• Track: Evil Ways
• Artist: Santana
• Album: Santana
• Year: 1969

Lyrics:

You’ve got to change your evil ways, baby
Before I stop lovin’ you
You’ve got to change, baby
And every word that I say is true
You got me runnin’ and hidin’ all over town
You got me sneakin’ and a-peepin’ and runnin’ you down
This can’t go on, lord knows you got to change, baby

Baby, when I come home, baby
My house is dark and my pots are cold

Baby, when I come home, baby
My house is dark and my pots are cold
You’re hangin’ round, baby
With Jean and Joan and-a who knows who
I’m gettin’ tried of waitin’ and foolin’ around
I’ll find somebody that won’t make me feel like a clown
This can’t go on, lord knows you got to change

Hey

When I come home, baby
My house is dark and my pots are cold
You’re hangin’ round, baby
With Jean and Joan and-a who knows who
I’m gettin’ tried of waitin’ and foolin’ around
I’ll find somebody who won’t make me feel like a clown
This can’t go on, yeah-yeah-yeah

Tonight on DWB Radio, we feel compelled to observe Cinco de Mayo with a cut from one of the most well-known guitarists in rock history, and one of the most widely known Latin American artists, Santana. The band, Santana, was originally formed as the Santana Blues Band in 1967 by Mexican guitarist, Carlos Santana. Santana was born in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico, and he later moved to Tijuana. Carlos and his family later immigrated—legally, so you border control nuts can simmer down—to San Francisco. Santana arrived just in time for the rapidly expanding hippy movement and before long, his newly formed band—now using the Santana moniker—performed at Woodstock in 1969. Shortly after Woodstock, the band released its self-titled debut, which reached number 4 on the U.S. Billboard 200 pop chart with the single Evil Ways being a top 10 single in the U.S.

Over the years, Santana has had MULTIPLE line-ups with the only constant being the man himself, Carlos Santana. For fun, I found this chart on Wikipedia that shows the bands lineage over the past 49 years.

As I have often joked, Carlos is a generous guy and if you were his pal and happened to be around when he was recording an album, you got to be in the band.

Through the late 1960s and mid-1970s, Santana enjoyed significant success with its self-titled debut, then the follow-ups, Abraxas and Santana III. Santana enjoyed a small surge in mainstream popularity in 1981 with the release of Zebop!, which contained the hit single, Winning.

Santana’s biggest commercial success came in early 1999 when he released Supernatural, a record containing guest appearances from a variety of musicians. One particular collaboration with Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas produced the smash hit, Smooth. That album hit number one on the Billboard charts and stayed there for 12 weeks. Supernatural was a hit in the U.S. as well as internationally. selling 30 million copies worldwide and turning Platinum 15 times over. 

So, on this Cinco de Mayo, I urge you to fire up Evil Ways, Oye Como Va, and Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen, and get your Latin groove on. We here at the Dances With Bass home office in Kokomo, Indiana, have picked out our ‘fros, donned our bandanas, slipped on our shades, and are thanking the musical gods for Carlos Santana’s continued brilliance.

There might be a few Dos Equis involved in the celebration. Who knows? We’re wild cards. What can we say?

Video:

No official video was made for Evil Ways, so here is an audio-only version. Be sure to check out the groovy live versions below. They are MUCH better than the studio version:

Here is the Woodstock performance that essentially put Santana on the map. You have no idea how I wish I’d been old enough to be part of the hippy movement. I’d have made a wonderful hippy.

Here is an awesome live performance from 1970. Check out the bitchin’ hairstyles!

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