Who Originally Sang “Black Magic Woman”? Before Santana
Fleetwood Mac.
Not the Fleetwood Mac most people imagine.
Peter Green wrote and sang the original “Black Magic Woman” in 1968, years before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the group.
Santana then transformed the song into the version most listeners recognise today.
That means one of Santana’s defining recordings actually began with the blues-era version of Fleetwood Mac.
Different singer.
Different guitarist.
Different era.
Same song.
Who wrote “Black Magic Woman”?
Peter Green.
Green founded Fleetwood Mac with drummer Mick Fleetwood and was one of the most important British blues guitarists of his generation.
The early Fleetwood Mac sounded almost nothing like the Rumours-era band.
Forget:
Dreams
Go Your Own Way
Everywhere.
Think:
electric blues
B.B. King influence
Chicago blues
British blues clubs.
“Black Magic Woman” belongs to that version of the band.
When did Fleetwood Mac release it?
It was released as a single and became one of the group’s early UK chart successes.
Peter Green sang lead and played guitar.
Mick Fleetwood played drums.
John McVie played bass.
Three musicians later associated with one of the most commercially successful pop-rock groups in history were making stripped-down blues.
Fleetwood Mac’s history is slightly ridiculous.
Who was Peter Green writing about?
Green’s girlfriend Sandra Elsdon has been connected with the song.
MusicRadar reports that Green referred to her as “Magic Mamma” and wrote the song during a difficult period in the relationship.
The lyrics use supernatural language to describe romantic power.
The woman appears to have almost magical influence over the narrator.
That fits a long blues tradition.
Love becomes:
spell
curse
temptation
loss of control.
Did Peter Green invent the musical idea completely?
Not in isolation.
Green openly drew from blues music he admired.
MusicRadar traces parts of the musical lineage through Otis Rush’s “All Your Love (I Miss Your Loving)” and earlier Chicago blues guitar language.
That is important.
Songs rarely appear from nowhere.
Green absorbed blues vocabulary.
Santana absorbed Green.
Later listeners absorbed Santana.
Musical history behaves more like a family tree than a straight line.
When did Santana record “Black Magic Woman”?
Santana included the track on Abraxas.
Carlos Santana’s recording became a much bigger international success and eventually overshadowed Fleetwood Mac’s original.
For millions of listeners:
Santana song.
Technically:
Fleetwood Mac cover.
Why does Santana’s version sound so different?
Because Santana didn’t simply imitate Green.
Carlos Santana brought:
Latin percussion
organ
a different guitar tone
more rhythmic movement
and a much larger sense of atmosphere.
The result keeps the original composition while changing its musical world.
That is what the best covers do.
They don’t ask:
How can we reproduce this?
They ask:
What can this become?
What is “Gypsy Queen”?
The second half of Santana’s famous recording.
Santana combined “Black Magic Woman” with “Gypsy Queen”, a composition by Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó.
That means the recording many people simply call “Black Magic Woman” is actually a musical hybrid.
Peter Green.
Gábor Szabó.
Carlos Santana.
Three guitar worlds inside one classic.
Did Santana know Fleetwood Mac’s original?
Very much.
Carlos Santana has spoken admiringly about Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac.
The original band had impressed him deeply.
This wasn’t a case of somebody accidentally discovering an obscure publishing catalogue.
Santana respected the source.
That respect is audible.
He changes the arrangement without destroying Green’s melancholy.
Did Peter Green ever perform it with Santana?
Yes.
A particularly beautiful moment came around Fleetwood Mac’s 1998 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, when Green appeared with Santana and played the song associated with both of them.
Imagine writing a blues song in 1968.
Watching another guitarist turn it into a world-famous classic.
Then decades later standing beside him to play it.
Music history occasionally resolves itself nicely.
Why do people assume Santana wrote it?
Because Santana’s version became definitive.
This happens constantly.
Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You.
Soft Cell – Tainted Love.
Natalie Imbruglia – Torn.
Amy Winehouse – Valerie.
A cover becomes culturally larger than the source.
Eventually people stop hearing it as a cover.
Radar’s existing famous-cover hub is therefore a natural internal link from this page.
What genre is the original?
British blues.
Blues rock.
Santana’s version is generally described as:
Latin rock
blues rock
psychedelic rock.
Same composition.
Different genre emphasis.
That is exactly why listening to both versions is worthwhile.
Songs to hear after “Black Magic Woman”
Fleetwood Mac – Albatross
Fleetwood Mac – The Green Manalishi
Santana – Oye Como Va
Santana – Samba Pa Ti
Otis Rush – All Your Love (I Miss Loving)
Gábor Szabó – Gypsy Queen
B.B. King – The Thrill Is Gone
If your knowledge of Fleetwood Mac begins with Stevie Nicks, spend some time with Peter Green.
It may feel like discovering another band sharing the same name.
Because, essentially, you are.
Who originally sang “Black Magic Woman”?
Peter Green with Fleetwood Mac.
Santana made it internationally famous two years later.
And the best way to understand the song is not to choose between them.
Listen to both.
Green sounds haunted.
Santana sounds hypnotic.
Same magic.
Different spell.