Santana is an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1966 by Mexican-born guitarist Carlos Santana. The band has undergone various recording and performing line-ups in its history, with Santana being the only consistent member. After signing with Columbia Records, the band's appearance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 increased their profile, and they went on to record the commercially successful and critically-acclaimed albums Santana (1969), Abraxas (1970), and Santana III (1971). These were recorded by the group's "classic" line-up, featuring Gregg Rolie, Michael Carabello, Michael Shrieve, David Brown, and José "Chepito" Areas. Hit songs of this period include "Evil Ways", "Black Magic Woman", "Oye Como Va", and the instrumental "Samba Pa Ti".
Following a change in line-up and musical direction in 1972, the band experimented with elements of jazz fusion on Caravanserai (1972), Welcome (1973), and Borboletta (1974). The band reached a new peak of critical and commercial success with their eighteenth album Supernatural (1999), which included the Billboard Hot 100-number one singles "Smooth" (featuring Rob Thomas) and "Maria Maria" (featuring The Product G&B). The album peaked atop the charts in eleven countries, and sold 12 million copies domestically. In 2014, the "classic" line-up reunited for Santana IV (2016) and the group continue to perform and record.
Santana is one of the best-selling groups of all time with over 47 million certified albums sold in the US, and an estimated 100 million sold worldwide. Its discography includes 25 studio albums, 14 of which reached the US top 10. In 1998, the line-up of Santana, Rolie, Carabello, Shrieve, Brown, and Areas was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2000, the band won eight Grammy Awards in one night, a record tied with Michael Jackson, and three Latin Grammy Awards.
Santana is a solo lead guitarist, not a riff monster like Page or Richards. He also wasn't into two-minute, two-chord crunch fests. What did you expect?
"Rock" has room for a lot of different styles (sub-genres). That's what makes it so great. As a drummer back then and up through the years, I didn't limit myself to one thing, just like I don't eat and drink the same thing every day. I appreciated (and still do) everything from folk, pop, prog, fusion, funk, hard rock, punk, new wave/post-punk, you name it. My criteria were things like: 'does it sound good...does it groove?', 'does it fit a mood at the time?', 'Is it saying something to me?'
Throw open the doors of your mind, man, there's a lot out there to discover. Like Junior in the movie Platoon said, "Free your mind and your ass will follow."
AMEN to that!!
So let's follow that logic. No John Coltrane, endless sax solos. No Thelonious Monk, too much piano. No Billie Holliday, too much singing. No Itzhak Perlman, too much violin. No Yo Yo Ma, endless cello solos. Miles Davis? Paco De Lucia? Julian Bream? And so on.
Musicians who master their instrument are compelled to share it. If that guitar is too much, there is always Pandora. Or Adele. Oh, wait, all she does is sing. How about John Cage, or John Tavener. Half the time, there is very little music to their music at all. I suppose that's one of the points. As opposed to punk, a lot of which, good as it can be, is a howling wall of angry dissonance. Millions of us will prefer the soaring solos.
What punk band? What was its name? The Dead Complainers?
Santana is a solo lead guitarist, not a riff monster like Page or Richards. He also wasn't into two-minute, two-chord crunch fests. What did you expect?
"Rock" has room for a lot of different styles (sub-genres). That's what makes it so great. As a drummer back then and up through the years, I didn't limit myself to one thing, just like I don't eat and drink the same thing every day. I appreciated (and still do) everything from folk, pop, prog, fusion, funk, hard rock, punk, new wave/post-punk, you name it. My criteria were things like: 'does it sound good...does it groove?', 'does it fit a mood at the time?', 'Is it saying something to me?'
Throw open the doors of your mind, man, there's a lot out there to discover. Like Junior in the movie Platoon said, "Free your mind and your ass will follow."
Heard and loved this album millions of times in the 70s... Absolute masterpiece.
If it's tedious, you're doing it wrong.
"Drawing on rock, salsa, and jazz, Santana recorded one imaginative, unpredictable gem after another during the 1970s. But Caravanserai is daring even by Santana's high standards. Carlos Santana was obviously very hip to jazz fusion -- something the innovative guitarist provides a generous dose of on the largely instrumental Caravanserai. Whether its approach is jazz-rock or simply rock, this album is consistently inspired and quite adventurous. Full of heartfelt, introspective guitar solos, it lacks the immediacy of Santana or Abraxas. Like the type of jazz that influenced it, this pearl (which marked the beginning of keyboardist/composer Tom Coster's highly beneficial membership in the band) requires a number of listenings in order to be absorbed and fully appreciated. But make no mistake: this is one of Santana's finest accomplishments."
Toronto Wedding Limo Company probably treats their valuable customers in Toronto like shit.
Take your spam & shove it! NO advertising allowed here!
What a fabulous album and this track sends me on a trip✌️
my favorite Santana album
Alex Henderson review from allmusic
"Drawing on rock, salsa, and jazz, Santana recorded one imaginative, unpredictable gem after another during the 1970s. But Caravanserai is daring even by Santana's high standards. Carlos Santana was obviously very hip to jazz fusion -- something the innovative guitarist provides a generous dose of on the largely instrumental Caravanserai. Whether its approach is jazz-rock or simply rock, this album is consistently inspired and quite adventurous. Full of heartfelt, introspective guitar solos, it lacks the immediacy of Santana or Abraxas. Like the type of jazz that influenced it, this pearl (which marked the beginning of keyboardist/composer Tom Coster's highly beneficial membership in the band) requires a number of listenings in order to be absorbed and fully appreciated. But make no mistake: this is one of Santana's finest accomplishments."
This, and of course WELCOME from 1973
Say what you will, Carlos is and was a guitar deity. There, I said it.
Very well stated!!