Inside MusiCast 'Pick Of The Day': "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)", by Santana

Inside MusiCast 'Pick Of The Day': "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)", by Santana. Selected by Kim Reilly

"Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)" is an instrumental from the Santana LP Amigos, written by Carlos Santana and Tom Coster. It is one of Santana's most popular compositions and it reached the top in the Spanish Singles Chart in July 1976.

Santana's emotional guitar playing on this track was voted #50 on Guitar World's "100 Greatest Guitar Solos".

When Santana was touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in Manchester, England, he played this song again, this time with Tom Coster who helped him with some of the chords and thus Europa was born.
It was renamed to "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)".

The 16-bar chord progression follows the Circle of Fifths, similar to the jazz standard "Autumn Leaves". Every other verse ends with a Picardy cadence.

– Kim Reilly, IMC Correspondent