One of the biggest hits of all time, a song from the Supernatural album marks a partnership between the Matchbox Twenty vocalist and the legendary guitarist
It is no exaggeration to define “Smooth”classic of Santanaas one of the biggest hits of all time. The numbers of the partnership of the group that bears the guitarist’s surname Carlos Santana with the vocalist Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty) help prove this.
In addition to having spent twelve weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — the main chart in the United States —, the track released on the album Supernatural (1999) is also the only song to appear on two decade charts, from the 1990s and 2000s. Even after this impressive run, the song continued to rise and it’s safe to say that it never stopped being big, being present on radios and playlists to this day.
According to Billboard itself, “Smooth” is one of the three most popular songs of all time — second only to “Blinding Lights”of The Weekndand “The Twist”of Chubby Checker. And all this happened due to a certain alignment of the stars, in the view of Thomas and Santana.
The Mexican guitarist has a more conservative opinion about the success of the track, which for him, is related to love. To the newspaper The Globehe said:
The subject (love) is always out of time. It’s the lover and the beloved. Love is something we need a lot of on the radio. Because everywhere you look, there are more exorcist movies, more Satan, more Lucifer.”
Rob Thomas is more practical: the Matchbox Twenty singer says that “Smooth” has a characteristic that cannot be ignored when listening to it. He says:
To truly appreciate the song ‘Smooth’, you have to accept that it’s cheesy, that’s a fact.”
Composition process and characteristics
The vocalist rewrote the lyrics and part of the melody of “Smooth”, initially composed by the jazz musician Itaal Shurwith the title of “Room 17”. Carlos Santana liked the demo made by the vocalist so much that he invited him to sing on the final version, which originally would have George Michael in the voices. Nothing more than the stars aligning.
Just like almost the entire album Supernatural“Smooth” brings a rhythm of Cuban and African origin called guajira, which is characterized by a romantic and at the same time warm atmosphere.
Although the Latin theme is obvious, Santana doesn’t like the label. For him, “Latin music” is an American concept.
The guitarist commented:
‘Latino’ is a word that came from Hollywood, coined to describe Latin lovers like Fernando Lamas and Cesar Romero. For us, it’s just African rhythms. My music is 90% African.”
Whether in Africa or Latin America, “Smooth” stole hearts and even won three Grammys in 2000, in addition to all the numbers — other top spots on the charts include Canada and Croatia, as well as great results in Europe in general.
Santana and the Supernatural phenomenon
Supernatural marked a resurgence of Santana as a group led by the Mexican musician. The last studio album, Miraclehad come out seven years earlier, in 1992, and was far from having the impact of its successor. This is because a real strategy was adopted for the new album: a successful attempt at a revival, with the participation of several younger artists in a movement orchestrated by Clive Davisthen head of the record label Arista Records.
The material contains names such as Lauryn Hill, Cee Lo Green, Manna, Dave Matthews and the veteran Eric Claptonwhich always carries weight in its presence. The result was: more than 30 million copies of the work were sold worldwide.
Rob Thomas was chosen due to the then recent success of Matchbox Twenty’s debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You (1996). So much so that the producer of the band’s album, Matt Serleticwas also responsible for the production of “Smooth”, the first and main of the six singles from Supernatural.
The formula with guests was repeated by Santana on his next album, Shaman (2002), with more strong names: Chad Kroeger (Nickelback), Seal, POD and even the Spanish tenor Placido Domingo appear on the disc. The same happened in All That I Am (2005), Guitar Heaven (2010) and Heart (2014), where several artists participate.
Thomas has become a frequent collaborator with Santana, appearing as a songwriter on several songs. He and Carlos Santana still plan to release material together, including a few albums. All that is needed is the alignment of stars that happened in Supernatural occur again.
Collaborated: André Luiz Fernandes.
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
