Carlos Santana Live at The House of Blues in Las Vegas 2016

Carlos Santana told Mojo magazine November 2008 that he felt that this was his first recording when he was truly able to express himself. He explained: "I remember being alone one evening- until then when I heard my records it was like seeing myself in the mirror and there was no me there, only a lot of other guitarists' faces: B.B., George Benson, Peter Green.

That evening I heard Samba Pa Ti on the radio and I looked in the mirror and it was my face, my tone, my fingerprints, my identity, my uniqueness. Because when I recorded it I was thinking of nothing, it was just pure feeling. I have a suspicion it came from stuff bottled up inside me, that I didn't know how to express or articulate. I get angry because, 'Why can't I say what I really mean?' Then Samba Pa To comes out of me. And everybody understands it."