Guitar Legends Carlos Santana And Peter Green Rock San Francisco
Added: (Wed May 29 2002)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
When Blue Storm Music recording artist, Peter Green recently played San Francisco with his band, The Splinter Group, Carlos Santana took advantage of the opportunity to pay homage to the legendary guitarist. He joined the band on stage at Bimbo’s 365 Club for an emotional 12-minute version of “Black Magic Woman” that sent chills up and down the collective spine of the audience. Afterwards, Carlos told the audience, “When I started to play guitar, there were two musicians who really inspired me—B.B. King and Peter Green.” (B.B King has also been quoted as saying, “Peter Green is the only musician who ever made me sweat.”)
It began more than 30 years ago when a talented young guitarist from San Francisco formed a band known simply by his last name—Santana. One of the biggest bands at the time was Fleetwood Mac, then riding the crest of the Blues wave that swept British bands like The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Animals and Cream to the top of the charts in America. As Santana started recording their debut album, Carlos Santana heard a track from Fleetwood Mac that was at the time getting serious attention in the rapidly growing “free form” radio format. The song was “Black Magic Woman,” written by Fleetwood Mac’s founder and lead guitarist, Peter Green.
Santana’s version of “Black Magic Woman,” which closely mirrored Fleetwood Mac’s arrangement, and went on to become one of the all-time classic songs on FM radio, from the “free form” days of the ‘60s right on through the Classic Rock formats of today. And while the vast majority of listeners believe Carlos Santana wrote “Black Magic Woman”, Carlos himself has never forgotten who did.
The Peter Green Splinter Group’s current release is "Time Traders" available on Blue Storm Music.