Credit: Maryanne BilhamPower of Peace, Santana‘s collaborative album with The Isley Brothers, won’t be released until July 28, but you can check out one of the record’s tracks, “I Remember,” exclusively now at Billboard.com. The song, which is the only original tune on the album, was written by Santana drummer Cindy Blackman Santana, Carlos‘ wife, who also contributes lead vocals.
Cindy tells Billboard that she wrote “I Remember” in 1997, and decided to present it to her husband for possible inclusion on Power of Peace because she thought it would suit Ron Isley‘s soulful voice.
“Carlos liked the idea and we took the song down to the studio and played it for everybody, mainly for Ronnie, to see if he would want to perform it,” Cindy recalls. However, although Isley loved the tune, he didn’t think it was quite right for his voice, so Carlos then declared that his wife should sing it — much to her surprise.
Cindy reluctantly agreed to take on the lead vocals, but admits she was nervous about singing in front of Isley, whom she considers “one of the greatest singers ever.”
In order to feel comfortable laying down the vocals, Cindy reveals, “I said…’Ronnie, you can’t look at me. I don’t want you looking at me when I do it,’ because singing in front of that guy is very intimidating. And it just kind of blossomed from there.”
Power of Peace also features covers of 12 tunes previously recorded by such artists as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Chambers Brothers, Billie Holiday, Curtis Mayfield, Muddy Waters and Jackie DeShannon. The songs were chosen to reflect a positive, peaceful message.
“The theme is spiritual divine medicine to counter the fever pitch fear that’s permeating this planet right now,” Carlos explains about the album.
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I Remember (Audio Only) by The Isley Brothers & on VEVO.