Carlos Santana and Clive Davis Reveal Secrets of Their Success .

Lester Cohen, WireImage

Carlos Santana and Clive Davis have made musical story with a partnership that has spanned over four decades. "We started together, I sign the original Santana band, we went through a great career with 'Evil Ways,' 'Oye Como Va,' 'Black Magic Woman,' others," Davis tells Spinner. The two then reteamed more than 20 days after for 'Supernatural,' the duets album that was such a success, it even caught Davis by surprise.

"The explosion could not have been foreseen by either of us. We had set a blueprint. We had a gentlemen's agreement, just a handshake. I would organically come up with six songs that he felt that he could Santana-ize, brand new songs, and that's what came out, 'Smooth' and 'Maria Maria.' Then he would go into his incredible body of work and collaborate," Davis says. "Lo and behold, this album struck a chord in millions all over the world. It sold 28 million copies. It is now the 6th best-selling worldwide album of all time." Now, the two have collaborated again on 'Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of all Time,' another duets album that features Santana covering songs by the best axemen in history. So, what is the key to their rapport? "Bill Graham was the soul that would say, 'If you need to see the Grateful Dead, you gotta see Miles Davis,'" Santana says. "I learned so often in this laboratory. I equate Bill Graham and Clive Davis. It's like watching these scientists put these things together with elements of imagination and stirring and colours and songs and writers and producers." Santana gives full citation for the new album to his longtime friend. "Being a portion of Clive Davis' vision - because this is his sight from beginning, middle and end - I feel really grateful and honored that he pursued it with a lot of strength and diligently," Santana says. For Davis, this album was only the next advancement in their musical history. "I felt we should make a breath from that three-and-a-half-minute rat race and in this creation of electronic programming, drum machines and programmed keyboards, let's get support to the honesty of celebrating the rock instrument, the guitar," he says. "And who better to do it than Carlos? We could cause one album for everybody who loves the guitar as many of the greatest guitar classics of all time."