78. Samba Pa Ti by Santana

"Samba Pa Ti" by Santana

Written by Carlos Santana
Produced by Fred Catero, Carlos Santana
Released on Abraxas (September 23, 1970)
Released as single in 1973
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Saying that Carlos Santana plays the guitar seems inadequate. Carlos Santana speaks through his guitar; he emotes through six strings and an amp; he coaxes peace, love, and fire out of his pickups. The sound he creates is unique, golden, and emotive. The reason I love "Samba Pa Ti" is simple: During the nearly five minutes that make up this ode to life and everything beautiful, Carlos Santana makes his guitar cry. There is no other way to describe the way his guitar sounds during the first section of "Samba Pa Ti." It is beautiful and glorious and sad.

I sometimes like to read about how musicians create and produce their music. I'll read articles and books describing of equipment that artists use on particular recordings. It's an interesting exercise for me: Seeing how different artists put the puzzle pieces together to generate a sound, and it is a puzzle. Do you go Fender or Gibson? Standard or custom pickups? What kind of amp? What kind of cable? Which pedals do you use?

Even with all of that, there is still the guitarist themselves to consider. It's fascinating how others can try to replicate a guitar god's setup only to generate a sound that's not quite right. It's a reminder that creating great music, even rock music, is an art more than a science. It takes skill and patience and practice. The sound is as much in the fingers of the artist as it is in their setup.

Santana apparently uses a PRS guitar. When I was trying to explain to a friend of mine how much I loved the tone of Santana's guitar on "Samba Pa Ti," he in turn mentioned to me how much he disliked PRS guitars. He felt like instead of creating a unique sound, PRS tried to split the difference between a Gibson sound and a Fender sound. I felt like he wasn't listening to the song, he was just thinking about how much he disliked PRS guitars. He got so lost in the science of the music, that he wasn't hearing the art.

Ultimately, however Carlos Santana created the sound he did doesn't matter. Whatever the magic is, and whatever equipment he used, the only thing that really matters is that he made his freaking guitar cry! How do you do that? That is what separates the guitar gods from the imitators and pretenders. Only Santana can actually coax literal tears from the strings on his guitar. And that is why I love this song (the first of two Santana instrumentals on my top 100 list).

Right now, "Samba Pa Ti" by Santana is (probably) my 78th favorite song of all time.