horizon was a British blues record label founded by Mike Vernon in the early sixties. ... Epic Records is an American record label, owned and operated by Sony BMG. // Epic was launched originally as a jazz and classical music label in 1953 by CBS. Its bright-yellow, black and blue logo became a familiar trademark for many jazz and classical releases. ... Peter Green (born Peter Allen Greenbaum, October 29, 1946, in Bethnal Green, London) is a British blues-rock guitarist and founding member of the band Fleetwood Mac. ... This article is about the band. ... Also: 1969 (number) 1969 (movie) 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... In spite of some redundancy, English Rose could be considered the third album by Fleetwood Mac, released in January 1969 (see 1969 in music). ... The Pious Bird of Good Omen is a compilation album by Fleetwood Mac, released in 1969 (see 1969 in music). ... Santana (originally the Santana Blues Band) is a flexible number of musicians accompanying Carlos Santana since the late 1960s. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Abraxas is the second album by Santana, the popular latin rock n roll group named after lead guitarist Carlos Santana. ... Thin Lizzy are a hard rock band who formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1969. ... Snowy White (born Terence Charles White, 3 March 1948, in Barnstaple, Devon) is an English guitarist, mostly known for having played for Thin Lizzy (permanent member from 1979 to 1981) and for Pink Floyd (as a back-up player; he was first invited to join the band through Europe and... The Way It Is is the comeback album by blues guitarrist Snowy White, featuring his band, The White Flames, with a new member: John Bundrick, released in 2005 by his Record Company: White Flame Records. ...

Fleetwood Mac version

Although not nearly as popular as Santana's arrangement two years later, "Black Magic Woman" nevertheless became a fairly popular blues-rock hit peaking at #37 in the UK Singles Chart. It was featured in Fleetwood Mac live set-lists even after Green had left the band, when it was often sung by Danny Kirwan, and during concerts in the early 1970s it would form the basis for long mid-concert jams. The song would often be preceded by a band member reminding the audience that it was a Fleetwood Mac song before it became such a big hit for Santana. Blues Rock or Blues-rock is a fusion genre of music which combines elements of the blues with rock and roll. ... “British Hit Singles” redirects here. ... Daniel David Danny Kirwan (born May 13, 1950 in Brixton, South London) is a British musician best known for his role as guitarist, singer and songwriter with the blues rock band Fleetwood Mac between 1968 and 1972. ...

Structure

Set in the key of D Dorian and often modulating to D minor, the verse follows a twelve bar chord progression alternating between D minor⁷, A minor⁷, and G minor⁷, and the instrumentation consists of vocals, two guitars, bass guitar and drums. It is homophonic, the voice and lead guitar taking the lead roles, and set in common time (4/4). Due to historical confusion, Dorian mode can refer to two very different musical modes or diatonic scales. ... In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key (tonic, or tonal center) to another. ... D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B-flat, C, and D (natural minor scale). ... Look up minor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chords root. ... In music a singer or vocalist is a type of musician who sings, i. ... The classical guitar typically has nylon strings. ... A sunburst-colored Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... For other kinds of drums, see drum (disambiguation). ... In music, the word texture is often used in a rather vague way in reference to the overall sound of a piece of music. ... The time signature (also known as meter signature) is a notational device used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each bar and which note value (minim, crotchet, eighth note and so on) constitutes one beat. ...

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

Santana version

"Black Magic Woman"
Single by Santana from the album Abraxas
B-side	"Hope You're Feeling Better"
Released	1970
Genre	Blues-rock
Length	5:24 (album version) 3:16 (single version) Cover of the Carlos Santana album Abraxas This is an album cover. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... Santana (originally the Santana Blues Band) is a flexible number of musicians accompanying Carlos Santana since the late 1960s. ... Abraxas is the second album by Santana, the popular latin rock n roll group named after lead guitarist Carlos Santana. ... “B-Sides” redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Blues Rock or Blues-rock is a fusion genre of music which combines elements of the blues with rock and roll. ...
Label	Columbia
Writer	Peter Green
Producer	Fred Catero and Carlos Santana
Extra cover
U.S. 7" single cover
Abraxas track listing
"Singing Winds, Crying Beasts" (1) (2) "Oye Como Va" (3)

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... Peter Green (born Peter Allen Greenbaum, October 29, 1946, in Bethnal Green, London) is a British blues-rock guitarist and founding member of the band Fleetwood Mac. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Carlos Augusto Alves Santana (born July 20, 1947), is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-born American Latin rock musician and guitarist. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Abraxas is the second album by Santana, the popular latin rock n roll group named after lead guitarist Carlos Santana. ... Oye Como Va is a song written and composed by Latin jazz and mambo musician Tito Puente and popularized by Carlos Santanas cover of the song in 1970 on his album Abraxas, helping to catapult Santana into stardom with the song reaching #13 on the Billboard Top 100. ...

Background

The song, whose full title is "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen," was adapted from Gabor Szabo's 1967 "Gypsy Queen," a mix of jazz, Hungarian folk and Latin rhythms, and Fleetwood Mac's own "Black Magic Woman," and recorded in 1970. The song became one of Carlos Santana's staples and arguably his most popular song, along with "Oye Como Va." Abraxas reached #1 on the charts and hit quadruple platinum in 1986, partially thanks to "Black Magic Woman." Santana's version of the song is on the game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. It was unspecified at the time when the song was announced which version would be used for the game, but it was later announced that a master track of Santana's version would be used. Updates speculated it was actually a cover version. Gábor Szabó (March 8, 1936 - February 26, 1982) was a jazz guitarist. ... Oye Como Va is a song written and composed by Latin jazz and mambo musician Tito Puente and popularized by Carlos Santanas cover of the song in 1970 on his album Abraxas, helping to catapult Santana into stardom with the song reaching #13 on the Billboard Top 100. ... Abraxas is the second album by Santana, the popular latin rock n roll group named after lead guitarist Carlos Santana. ...

Structure

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 chord progression, melody and lyrics, it is considerably different. A curious blend of blues, rock, jazz 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] Blues music redirects here. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms. ... For other uses, see Conga (disambiguation). ... Timbales (or tymbales) are shallow single-headed drums, shallower in shape than single-headed tom-toms, and usually much higher tuned. ...

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" beginning of the song, to end the piece. Gregg Rolie (born June 17, 1947 in Seattle, Washington) is an American keyboardist, organist, and singer, who is one of the founding members of the bands Santana, Journey, The Storm, and Abraxas Pool, as well as his current Gregg Rolie Band. ...

Appearances in popular culture

The Santana version of the song appears in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock as a playable track.

References