Bob Marley & The Wailers – The Santana Secret Tape

:Despite a mutual respect for one another's music, Bob and Santana never recorded together Q: "Is it true that Bob Marley and Santana did some recordings together in 1979? If so what happened to those tapes?" -Ben Kramer It's true that Bob Marley and Mexican guitarist Carlos Santana were fans of one another's music. The artists often played many of the same venues in the process of demanding tour circuits on which they aimed to grow their audiences in Europe and the United States during the 1970s and the early 1980s. The first documented example of Bob's interest in the guitarist's powerful brand of rock is a 1973 home movie where Bob and other members of the Wailers are hanging out at a waterfall in Jamaica, listening to Santana's music. Although Santana and Bob never embarked on a recording session in the studio together, Bob once came close to recording a live number with Santana and his band. In the summer of 1980, during the European leg of Bob's Uprising tour, the pair met up in Germany because of coinciding schedules. Bob was to play at Dortmund, Germany Friday the June 13th. The day before, Santana was in town to play at the same club. It was one of the only days off for Bob and the band during the tour, which carried them all over Europe. Bob attended the Santana show with the rest of the Wailers. It was sold out, and Bob and the Wailers where backstage watching the show. Santana offered Bob Marley and the Wailers to perform with his band onstage during the third and final encore. Al Anderson and Tyrone Downie of he Wailers took Santana up on his offer and came on stage and played with Santana on his classic tune "Evil Ways," from Santana's eponymous 1969 debut album. Because Bob did not join his bandmates onstage that night, today there is no recording of the two greats playing together. Santana himself is an avid music collector, who is said to have a vault of music for all his favorite artists. In the tape trader community, there is a tape called the "Bob Marley Santana Tape," which is full of rare 7-inch and b-side singles of Bob and the Wailers.