SANTANA: "Abraxas"

Original released on LP 

Columbia JC 30130 (US) / 

CBS 64087 (UK)

1970, September 23

The San Francisco Bay Area rock scene of the late '60s was one that encouraged radical experimentation and discouraged the type of mindless conformity that's often plagued corporate rock. When one considers just how different Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, and the Grateful Dead sounded, it becomes obvious just how much it was encouraged. In the mid-'90s, an album as eclectic as "Abraxas" would be considered a marketing exec's worst nightmare. But at the dawn of the 1970s, this unorthodox mix of rock, jazz, salsa, and blues proved quite successful. Whether adding rock elements to salsa king Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va," embracing instrumental jazz-rock on "Incident at Neshabur" and "Samba Pa Ti," or tackling moody blues-rock on Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman," the band keeps things unpredictable yet cohesive. Many of the Santana albums that came out in the '70s are worth acquiring, but for novices, "Abraxas" is an excellent place to start. The album cover features the 1961 painting 'Annunciation', by Mati Klarwein. Carlos Santana saw a reproduction of the Annunciation in a magazine and wanted it for the cover of his all time best selling "Abraxas" album. The way it was painted was in fact a provocation of the traditional Biblical meaning of Annunciation. A winged and tattooed Gabriel is depicted astride a conga drum, pointing heavenwards to a Hebrew Aleph symbol (signifying beginning), with a dark-skinned and naked Mary surrounded by images of fertility. 'Drums were always used to announce something,' Mati said. 'They were a medium of communication in Africa.' To the left are three Wodaabe Charm Dancers, perhaps representing the Three Kings, and an image of Mati himself. (in AllMusic)

SANTANA Debut Album

Original Released on LP Columbia CS 9781
(US, August 1969)

Organist-pianist-vocalist Gregg Rolie, timbalero-conguero Jose “Chepito” Areas, conguero Michael Carabello, bassist David Brown, drummer Michael Shrieve, and guitarist Carlos Santana took their love for blues, funk, rock, jazz, and Afro-Cuban music and from this amalgam forged a new music, a nerw sound, which notwithstanding all the descriptive attempts down through the years is still best described as SANTANA. Without question, it was the sound, and the approach to melody of Carlos Santana that totally set this band apart from any other. Audiences almost immediately connected with that “certain thing” which Carlos Santana embodies, understanding that even in a musical universe populated by a plethora of supremely talented guitarists, there was only one Carlos Santana.

This first self-titled outstanding album, with a sensational cover art by Lee Conklin, was recorded in May 1969 at Pacific Recording, San Mateo, California, but was only released in late August, after Santana’s appearance at Woodstock, the festival which changed them – and us – forever. It was their rendition of “Soul Sacrifice” so dramatically captured in the movie and so indelibly etched in the consciousness of the 400,000 + in attendance which announced «Move over, world: Santana is in the house!».This special set, assembled from the double Legacy edition, contains 6 bonus tracks: an alternative and longer take # 4 of “Soul Sacrifice” (in my opinion superior to the one used in the original album), which was recorded during the May sessions; and five tracks recorded in January 1969, prior to Michael Shrieve and Jose “Chepito” Areas joining the band.

WALLPAPER: "Abraxas"