# Santana



## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Another musician I enjoy listening to - any fans of Santana's brand of latin-American infused, guitar-solo oriented rock? Recently purchased the 'Abraxas' album - probably not perfect, but its rawness does have a charm of its own. Plus, 'Black Magic Woman' and 'Samba Pa Ti' are definitely classics.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

You're really going for gold with 70's rock nirvana, aren't you? :lol:

I loved the group's output up until Carlos's spiritiual 'Devadip' persona started to take over at the expense of quality control. Amigos (1976) was the last album I really liked. The late 70s/early 80s albums were really vapid. He had a second commercial wind with Supernatural but that sounded more like an a-lister tribute album to me rather than a creative return to form.


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> You're really going for gold with 70's rock nirvana, aren't you? :lol:
> 
> I loved the group's output up until Carlos's spiritiual 'Devadip' persona started to take over at the expense of quality control. Amigos (1976) was the last album I really liked. The late 70s/early 80s albums were really vapid. He had a second commercial wind with Supernatural but that sounded more like an a-lister tribute album to me rather than a creative return to form.


The 70s was a great time for instrumental music! People played instruments back then! 'Abraxas' is a pretty sweet album though, one has to admit. It may be somewhat raw, but it makes up for it with its wild energy.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Carlos Santana and Buddy Miles! Live! aka Music from Inside a Volcano was a great album. Santana and Miles made a great pairing.


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> You're really going for gold with 70's rock nirvana, aren't you? :lol:
> 
> I loved the group's output up until Carlos's spiritiual 'Devadip' persona started to take over at the expense of quality control. Amigos (1976) was the last album I really liked. The late 70s/early 80s albums were really vapid. He had a second commercial wind with Supernatural but that sounded more like an a-lister tribute album to me rather than a creative return to form.


He did move into a more commercial direction, but fortunately never lost his penchant for sweet blues/latin American licks.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> The 70s was a great time for instrumental music! People played instruments back then! 'Abraxas' is a pretty sweet album though, one has to admit. It may be somewhat raw, but it makes up for it with its wild energy.


Yes, Abraxas is iconic especially with the exotic cover art but my own favourite has to be Santana III - the production's more in your face and the performances sound more spontaneous.


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> Yes, Abraxas is iconic especially with the exotic cover art but my own favourite has to be Santana III - the production's more in your face and the performances sound more spontaneous.


Really? I'll have to check that one out. But do they top 'Black Magic Woman' and 'Samba Pa Ti' at any point?


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Try the original versions of Toussaint L'Overture and No-one To Depend On - links below....


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I had love affairs with all of the heavy bands up to now, but Santana was a no fly zone for me from day one. It's funny how some mega-bands just didn't grab me. Give me Can, Amon Düül, Beefheart, Velvet Underground, Cabaret Voltaire, Talking Heads, Zappa, Rammstein, the Beatles, Roxy Music, Alice Cooper, the Doors, Einstürzende Neubauten, Nick Cave, Van der Graaf Generator, the Stones, Baba Zula, CCR, the Guess Who, Black Sabbath, the Art Bears, the Move...


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Moonflower and Caravanserai are the only Santana albums I need.


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## Antiquarian (Apr 29, 2014)

I used to have quite a few of his albums, but during a move back in the Late 80s I misplaced / lost most of that collection. I enjoyed Abraxas, but _Blues for Salvador_ and _Shango_ were the ones that I began with, and still have.


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

Abraxas and Santana III were my introduction to Santana and remain my favourites.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Abraxas and Caravanserai are my favourite albums. Their absolute highlight is the instrumental masterpiece Samba pa ti.


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## Iean (Nov 17, 2015)

I think the FREEDOM album is so underrated, but i adore it, together with CARAVANSERAI:angel:


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Art Rock said:


> Abraxas and Caravanserai are my favourite albums. Their absolute highlight is the instrumental masterpiece Samba pa ti.


Yeah, Samba Pa Ti is an excellent track - very emotionally sincere and expressive. That track and Black Magic Woman are my favourites from Abraxas, but the other tracks are excellent as well.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> Yeah, Samba Pa Ti is an excellent track - very emotionally sincere and expressive. That track and Black Magic Woman are my favourites from Abraxas, but the other tracks are excellent as well.


If you like Samba Pa Ti then try Europa from the 'Amigos' album. The version below is from the UK leg of a 1976 tour. Rather than his usual Gibsons Carlos was using what looks like the recently-introduced Yamaha SG175 by this time - a guitar that, along with its successor the 2000 (Carlos worked with Yamaha on developing this one) doesn't seem to be in vogue these days:


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> If you like Samba Pa Ti then try Europa from the 'Amigos' album. The version below is from the UK leg of a 1976 tour. Rather than his usual Gibsons Carlos was using what looks like the recently-introduced Yamaha SG175 by this time - a guitar that, along with its successor the 2000 (Carlos worked with Yamaha on developing this one) doesn't seem to be in vogue these days:


Thank you, elgarsghost - will definitely check these out!


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Dr Johnson said:


> Abraxas and Santana III were my introduction to Santana and remain my favourites.


I picked up III last week. It's a great album!


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> Yeah, Samba Pa Ti is an excellent track - very emotionally sincere and expressive. That track and Black Magic Woman are my favourites from Abraxas, but the other tracks are excellent as well.


The original version of Black Magic Woman (Peter Green) is the better one.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> The original version of Black Magic Woman (Peter Green) is the better one.


I don't think I've ever heard it. I'll have to find it on YouTube.


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

starthrower said:


> I don't think I've ever heard it. I'll have to find it on YouTube.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Surprised theres no love for the debut Santana, my own favourite.

Michael Shrieve was only 20 and the band were a last minute draft into the Woodstock festival. Often cited as the highlight.






Easy to forget today, they started n the 60's and latin fusion was considered right out there.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I once read that Michael Shrieve was the second-youngest musician to play at Woodstock. The youngest was Henry Gross from Sha Na Na.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

elgars ghost said:


> I once read that Michael Shrieve was the second-youngest musician to play at Woodstock. The youngest was Henry Gross from Sha Na Na.


Wiki have Shreeve as the youngest. It is ironic if his age was beaten by a member of a DooWop revival band.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Belowpar said:


> Wiki have Shreeve as the youngest. It is ironic if his age was beaten by a member of a DooWop revival band.


Ironic but true:

Shrieve b. July 6 1949
Gross b. April 1 1951


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## Rach Man (Aug 2, 2016)

starthrower said:


> Moonflower and Caravanserai are the only Santana albums I need.


I have to agree with these two albums. One of the main reasons that I like Moonflower is that Greg Walker does most of the vocals. he has an amazing voice.

I saw him live three times. The first time, they were absolutely spectacular, with Greg Walker doing the vocals.The other two times, he just didn't put on a great show.

Anyway, I do agree with starthrower. Moonflower has all the songs that I like with my favorite Santana vocalist belting out the tunes.


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## Rach Man (Aug 2, 2016)

Antiquarian said:


> I used to have quite a few of his albums, but during a move back in the Late 80s I misplaced / lost most of that collection. I enjoyed Abraxas, but _Blues for Salvador_ and _Shango_ were the ones that I began with, and still have.


An added note, I forgot about _Blues for Salvador_. This is a very nice collection of songs that didn't get a lot of publicity. But note that Blues for Salvador was by Carlos Santana (solo). Whereas many of the others are Santana (the group).


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Some good suggestions in this thread. Caravanserai is such a great album.


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