untitled (Santana 3)
	Produced by Santana Musicians
	Released on September 1971
	US CHART POSITION #1 . . . UK CHART POSITION #6
	Find it at GEMM
KC 30595 cover

A summoning of the same spirits as Abraxas, and thus the ritual remains much the same. The opening “Batuka” begins the rite, tuning the listener’s consciousness in time for “No One To Depend On,” a chant for the disenchanted that remains the album’s most recognizable track. These two songs reflect Abraxas, and it’s fair to say that their third album employs familiar pieces with only a slight shifting of order. Gregg Rolie’s “Taboo” is a predictable Crimson/Cream confection, while “Toussaint l’Overture” is one of those Latin cum jazz workouts unique to Santana. Side two throws a small wrench into the works with a soul/R&B song, “Everybody’s Everything,” that became the album’s big hit at the time. It’s an interesting avenue, an example of the wide range of music that Santana could lay cultural claim to, and yet it may be the most “dated” of all the songs on here. What has travelled remarkably well is the humble and heartwarming “Everything’s Coming Our Way,” a dusty diamond deserving of Eric Clapton that lands a knockout by first getting us to lower our defenses. Around these “pop” songs are the usual orgies of percussion and vocals (the coolly delivered “Guajira,” “Para los Rumberos”) and the aptly titled fusion number, “Jungle Strut.” Though their third album breaks little new ground, it needn’t have. Santana’s fusion of influences is so unique that it could (and did) provide a fertile breeding ground for years to come. The addition of guitarist Neal Schon and the vital participation of Coke Escovedo expanded Santana’s ranks, but the band had obviously elected to retrace the steps of the original magic journey rather than set off for new lands. Santana’s first three albums could be viewed as the penultimate trinity of Pan-American fusion from the Seventies, each a replication of the original rite that called forth the old gods to join the new. Santana 3 (as this was later called, to clear up confusion with their first album) travels over cherished, familiar ground; its magic lies in remembrance as much as discovery.

KC 30595 inner gatefold	KC 30595 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. BATUKA    (Santana)    3:35
2. NO ONE TO DEPEND ON    (Michael P.R. Carabello/Coke Escovedo)    5:25
3. TABOO    (Gregg Rolie/Jose Chepito Areas)    5:40
4. TOUSSAINT L'OVERTURE    (Santana)    5:54
5. EVERYBODY'S EVERYTHING    (Carlos Santana/T. Moss/M. Brown)    3:30
6. GUAJIRA    (David Brown/Rico Reyes/C. Reyes)    5:50
7. JUNGLE STRUT    (G. Ammons)    5:19
8. EVERYTHING'S COMING OUR WAY    (Carlos Santana)    3:19
9. PARA LOS RUMBEROS    (Tito Puente)    2:44
   
   CD reissue bonus tracks
   
10. BATUKA (LIVE)
11. JUNGLE STRUT (LIVE)
12. GUMBO (LIVE)

CREDITS

JOSE CHEPITO AREAS -- timbales, conga, percussion, vocals, drums and flugelhorn
DAVID BROWN -- bass, engineer
MICHAEL P.R. CARABELLO -- conga, vocals, percussion and tambourine
GREGG ROLIE -- piano, organ and vocals
CARLOS SANTANA -- guitar and vocals
NEAL SCHON -- guitar
MICHAEL SHRIEVE -- drums, percussion and vibes
Gregg Errico -- tambourine (2)
Coke Escovedo -- background vocals and percussion assistance
Luis Gasca -- trompeta (9)
Mario Ochoa -- piano solo (6)
Rico Reyes -- vocal, background vocals
Linda Tillery -- background vocals (5,8)
Tower of Power horn section -- horns (5)
Glen Kolotkin -- engineer
Mike Larner -- recordist
Heavy Water Light Show/Mary Ann Mayer -- album design
Joan Chase -- album design, inside photograph

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