Gloria Estefan and Carlos Santana perform their collaboration “No Llores” at the 2008 Latin Grammy Awards. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images North America)
By: Jacob Elyachar
One of the greatest guitarists in rock and roll history is Carlos Santana.
Since his debut in the 1960s, he has rocked his way into the hearts of multiple generations through his incredible sounds and his ability to master different genres of rock music.
He has recorded and collaborated with hundreds of performers over the course of his multi-decade career. But in order to shrink the list down, I have decided to countdown Santana’s best collaborations from the last 23 years. In this list, you will find rock legends, R&B icons and even a classical musician amongst the people who have collaborated the Mexican rocker.
10. Carlos Santana and Gloria Estefan (2007)-No Llores
When Gloria Estefan recorded her 2007 album: 90 Millas, she brought in Carlos do to an incredible solo that was successfully weaved into the song. This song is a must listen to any Latin singer because of the combination of Estefan’s beautiful songbird like vocals and Santana’s impressive fingerpicks. To watch Santana’s collaboration with Gloria Estefan, click here: http://youtu.be/0DXouC7iBa8
Carlos Santana and Steven Tyler catch-up with each other at a music event. (Photo by LIFE Magazine)
9. Santana and Steven Tyler (2005)-Just Feel Better
2005’s All That I Am was the third album based off of the successful Supernatural formula. One of the albums hottest tracks involved his collaboration with future American Idol judge and Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler. “Just Feel Better” is an intriguing break-up song that perfectly brings out Tyler’s voice and Santana’s musicianship. Santana and Steven Tyler recorded a music video to their hit, click here to watch it: http://youtu.be/icD8mBBeIwU
8. Santana, Lauryn Hill and Cee Lo Green (1999)- Do You Like the Way
When Carlos Santana worked with the legendary Clive Davis on his comeback album: Supernatural, Davis advised him to record with a diverse group of artists from different genres. Both Lauryn Hill and Cee Lo Green are R&B/Rap performers and when they combined their vocals with the music of Santana, magic happened. Lauryn Hill and Cee Lo Green performed with Santana on his Supernatural: Live concert. Click here to watch the performance: http://youtu.be/GbrmAK148oc
7. Carlos Santana and Michael Jackson (2001)-Whatever Happens
One of the true gems of the late King of Pop’s underrated 2001 album Invincible is “Whatever Happens.” This track successfully combines three different styles of music: rock, pop and new jack swing that makes this song one of the best songs both artists recorded in the 2000s. This marks the second and only time Michael Jackson recorded with Carlos Santana. To listen to the song, click here: http://youtu.be/8l8Q7cXzC54
6. Santana and Seal (2002)-You Are My Kind
When he released Shaman in 2002, Santana continued to follow the Supernatural formula and recruited a diverse group of artists including Dido, Macy Gray and Chad Kroeger of Nickelback. However, the best track off of that album was his collaboration with soul singer Seal. This was the first track that I ever thought that the idea of fusing soul and rock could work. To listen to this superb track, click here: http://youtu.be/EWuj5LRHj7o
Carlos Santana and the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia shared the stage in 1989 at a California concert. (Photo by Jay Blakesberg)
5. Santana, Jerry Garcia and Steve Jordan (1989)- Get Uppa
It’s rare when you to get three musical geniuses together and perform on the same stage together. When Carlos had a concert at the Los Angeles Bitmore Bowl on August 2, 1989, the audience was in for a treat as the late Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and Grammy-winning artist Steve Jordan joined him on stage. This is the perfect example of music camaraderie. Click on the link to watch all three music legends in action: http://youtu.be/XhIVGQCeoaU
4. Santana, Indie.Aire and Yo-Yo Ma (2010)-While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Before you go and say “What the heck were you thinking, Jacob?” I want you to click on this link and listen to the song yourself: http://youtu.be/5DeOSLNbhfg This is one of my all-time favorite covers because it brilliantly merges Santana’s guitar playing with Indie’s beautiful vocals and Yo-Yo’s impressive string arrangement.
3. Santana and Eric Clapton (1999)-The Calling
Supernatural brought two guitar gods together for one awesome track. “The Calling” completely showcased both Clapton’s and Santana’s different styles of guitar playing which won Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards. Click here to listen to this cool track: http://youtu.be/h9oIDiYy8wQ
Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas’s first collaboration together: “Smooth” earned two Grammys and their performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards remains one of the best rock performances of all time. (Photo property of Kevin Winter/Getty Images North America)
2. Santana and Rob Thomas (1999)-Smooth
This song single-handily revived Carlos’s career. His chemistry with Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 was impeccable and their performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards stole the show. To re-watch that magic moment, click here: http://youtu.be/f-vND5_u8u4
1. Santana and Tina Turner (2001)-The Game of Love
Everyone knows that Santana and Michelle Branch recorded this song for his 2002 Shaman album. But did you know that Santana originally recorded this song and preferred Tina Turner’s version of this song? This shows that even at 62-years-young, Tina’s spicy vocals were a terrific combination with Santana’s arrangement.
Santana and Tina Turner’s collaboration eventually saw the light of day when it was released in 2007’s Ultimate Santana album. To listen to it, click here: http://youtu.be/5vzAfejEykY
What album has the most collaborations on it of Santana’s
Hello Theresa. Thanks for commenting. Based on my research, ‘Guitar Heaven’ has the most collaborations with 14; followed by ‘Shaman’ with 13 collaborations. Hope this helps.