Santana Ft. Rob Thomas -Smooth - The Uphill Battle Behind One of the Biggest Songs in Music History
Вставка
- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- The uphill battle to write and release one of the biggest songs in music history.
SIGN UP for 10 of the Craziest Stories in Rock N' Roll [Secret Playlist]: bit.ly/3vVPAEF
Check out our Top 25 Favourite Albums Here
rockandrolltru...
Have a video request or a topic you'd like to see us cover? Fill out our google form!
bit.ly/3stnXlN
----CONNECT ON SOCIAL----
Instagram: / rocknrolltruestories
Facebook: / rnrtruestories
Twitter: / rocktruestories
Blog: www.rockandrolltruestories.com
#smooth #carlossantana #robthomas
I cite my sources and they may differ than other people's accounts, so I don't guarantee the actual accuracy of my videos.
By the mid to late 90’s It had been over a decade since guitarist Carlos Santana had a hit song with his self named band, but his band would reemerge in 1999 with the song Smooth. It wasn’t just a hit song, but one of the most popular songs in music history. But the path to even get Smooth out became a major obstacle. Infighting between songwriters, record labels and even Carlos Santana hating the song when he first heard it nearly stopped it from coming out. Today, let’s talk about the uphill battle to release the song Smooth.
While hard rock and so called grunge bands dominated the earlier part of the 90’s, by the later part of the decade it was all about bubblegum pop like Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys while faceless rock bands like Matchbox 20, Third Eye Blind and collective soul became popular. By this point in time guitarist Carlos Santana had not had a hit for quite some years, despite still being signed to a major label in Polygram. Prior to releasing his comeback album in 1999 with Supernatural, the group’s past four albums hadn’t even went gold.
In 1997 Santana was scheduled to play a show in New York City and Radio City Music Hall and the guitarist at that time Arista Records head Clive Davis to come to the show. The two had a long history as Davis had signed Santana to their first recording contract 3 decades prior when Davis worked for Columbia records.
The guitarist would be reminded by his kids who were teenagers by the late 90’s that they rarely heard their father’s music on the radio anymore, except for the track blacks magic woman and oye coma va. The guitarist knew he was about to be dropped by Polygram and enlisted Clive Davis to help him to stage a career comeback Davis would tell Rolling Stone watching the guitarist on stage in New York that night in 1997 : It was only when I was in Radio City, watching him play, seeing him still the dazzling virtuoso, seeing the younger members of the band with whom he was playing, that it triggered thoughts about the growth of the Hispanic population in America. And I saw a very diverse audience there: ethnic makeup, racial makeup, age makeup. I started thinking, “Wow, I wonder if Carlos could come back?” We agreed to meet in Beverly Hills. Santana had found a new home in Arista Records and
it was at the meeting in Beverly Hills that both parties each agreed to bring seven songs into the studio. Davis would tell Esquire “Give me half the album and trust that I will find material that is integral to your artistry.“The other half of the album will be whatever you want it to be.”. B.B. King would serve as the inspiration for Santana’s comeback album.. The blues guitarist had put out an album in 1997 called Dueces Wild, which was panned by critics, but it had a brilliant blueprint for Santana’s next album. Deuce’s Wild featured a number of guest artists including Tracy Chapman and D’Angelo and Bonnie Raitt. The album also sold more than the average BB King album and so Arista Records had something similar planned for Santan’s comeback record. The label soon started scouring magazine interviews with both older rockstars and newer acts to see who mentioned Santana as one of their influences. About a year and a half later by early 1999 the album had seen quite a bit of progress enlisting the help of Dave Matthews, Eric Clapton, Lauryn Hill and CeeLo Green to name a few. But it became apparent to the label that they were still missing that one song that needed to be their huge radio hit out of the gate. Pete Ganbarg, then an A&R executive at Arista Records. Would tell Esquire “I had this kind of dread in the back of my mind that even though we had a great album, we didn't have a first single that would open the doors for us,”
It would be another A&R exec at Arista and friend of Ganbarg who introduced the team working on the new Santana album to an up and coming songwriter named Itaal Shur who had previously written a few hit songs had a new song he was working on called ‘Room 17.’ Shur pitched the song to the team at Arista and Santana as a potential huge hit trying to capture the same vibe as Santana’s past hits including Black Magic Woman and Oye Co
Clue for tomorrow's video. Another murder story that you may have not heard. This southern band's manager's wife vanished from a grocery store parking lot and was determined to be murdered after the suspect was found weeks later.
AIR-i-sta.....AIR-i-sta
This song was absolutely everywhere when it dropped. I got a lot of respect for Santana due to his talent and longevity in the business. The backstory to Smooth is an interesting one. Thanks for sharing.
Yes it was. You ain't kidding. The lyrics are so catchy I think anybody that's ever heard it can sing it.
Best lyrics and great melody
Love Rob Thomas. Matchbox Twenty is amazing still today.
Love him or hate him in 1999 he brought electric guitar solos back in style. All the 80's heavy metal bands started touring and recording again. He literally brought guitar solos back in pop music.
Man, I still remember when this song was eeeeeeverywhere.
This song was SUPER popular at the time. I loved it too but I also found it so weird the pairing of them and just how popular it was out of nowhere.
My mom was a very social single mom and when I was around 8 or 9, and since she didn't want to leave me alone at home so she used to take me to the clubs with her (this was in a Latin country where laws are very lax regarding kids) and I would try to sleep on the lounge area couches, but I always woke up whenever they played Santana because I loved his music. Fast forward 20 plus years to 1999 and was living in America and having the time of my life being single and having no cares in the world. I had rocked to Ricky Martin's album which came out just prior to this song, but when this song came out, it closed the circle for me! Here I was, the same age that my mom was when I first heard a song by Santana and having had a kid of my own (whom I did not take to the clubs with me) but it was such a rite of passage to party and dance to this song! I have beautiful memories that are all tied to this song of times gone by that will never return but that will forever live in my memory and in my heart. Thank you Rob and Carlos❣❣❣
That's a beautiful story...thanks for sharing
Neat anecdote, thanks for telling us!
@@tunescout❤❤
When Rob starts sharing stories and talking about music 'you know something's going on'. lol
I remember when this song came out. I was a huge fan of Matchbox 20 . I was like; hmmm it sounds latin...but wow thats the Matchbox 20 singer ,wait a minute that sounds like Santana ...no fkn way. Ever since this song plays on radio and I hear that drums and congas fill in to break into the intro ...uffff...you know its on.
I hear a few Matchbox 20 songs as well as this song on the radio a lot and I like them very much
I was not expecting what you looked like based off your voice for all these months I’ve been watching you.
Why does it matter?... I'm just joking, I hate when people do that.
I love finding out what a great UA-camr looks like personally
IKR?
@@UA-camnostalgia914as they used to say, you got a face for radio😎🚬
He speaks American, that’s all that matters
Brilliant song, even more awesome album. Still one of my favorite. I love Santana's music.
This is a perfect example of how much control record executives have over artists and control what they do and what the lyrics are on a song.
Man if you think about it, 98-99 was the last great time in music. That was before the big technology boom when everybody was listening and still buying records. I remember when that album came out. It was fantastic. I would sit down with my guitar and try to play those Santana licks.
I always knew - everything deserving do deserve through hard work - easily accepted that the song had a tricky way to it's well-deserved worldwide auditoria
I'VE NEVER HEARD OF ROB THOMAS BEFORE & FIRST HEARD OF SANTANA WHEN I SAW THEM @ WOODSTOCK.....ABSOLUTELY LOVE ANYTHING SANTANA DOES....I LOVE LISTENINGTO THIS SONG....
FABULOUS SONG
Me too!!!
Glad it came out it’s one of the best songs EVER!😊
I remember hearing bits and pieces of this song, not knowing what it was. Then one morning I driving my daughter to high school and this song came on the radio. I instantly pulled off to the side of the road and told my daughter to be quiet. She was like we're going to be late but sat there and listened to the whole song with me. When it finished, she could see that I was like blown away and so was she. She looked at me and said, "Well, if I have to be a little late, this was a REALLY good reason." Not often a forty year old and a teenager agree about music but this song was THAT good. I bought the CD 2 days later and just about ALL of the songs on it are awesome!!
Love this song, the instrumentals and the vocals!!! Would have been very sad if it was never recorded!!!
I still turn up the radio when smooth comes on
You have to. Anyone who was old enough to listen to music back then still turns it up when it comes on to this day, I’m sure.
I dance to it. And I’m 71 😊
I turn up my radio when this song comes on and want to dance. Santana is the best and Rob's vocals are great!
Hell yeah brother!
Me too, love it ❤
Summer of 99’ was banger
I remember it will.
Last good year….
Lost my memory. Now I realize how important music is. Thank you it's bigger than words.
I still love this song to this day
Smooth: "Second most successful song of all time," --Billboard
#1 (for 12 weeks) on Billboard.
Won 3 Grammys:
Best Record
Best Song
Best Collaboration (Santana and Rob Thomas) Amazing!
✌️😎🎸
Supernatural was just loaded with great tunes.
Oh man, I was 12 in 1999, and it was EVERYWHERE
Same!!!!!!!! That was the decade of good electronics (Eurodance, electronic hip-hop, techno-merengue), grunge and alternative rock, pop-latin music explosion and american pop waterfalls!!!!!!!!!!!! And that year was great year!
Ahhhhhh, Santana. I was 10 when my brother had bought Santana Abraxas in 1970. I've been hooked on anything they produce since. I loved Rob Thomas on vocals, it was perfection.
Abraxas fucking rocks dude
@@georgeemery3295 It does! Always makes me feel good and makes me want to move. You can't help yourself.
I had no clue who Rob Thomas was when this came out and even now I couldn't have picked him out of a line-up. He was just a guy doing a decent guest vocal on a Santana song as far as I knew - I didn't know he wrote the lyrics!
So yeah, I was that 'older demographic' - at the tender age of 26 when it came out :-)
Unlikely? It's a freakkin' GEM!
Clive Davis is a genius. It's pronounced AIR-is-tah. He signed Barry Manilow in the '70s, who had so many platinum records in the '70s. Thanks for the history, man. I just found you and subscribed. LOVE this song, it's one of the best of the '90s!
to me smooth was the first real rock song i had heard in a very long time, i still listen to this song all the time, its an incredible peace of music to me
Great song..great vocals amazing guitar
Very interesting story on this. I always enjoyed the hell out of this song, and it’s cool to know what it took to get it played… Thanks, and great job as always!
Thanks for the informative video!
I remember when the song came out, and first heard it. I was totally blown away! I was already a fan of MB20, and Santana. It was good seeing Carlos finally getting some post Black Magic Woman recognition. Was a good time to be a music fan. Way back when music was... actually music.
Reading some of the comments... Maybe I'm on an island, but I loved the song. Very sexy groove. The horns were on point. Lyrics you could visualize. It all fit together very smooth (excuse the pun). To each their own I guess.
I really wish good music always was the forefront, but unfortunately there is so much that stops that and so much amazing music is buried
Wow, one of my favorite songs (I’m 72 years young) and now love knowing the back story to it from your video. Thank you so much!😊
This is the first time I heard one of your videos. If you apologized for being sick, don't, you were great.
I love the song "Smooth" and the whole album.
Ditto. That was a great album.
@@rticle15 🙂👋🤘🤙👍🏽
Killer vid!! Your work has always been great and just keeps getting better and better, your story telling and research reporting are awesome keep rockin 🤘🏼🤘🏼
Thanks much appreciated
That album flew under my radar until Put Your Lights On caught my attention. I always thought of Smooth as the b side.
Thanks for all the interesting videos , reminds me of VH1 behind the music shorts gives me late 90s vibes love it thanks bro for the entertainment
Very interesting. Thanks for the info. Love Santana and Thomas
When someone does a video about the story of your song, you know something is going on
Every shawty young and old likes this song.
This tune is how I discovered that Carlos doesn't sing lead on any of his songs. Somehow I made it through the '70s without knowing much more about Santana other than Neil Schon played in his band when he was like 15 years old
Mad season is so good I'm so glad it came out
I love this song ❤ Greetings from Brazil ! 👋🇧🇷
Ok darlin, I loved the entire story, but the main thing I gleaned from this is that I've been pronouncing Arista incorrectly for 57 years - as of today, March 3rd - my birthday. I got the gift of knowledge! LOL
I love your channel, so keep up the excellent work, my friend!
Someone pointed out it wasn’t pronounced the way I did it. But glad you enjoyed the story
I'm glad I found your channel! I've been waiting for years for someone to come up with the story behind "Smooth"!
thank you! I've recently done a video on matchbox twenty's first album as well!
Hope you feel better. I liked the slightly slower pace to it, and good to see you !
still sing along with the song whenever I hear it
I love this song Smooth. Carlos Santana has always been one of my favorites. I thought it was awesome that Rob Thomas put together with Santana. also love matchbox 20 I listened to them when I was in Germany. All those crazy parties we had.
Smooth would be in my top-5 all time singles. Also My Sharona.
Awesome 👍 well done 👊
I was a dj when this came out. Ppl used to ask me to play the NEW group, Santana. Lol. Played this song at every gig for a few years.
Good to put a face to the voice at last, dude. 👍🏻
Yeah this was a staple on radio. I’m not sure why radio station was so hesitant about giving Smooth a chance. Latin flavor aside it’s still a rock song and Santana made his way in an era when labels based on race weren’t attached. No one cared about that, Santana is a gifted performer with great music and a rockstar. So didn’t surprise me that the song took off with a new generation
This song didn't get much airplay on rock radio. It got played on pop radio mostly. Put Your Lights On crossed over to rock radio because Everlast had grabbed their attention with Whitey Ford Sings the Blues. Ends and What It's Like gave an audience that had previously ignored rap and hip hop a wake up call. Smooth was just another pop song.
I remember being about four years old at the time, when smooth was used for a freeze dance game, at a party I was at. That was my first introduction to the song, and subsequently Santana. My parents had a copy of the album that we would subsequently have the songs on our CD mixes for the years to come.
Supernatural definitely cemented its legacy in the Santana catalog.
Love this song and the performers !
One of those few songs that was overplayed , but wasn't annoying 😊
You speak for yourself there... this song was the bane of any fast food worker.
Music soothes the soul!
If you haven't heard you should listen to Supernatural Album.. It is great. It has Maria Maria as well and I love the song Put your lights on with Everlast
Interesting to see all the backend work to get a hot song to pop. You dont see that so much these days as the streaming industry is tearing the record companies down. Thx for sharing!
This song was EVERYWHERE
"Something's goin on" 👀🎶
Carlos Stantana is still a wonderful musician. That will go away.
SMOOTH IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS.
ROB THOMAS IS ALSO ONE OF MY FAVORITE ARTISTS.
That WILL NEVER GO AWAY. SORRY FOR MY ERRORS.
Loved This. Thanks
Great information. Love that song.
Real music old school daily ❤❤❤❤
Great video.
Fascinating. Amazing how petty the industry can be. Who knows how many artists they've stood in the way of.
Santa is great saw him day on the green twice. The song is great very smooth. Carlos how could you not think it’s good . I thought you were better than that.
Still love your music one of the greatest in my book.
A Masterpiece ❤
Great backstory, thanks!
Great history !!
New subscriber ✔
Carlos Santana ❤
Rob Thomas ❤
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
GOOD JOB!
Ive still got this on cd, not only is it how i discovered Rob and Matchbox 20, its one of very few songs that both myself and my mother really like, im a rock and heavy metal etc fan, she was a Mod in the uk in the 60s so rock and rockers are not her favourite thing lol
_Labels: "We can't put this out! He will we make any money from it? No one is gonna like this."_
*30 million albums later...*
Now I know Rob Thomas's favorite saying is "something is happening here."
“When there are UA-cam comments about how there’s something going on, that’s how you know something’s going on,” Thomas said.
Something is happening.
@@BurningEmerald yep, and more. He said it 3x or so in the video lol
A dear friend from Switzerland visited me in western Canada and basically the first thing she asked of me was for me to play Santana with Rob Thomas.
Thanks
BEST. SONG. EVER. ❤️
I't sinteresting how the last couple years of the 90s had this wave of comeback hits, Madonna wen massive with ray of light, Cher with Believe, Santana with smooth, And maybe not as far back as them Will Smith had mostly retired from music to be a movie star but then had one hell of a comeback album with "Big WIllie Style" that I believe went Diamond. I'm sure there were others I can;t think of right now
Ahh yes, the background track for fights at Applebees
It was a great song after I heard it the first couple of times. But then they played it nonstop for five years and ran it into the ground. I can’t stand it now and will change the station if it comes on.
Ditto
I always wondered how this collaboration occurred.
That was a good album...isssss a good album...wasnt a classic yet to get air time...one if the greatest songs ever
I do hope Rob Thomas has found someone else to style his hair in the two decades since this song was released
He’s 40ish and he has 😂
Rainbow in the Dark.
I thought I was like only one
This played constantly on the tv's in the blockbuster where i worked in 2000.
In memoriam Raul Rekow, his congas made this song pop out
Smooth
I've never read or heard that "Carlos hated the song in the beginning" before this vid; neither from Carlos or Rob. what is your source for this?
Good grief, I've never been diagnosed as dyslexic, but I feel I should now after misreading the thumbnail. I was scrolling and thought it said "The uphill battle to make a smooth massive shit" 😂
Oh. Have you done a video on cher-believe and autotune?
Smooth is good, a little overplayed at the time but happy for Carlos. I do like Winning & Hold On ⭐️
Winning is so unique for a santana song. It's great
🔥Clive Davis knows his craft😎🚬
Bringing yourself to the forfront? I liked the mystery of the person behind the voice
Super Natural is one of the best LP's ever.
I prefer seeing you speak vs some of the stock video you've used in the past.
I didn't think the song was good. But you know those melodies that you can't get out of your head sometimes? That's what this monstrosity became to me, lol. Might as well join them!
It’s not good it’s GREAT 😊