Santana
	Produced by Brent Dangerfield and Santana
	Released on August 1969
	US CHART POSITION #4 . . . 2x PLATINUM RECORD . . . UK CHART POSITION #26
	Find it at GEMM
CS 9781 cover [high resolution scan]

A fter the powerful performance at Woodstock in the open church of Man, the band known as Santana released this eponymous album into the world, setting into motion a phenomenon that continues strong some forty years on. While the band has undergone myriad lineup changes and shifted its purpose slightly to suit the tastes of the time (disco, pop), it has remained remarkably true to the vision outlined here: Latin jams driven by percussion and punctuated by guitar and organ solos; pop songs realized in the Santana idiom (and often overshadowing the originals in the process); songs that blend the magic jams and pop/jazz forms, often containing an ingenious guitar solo. This first album contains classic examples of each: Babatunde Olatunji's “Jingo” and “Soul Sacrifice” in the jam department, “Evil Ways” as the quintessential Santana cover, “Shades of Time” as the clever original. However, it’s also an album by a band still finding its voice. Heavy blues-rock numbers like “Persuasion” and “You Just Don’t Care” are typical of the post-Cream landscape but not emblematic of the Santana sound. While the bands that went before them (Cream, The Doors, Traffic) certainly influenced Santana, and a cynic might see them as no more than a custom Latin chassis on a commercial engine, their voice is a unique one in rock. No one plays guitar quite like Carlos Santana, their instrumentation (percussion/guitar/organ and minimal bass) is hypnotic and original, and Gregg Rolie left behind some of the greatest organ work in rock music. The band lacks a true lead singer; Rolie and Santana share the duty out of necessity. It’s when one of the pair queues up a solo that the music really sings. As with Zeppelin’s first album, this is more than a sign of things to come; it’s an arrival at a special destination where new sights and sounds flood the senses. Enjoy.

TRACK LISTING

1. WAITING
2. EVIL WAYS    (Joe Zack)
3. SHADES OF TIME
4. SAVOR
5. JINGO    (Michael Babatunde Olantunji)
6. PERSUASION
7. TREAT
8. YOU JUST DON'T CARE
9. SOUL SACRIFICE
   
   CD reissue bonus tracks
   
10. SAVOR (LIVE)
11. SOUL SACRIFICE (LIVE)
12. FRIED NECKBONES (AND SOME HOME FRIES) (LIVE)
    
    2-CD Legacy Edition reissue bonus tracks
    
10. STUDIO JAM #1
11. SOUL SACRIFICE (ALTERNATE TAK 4)
12. STUDIO JAM #2
13. FRIED NECKBONES
14. SOUL SACRIFICE
15. PERSUASION
16. TREAT
17. SHADES OF TIME
18. JINGO
19. WAITING (LIVE)
20. YOU JUST DON'T CARE (LIVE)
21. SAVOR (LIVE)
22. JINGO (LIVE)
23. PERSUASION (LIVE)
24. SOUL SACRIFICE (LIVE)
25. FRIED NECKBONES (LIVE)
    
    Tracks 1-9 written by Santana Band unless noted
    

CREDITS

JOSÉ CHEPITO AREAS -- timbales, conga and percussion
DAVE BROWN -- bass
MIKE CARRABELLO -- conga and percussion
GREGG ROLIE -- piano, organ and vocals
CARLOS SANTANA -- guitar and vocals
MIKE SHRIEVE -- drums
Albert Gianquinto -- recording arrangement
Bob "Deputy Dog" Breault -- engineer
Eric "Gentle Ben" Prestidge -- engineer
Lee Conklin -- cover art
Jim Marshall -- back cover photos

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