“Oye Como Va” by Santana

Santana found "Oye Como Va" in Tito Puente's songbook: he wrote it as a cha-cha-chá and released it in 1962 on El Rey Bravo for Tico Records. The band cut their own take for Abraxas in 1970, Columbia sent it out as a single the next year, and it was this version that carried the tune around the world.

That circling block-chord figure has a family tree of its own: Puente most likely lifted it from "Chanchullo", a 1957 mambo by Cachao that he had recorded himself in 1959. The single reached the Billboard Hot 100 at 13, the Easy Listening survey at 11 and the R&B chart at 32. With roots running through Cuba, Puerto Rico and the US, the song has come to stand for how tangled and borderless Latin music in America really is.

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