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Santana - Abraxas

Abraxas

Santana is one of those odd bands that is a band but also a singular musician. The classic lineup of the band was cohesive and the fusion of their various identities was remarkable. As a kid I didn't know a lot about them. Their early work didn't really hit my radar, although over the years "Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen" and the infectious "Oye Como Va" were songs I really enjoyed. I knew that Gregg Rolie the keyboard player and singer in Journey had been in the band along with Neil Schon but that was about it.

For me the first song by Santana that caught my attention was "Winning" back in 1981 and I bought the 45 and then a year later the band hit it big with their rendition of Ian Thomas' "Hold On" that was a carbon copy of the original, except it had a great guitar solo. That was it. Santana was just a '70s band that had come and gone.

gatefold

In the late '80s I saw Carlos Santana open for The Grateful Dead in Tacoma and while he was a mesmerizing figure on stage, his set was instrumental, and at the time it felt overly long and he seemed to take an unnecessary encore. After he left the stage hundreds of microphones suddenly popped up like periscopes from previously submerged submarines in anticipation of The Dead hitting the stage.

Of course almost a decade later Santana (which referred to Carlos at this point) dropped Supernatural and suddenly he was back in the limelight and after thirty years he was relevant again. This was a pretty cool trick, and I have to admit I bought the album. Of course a high tide floats all of the boats in the harbour and suddenly the old stuff was more prominent on classic rock radio. I bought a best of CD and really enjoyed quite a few of the songs. Turns out the songs I liked best from the band's early years came from Abraxas.

poster of the band

I found this copy in a bin and the album looked pretty rough. Mostly dirty, but there was some serious rash on the second side. Oh well, I'd managed to get the album for free with the purchase of some of the other stuff so it was worth taking a chance. I was surprised to see that the original poster was still intact which was pretty cool.

Side one was almost pristine. Which was awesome as the first side featured two of the band's biggest songs, "Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen" and "Oye Como Va" and that whole side was so good.

Flipping it over the second side started out strong with "Se A Cabo" a blistering instrumental. The rash I was worried about could be heard near the end of "Mother's Daughter" and continued into the beginning of "Samba Pa Ti" a song I remembered that was really good. The big surprise was still to come, "Hope You're Feeling Better" another song written by Gregg Rolie who was a big part of the sound on Abraxas.

back cover

I know it's a bit pedestrian to say, but this to me is the only Santana album a casual fan needs to hear. The band and Carlos shared a name, but this was a band effort, and all of the parts were fitted together perfectly. In 1998, when Santana was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame it was the band, and not just Carlos who was inducted. This WAS A BAND and the band was on fire.

  • Carlos Santana - guitar
  • Greg Rolie - keyboards, lead vocals
  • Michael Carabello - percussion
  • David Brown - bass
  • Chepito Areas - percussion, drums, trumpet
  • Michael Shrieve - drums

 

 


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