Carlos Santana broke into the music industry in the late 1960s, which means he was there to witness the hotbed of creative exploration and discovery that defined the latter half of the decade. He watched as pre-rock jazz giants transitioned into heavier sounds to keep up with the changing times. He saw bona fide rock ‘n’ rollers turn the genre on its head with advancements in gear, technique, and style. Perhaps two of the most notable musicians in either category were Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix, respectively.
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Santana shared a mutual respect and adoration for both musicians, and the feelings were mutual toward Santana. It was an incredible time for musical evolution, with all three men expanding upon existing notions of what rock, jazz, and Latin music could sound like. In a 2014 interview with Music Radar, Santana described Hendrix as “a person who expanded the perimeters of feedback and volume. Instead of watching a movie in black and white on a little screen, it became CinemaScope, multi-dimensional widescreen in 3D.”
“Jimi Hendrix, more than anybody, created a new world of sound,” Santana continued. But Hendrix wasn’t the only one breaking down sonic barriers in the late 1960s, and Santana watched how the musician reacted to contemporaries like Davis, who were putting their own mark on music.
Carlos Santana Believed Miles Davis Intimidated Jimi Hendrix
One can only put so much stock in the assumptions someone makes about another person who is dead and no longer around to clarify, confirm, or deny. However, there is something to be said for Carlos Santana’s unique vantage point as a prominent guitarist in the late 1960s. He watched Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis evolve their sounds and redirect mainstream trends. And from his perspective. Davis’ 1971 album, Jack Johnson, was the kind of thing that would have intimidated—or, at the very least, lit a motivating fire under—Hendrix to follow suit and step it up.
Speaking of that particular time in Davis’ career in the Live at Montreux: Miles Davis DVD, Santana said, “Miles sounds so strong because he was still boxing. His notes, you know, it’s like Jimi Hendrix. Very dynamic, very powerful, you know, full of fire and passion. I remember telling him, ‘Miles, Jack Johnson is incredible.’ He goes, ‘Ain’t it though?’” Santana continued, adopting Davis’ signature gruff voice. “That’s the album that I believe scared Jimi Hendrix because Miles told Jimi Hendrix, ‘I’m going to put one of the baddest rock ‘n’ roll bands [together], you know.”
Davis put out Jack Johnson in February 1971, five months after Hendrix died in a London apartment. However, the trumpeter had begun working on the album in the late winter and mid-spring of the previous year, which means that Hendrix likely would have known about the ongoing project. Tragically, Hendrix’s death means that we never got to see what his response to Jack Johnson might have looked like (or how it might have pushed rock ‘n’ roll into a new direction entirely).
Photo by Luciano Viti/Getty Images
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