"Samba Pa Ti" (Santana)

For as much as I enjoy Santana's rendition of Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va" (as well as the band's famous covers of Willie Bobo's "Evil Ways" and Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman"), my favorite Santana track is Carlos Santana's own composition "Samba Pa Ti" ("Samba for You") from the album Abraxas (1970).  

Based on the various interviews with Santana that I've read/seen over the years, the instrumental holds a special place for him, too, as the first composition of his own that got substantial airplay back in the day.  The sentiment he often expresses about the song is one of liberation.  Basically, it's the song where he finally felt like he was coming into his own as an artist and could successfully express himself in a way that wasn't consciously trying to emulate any other guitarist's sound or technique.

To me, "Samba Pa Ti" perfectly captures the warmth of Santana's signature tone and the fluidity/soulfulness of his soloing.  It's a showcase for his skills without being showy.  There's even a sweetness and humble majesty to the track that I feel pays homage to his modest upbringing as the son of a classically-trained violinist who basically traded performing in orchestras in Mexico for playing in mariachi bands in California so that Carlos and his five siblings could ultimately have a better life in the States.

He pretty much confirmed this in a December 3, 2014, interview with veteran rock journalist Ben Fong-Torres at San Francisco's Castro Theatre.  Journalist Steve Roby's article for BAM magazine online chronicled Santana's response to Fong-Torres's question about what "Samba Pa Ti" means to him.

"(Through that song) I represent all of the people that pick up your food, clean the sheets at every hotel from here to New York...clean the toilets, babysit, gardeners...I am the dreams and aspirations of these invisible people."

A beautiful sentiment for a beautiful song.

"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.