"Oye Como Va" (Santana)

Santana's rendition of "Oye Como Va" from the 1970 album Abraxas might be one of the most universal songs ever recorded.  I've watched everyone from self-professed rockers to hip-hop heads get down to this track.  And it's easy to hear why: the deep, undulating rhythms and Carlos Santana's searing guitar licks fuse funk, Latin jazz, and hard rock into one irresistible amalgam.  It is impossible to sit still while listening to this song.
Thing is, it is so associated with Santana, that some people don't realize it was written and originally performed by percussionist Tito Puente in 1963.  (And it was already a melting pot before Santana got ahold of it.)
Puente, who was a New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent, borrowed the rhythm from Cuban chachachá—a style of dance music that was so named because of the sound dancers' feet made to the rhythm: cha-cha-CHA—and fused it with big band jazz.  The result was a spirited, brassy jam that's pretty infectious itself.
And it's not all that different from Santana's take, actually.  Yeah, there are brass and flutes instead of feverish organ and overdriven guitar, but it's essentially the same groove.
I'm still partial to Santana's version, though.  Simply because I have vivid memories of hearing the song on Mike Harvey's Super Gold oldies show in January 1987 when my family and I were stuck inside with no power during an ice storm.  I can still hear the crappy little speaker in that battery-powered radio buzzing every time Santana hit one of his guitar licks.