Song:Smooth
Album:Supernatural
Of course Carlos Santana is a guitar legend. He had a lot of commercial success in the late 60s with songs like Evil Ways and Black Magic Woman. But when Smooth was released in 1999, he hadn't had a hit since the early 80s. And Smooth was his very first number one hit. The decline of Santana's career can be traced to his religious conversion to guru Sri Chinmoy. This was influenced by one of his idols John McLaughlin. He also wanted to record jazz but his attempts to do so flopped. Santana returned to the top 20 with Winning in 1981 and Hold On in 1982. Both songs were sung by Scottish singer Alex Ligertwood. He also left Chinmoy in 1982. These were mainstream rock songs but subsequent albums declined in sales to the point where he left Columbia in 1990. Short stints with PolyGram and EMI were failures. When he signed with Arista Records for the 1999 CD Supernatural, Arista president Clive Davis wanted him to record an album with all kinds of guests on it. The goal was for Santana to have a hit single. Smooth topped the Billboard Hot 100 and the album was a big seller too. Lead singer Rob Thomas from Matchbox 20 wrote Smooth with Ital Shur of Groove Collective. Santana also topped the charts with Maria Maria featuring Wyclef Jean. It was a very successful comeback. Supernatural is available as a budget release. In 2002, Santana had a top ten hit with The Game Of Love featuring Michelle Branch. He has recorded similar albums since then that weren't as successful. He left Arista in 2010 and his latest CD Shape Shifter was released on his own label in May. Also, Santana married drummer Cindy Blackman in 2010. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1998. So he was already a legend when Smooth was a hit. Davis just wanted to prove that Santana could top the charts again just like the old days when they were both at Columbia. Here's the video for Smooth by Santana featuring Rob Thomas.
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