Just two years before Santana released his hit “Black Magic Woman” on the band’s second album Abraxas, it already appeared on Fleetwood Mac‘s 1968 compilation English Rose. Originally written for Fleetwood Mac by founding member and guitarist Peter Green, “Black Magic Woman” eventually became an even bigger hit, and classic, for Santana.
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Already bolstered by “Evil Ways,” off the band’s 1969 self-titled album, which peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, Santana’s momentum extended with the release of their Fleetwood Mac cover.
Sung by Gregg Rolie and melodically melted around Carlos Santana’s mystical solos, “Black Magic Woman” hit No. 4 on the Hot 100 and remains the most well-known version of the song.
The Meaning of “Black Magic Woman”
Referring to more dark magic or supernatural powers, Green wrote about a mischievous woman, one who nearly makes him blind with her black magic tricks. The lyrics were inspired by Green’s former girlfriend, Sandra Elsdon, who he had nicknamed “Magic Mamma.”
Got a black magic woman
Got a black magic woman
I’ve got a black magic woman
Got me so blind, I can’t see
That she’s a black magic woman
She’s trying to make a devil outta 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 messing ’round with your tricks
Don’t turn your back on me, baby
You just might pick up my magic sticks
Even though she puts a spell on him he can’t seem to pull himself away from her.
Got your spell on me, baby
You 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
Peter Green’s Turn to “Black Magic”
Coincidentally, before Green left Fleetwood Mac, he reportedly connected with a group of people into black magic and the occult, who turned him on to acid, according to late bandmate Christine McVie.
“Something snapped in him,” said McVie. “He dropped this fatal tab of acid and withdrew. He still has this amazing power, but it’s negative. You don’t want him around. We’ve all cried a lot of tears over Peter. We’ve all spent so much time and energy talking him into more positive channels. He’ll just sit there and laugh. ‘Fuck it.’”
Shortly after Fleetwood Mac’s third album, Then Play On, Green — who also wrote the band’s songs “Albatross,” “Oh Well,” “The Green Manalishi,” and “Man of the World” — left Fleetwood Mac.
Former Fleetwood Mac member, Jeremy Spencer, also left the band in 1971 and joined the religious movement Children of God,
Bob Welch
Another former member of Fleetwood Mac from 1971 through 1974, Bob Welch, also covered “Black Magic Woman” on his 2006 album His Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond, Vol. 2.
‘Abraxas’
Drenched in more Latin textures, and a cobweb of Carlos Santana’s guitar solos, “Black Magic Woman,” transformed Abraxas into a classic, along with the band’s cover of Tito Puente’s “Oye Como Va.”
“I swear to you, and this for real, whenever we play ‘Black Magic Woman,’ I remember the first time we played it in a soundcheck in Fresno in a parking lot,” remembered Santana. “Gregg Rolie brought the song from Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green. And I remember saying, ‘Hmm, I can bring a little bit of Otis Rush here and a little bit of Wes Montgomery here.’”
He added, “Because I just think like that. It’s kind of like a chef, bring a little bit of oregano and jalapenos and garlic and onions. So to this day, when I play ‘Black Magic Woman,’ I think of Otis Rush and Fresno in a parking lot. And it gives me the same results.”
In a 2015 interview, Rolie described the enduring magic of “Black Magic Woman” several decades later. “I still love doing it, and singing it,” said Rolie. “If I still like doing this song 40 years later, there’s gotta really be something to it … the simplicity of it, it’s just a good song all the way around.”
Photo: Jason Squires/WireImage
