Smooth

Rob Thomas credits Clive Davis with cross-generational magic behind Santana’s Smooth

Rob Thomas salutes Clive Davis as a rare tastemaker who trusted his gut over industry trends, recounting how Davis paired an older guitarist with younger generations to create cross-generational hits—most notably Santana’s Smooth and the Supernatural era—while weighing a Tina Turner collaboration before deciding otherwise, a testament to Davis’s instinctual approach that Thomas says is increasingly rare in today’s label world.