Gypsy Queen

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History

Unless you have a better then cursory knowledge of Santana, you might have never known “Gypsy Queen” was a song. It is better known as the second part of the Fleetwood Mac cover “Black Magic Woman” from the album Abraxas. However, in another twist, “Gypsy Queen” was neither written by Santana, nor Fleetwood Mac. The song was originally written and performed by the influential Hungarian jazz guitarist Gabor Szabo on his 1966 album Spellbinder.

Gabor Szabo, "Gypsy Queen"

Phish teased “Gypsy Queen” several times (8/16/93 “Weekapaug,” 10/23/94 and 12/7/94 “Runaway Jim,” and 6/14/95 “Tweezer”) before finally giving the complete song its due on 8/7/96, 3/2/97 and 6/24/97, on each occasion sandwiched by "Runaway Jim." Apparently the band has not listened to much Santana... er... Szabo since the summer of 1997 as the song has not resurfaced. 

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