"Black Magic Woman" was a song written by Peter Green, first released as a single by Fleetwood Mac in 1968 and eventually made its way onto their album English Rose the following year. In 1970, "Black Magic Woman" became a hit for Santana, reaching as high as #4 on the American pop charts and from that point on became closely associated with the group.Okay, so you're probably thinking to yourself, "that's all well and good but what does this have to do with Jamaican music?" If you'll read on I'll fill you in...
In 1972 the song was covered again by the late great Dennis Brown and the results were, in my humble opinion, outstanding! "Black Magic Woman" was produced by Phil Pratt and originally released as a 7"on the Sunshot label. I think once you give this one a listen you'll be even more amazed that when this song was recorded Dennis Brown was only 15 years old!
Dennis Emmanuel Brown, sometimes called the Crown Prince Of Reggae was born February 1, 1957 and died July 1, 1999, and was one of reggae's most prolific artists and one of Jamaican music's all-time greats. Brown started his career recording for Derrick Harriott and Coxsone Dodd's Studio One, who released his first hit single "No Man Is An Island" in 1969. Dennis spent the majority of time in the 70's freelancing for any producer who was lucky enough to get him in the studio before settling into a contract with Joe Gibbs where he recorded countless classic tunes such as "Money In My Pocket," "Sitting And Watching" and "Ain't That Loving You," to name a few.
To be honest with you, when I look through all the great stuff Dennis Brown recorded and realize that I've yet to do a complete mix with his material I'm disappointed in myself. Look for that in the near future... once we get done with the Spooktacular, of course.
Track 15
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