“Evil Ways” by Santana

"Evil Ways" belonged to Clarence "Sonny" Henry, who wrote it, and to Willie Bobo, the jazz percussionist who first cut it on Bobo Motion in 1967, but Santana made it famous on their 1969 debut. As a single it gave them their first US Top 40 hit, reaching number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1970.

Gregg Rolie sings lead and cuts loose with a Hammond organ solo in the middle, and then the band kicks into double time for a coda where Carlos Santana takes over with a searing guitar solo while also singing backup. Underneath, the percussion engine never lets up: José "Chepito" Áreas on congas and timbales, Michael Carabello on congas, Michael Shrieve on drums and David Brown on bass. Alberto Gianquinto arranged it, and Brent Dangerfield produced with the band.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.