Carlos Santana explains the secret ingredient that makes AC/DC “phenomenal”
The key to all good Santana records has been based on the feel of the music. As much as people can just play the right notes of a Carlos Santana classic and get by just fine, the real measure of the man’s talent is how he can put emotion into every single record he puts out, usually letting his guitar say what words can’t express. Carlos may just rely on following his heart most of the time, but he noticed that there was another band that had the same passion he did when listening to AC/DC.
It almost feels like nonsense to put Santana on the same musical level as AC/DC. If comparing regular rock bands is like comparing apples and oranges, looking at the Latin rock icon with the straight-ahead rock Aussies is like looking at apples and shellfish. There’s a lot in common with them that meets the eye if you know where to look for it.
AC/DC and Santana may not be joined at the hip musically, but both outfits have relied heavily on their sense of groove to get them places. When listening to a Santana production, it tends to feel like you’ve walked into a band rehearsal in the middle of a jam session as they turn what could just be a bunch of chords into this living entity.
Even when Santana made his turn as a star with different guest stars on Supernatural, that structural foundation was still intact. You can hate on a song like ‘Smooth’ as much as you want, but as soon as Carlos’s guitar comes screaming in, you know that he’s still got the chops that he built his career on.
The same could be said of AC/DC. While their lead playing is considerably scaled back compared to what Santana could do, it’s easy to imagine Angus Young having the same attitude whenever he took a solo. Albums like Highway to Hell may be a little more compact than Santana’s output, but they still rely on the idea that if the song feels right, that means that it’s ready to record.
While Santana might not be playing a version of ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’ the same way Angus does, he knew that the Aussies had something special, telling MusicRadar, “I’m a big fan. The grooves that they put down are phenomenal. You know, a lot of what they do comes from Chuck Berry. He almost dances like Chuck Berry!”
Whereas Carlos had a great deal of respect for what Angus does, he said the most important part of the group was Malcolm’s right hand, explaining, “His brother is the one, the rhythm guitarist. He’s holding the whole thing together. To me, the rhythm guitar is the real muscle of any band. To be a really good guitarist, you have to know when to play lead and when to stick to rhythm.”
Regardless of their occasional genre clashes, both Santana and AC/DC are cut from the same cloth when it comes to their music, always drawing on the same foundation of groove whenever they perform. Although a joint tour with both bands might be a bit much for both fanbases to take in, there’s a good chance that both acts would get along well together.
