Santana - Santana (Legacy edition) (2004)

Santana First ALBUM. “Santana” it’s one of the best debut albums of all time, in a unique way makes you almost forget it’s a studio made. But it wasn’t necessarily blessed by the critics when it was first released, and some even called it “noise” (the original Rolling Stone review). But it was proven otherwise, this is a record that hasn’t aged, that remains fresh to the ears and it’s the best moment Santana as a band and the classic line up had. In the following years Carlos Santana followed the same path as a guitarist but far from the wild jams and experimentation of the 60’s and early 70’s.
The album success owed a lot of its success to the Woodstock Festival performance. Jimi Hendrix and his Band of Gypsies are usually crowned as the best act to perform in Woodstock, but Santana, an unknown band then, delivered their short performance in outstanding fashion. A whole band under LSD influence (which Carlos tells they taken just minutes to go on stage) played “Soul Sacrifice” and turned the performance into a historical moment in Rock music with Carlo’s guitar skills influencing as many guitarists in that moment as Hendrix did in his. After the success of the album, it became a trend in Rock to feature Congas and Timbales, The Rolling Stones already had done it in 1968 on “Sympathy for the Devil”, and The Doors earlier in 1969 with “The Soft Parade” among others, but it was with Santana that it’s use became generalized in Rock. It’s not a “sacrifice” to listen to this album, if so, it’s one for the good of your “soul”.

Line Up:

Carlos Santana - guitar, vocals
Gregg Rolie - keyboards, vocals
David Brown - bass
Mike Carabello - conga and percussion
Mike Shrieve - drums
Jose Chepito Areas - timbales, congas and percussion