6. Carlos Santana Thinks The Angel "Metatron" Is Responsible For His Success
Carlos Santana is a legendary Mexican-American guitarist whose biggest successes came in the 1960's and '70's with his self-monikered band. But by the time the 1990's rolled around he had ceased to become a household name. His singles or albums hadn't seriously bothered the charts for a decade or more. So how, then, did this busted flush release an album that went 15 times platinum, hit the top of the charts in ten countries and score him nine Grammy awards at the end of that decade? Maybe he simply worked really hard and wrote a bunch of great songs? Nope, wrong. Instead he followed the orders of an angel named Metatron, who visited him during a spell of meditation to dictate what his next album should be. Santana told Rolling Stone that Metatron said:
"We want you to reach junior high schools, high schools and universities. Once you reach them - because we are going to connect you with the best artists of the day - then we want you to present them a new menu. Let them know that they are themselves, multidimensional spirits with enormous possibilities and opportunities. We want you to present them with a new form of existence that transcends religion, politics or the modus operandi of education today'
So what did that translate to in real terms? Basically, sell out. And sell out hard. Santana roped in the likes of Rob Thomas, Lauryn Hill, Dave Matthews, CeeLo Green and Eric Clapton for 1999's Supernatural, which spawned the mega-hit Smooth (according to Billboard, the second most successful single of all time) and brought Santana's career back from the dead. You know, for a while. If there's a lesson here, it's that if you want success, don't work at your craft. Just sit around and wait for a benign spirit to tell you how to achieve success.
David is an office drone and freelance writer for WhatCulture and Moviepilot, among others. He's also foolishly writing a serialised novel on Jukepop and has his own irregularly updated website. He's available for freelance work. Reach out on Twitter to @davefox990
