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One of my greatest regrets is not having seen the original Santana perform live. Saw his 75 tour when he opened for Clapton. He was good but, I think that first lineup had a raw edge that I just happen to prefer

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I was wondering what all you good people here think of Carlos' latest duets and collaboration work with various artists??! :)

I like Smooth w/Rob Thomas and the new song he has with Chad Kroeger of Nickleback. I can't remember the name but I think it is Dancing All through The night. I think it is cool that he likes to collaborate with some of the younger artists.

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I was wondering what all you good people here think of Carlos' latest duets and collaboration work with various artists??! :)

I'm not a big fan of his latest collaborations but love the stuff he did with John Lee Hooker : The Healer, Stripped Me Naked, Chill Out. . I just can't see him as the contemporary artist he's become. To me Carlos is at his best when playing the blues :)

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I was wondering what all you good people here think of Carlos' latest duets and collaboration work with various artists??! :)

I think it worked well on Supernatural.Since then its been hit or miss.I think given the right song with the right artist he will be great.He has the ability to play into alot of different genres.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Who's got this album?

SANTANA.jpg

..............by the way, I'm looking for a song by Santana with a devilish bassline.....just can't remember the name of the song nor can I remember the album it's on....anyone??! :)

I might be able to help ,but I need some more info.Can you tell if it was early Santana[Greg Rollie singing] or was it more of a pop song?Was it played on the radio alot.Any possible time period?

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I've loved Santana since the late 70s when a friend turned me on to them. I've seen them live 4 times back in the late 70s, early 80s. My favorite song is Europa. I was also lucky enough to see Gabor Szabo back in 75 at the old Lighthouse in Redondo Beach. I never knew he was an influence on Santana, but it makes total sense.

He reminds me of Robert Plant and Neil Young, always exploring new musical styles and keeping it fresh.

Edited by Planted In My Mind
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I might be able to help ,but I need some more info.Can you tell if it was early Santana[Greg Rollie singing] or was it more of a pop song?Was it played on the radio alot.Any possible time period?

Yes, very early Santana. I had bits and pieces of his ongs on an old tape once and it was the "Maria Caracoles" period..... :unsure:

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I was wondering what all you good people here think of Carlos' latest duets and collaboration work with various artists??! :)

I dig his latest duet with Nickelback. The song is called "Into the Night". I just can't get over how tight he still sounds after all these years of performing. I regret not being around to see him at woodstock, and someone mentioned him playing with Dylan. Thats like a couple of Gods going on tour together. I'm really kicking myself for not being able to see that! I don't know what album it is from, but I've always liked "Oye Como Va" myself.

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  • 3 months later...

I've been listening to a lot of Santana this week.

I've discovered that Caravanseri is one of their best albums.

Abraxas gives me goosebumps.

Love Devotion Surrender is an underrated gem of jazz fusion.

I also need to listen to Lotus sometime soon.

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I've been listening to a lot of Santana this week.

I've discovered that Caravanseri is one of their best albums.

Abraxas gives me goosebumps.

Love Devotion Surrender is an underrated gem of jazz fusion.

I also need to listen to Lotus sometime soon.

I love Caravanseri. :)

Abraxas has long been one of my very favorite albums.

The RS interview with Carlos Santana:

Secrets of the Guitar Heroes: Carlos Santana

DAVID FRICKE

Posted Jun 12, 2008 2:20 PM

You were born in Mexico, your father was a mariachi violinist, and you played the violin before taking up the guitar. Did you feel torn between the old and new when you discovered electric blues?

I don't disrespect tradition. But it is not going to hold me back. John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins and Jimmy Reed — that was something I needed. I started with those three gentlemen, because they were the ultimate in simplicity. They make it look simple. But if you try to play like John Lee Hooker or Jimmy Reed, it's not that easy.

I joined my father in the streets, playing boleros. But I had my ear on Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Bo Diddley, on B.B. King and T-Bone Walker. There was nothing plastic about those guys. They went deep, and each note carried something important. I knew, from a long time ago, the difference between notes and life. I'd rather play life than notes. It's OK to learn how to read music. It's not going to hurt you. You can go to the Berklee College of Music. But they do not teach you how to play life.

As a teenager in San Francisco, you went to many early Fillmore shows. Who were some of the guitarists you first saw there?

The same people Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page were into — Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Freddie King and Albert King — and Michael Bloomfield and [Fleetwood Mac's] Peter Green. Even before Jimi Hendrix came out in '67, Bloomfield was hitting it hard with Paul Butterfield's band on things like East-West. It was a different kind of blues, even for white people. When you closed your eyes, it did not sound white.

What about Jerry Garcia? He was playing almost every night all over town with the Grateful Dead.

There is something in me — my body will not let in bluegrass music. I love Merle Haggard and Buck Owens — the songwriting — and of course Willie Nelson. But there are certain kinds of music that my body doesn't allow. One is norteño. Another is bluegrass, and Jerry's playing had a lot of that. When he did "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" — which is more in a Buddy Guy-Junior Wells style — I was like, "OK, I can listen to that." I'm very particular. There is certain music that I just don't want to know about [laughs]. I'm still working on that.

When Santana played at Woodstock in 1969, you already had your trademark sound, that piercing sustain in which you hold a single note for what seems like ages. How did playing with so much high-speed percussion affect your approach to soloing?

The more somebody plays fast around you, the more you slow down and play long, legato lines. In "Jingo" [on 1969's Santana], we had that bass line and the conga going in that rhythm. I had to do something different. Plus, I started with the violin, which was drawing long notes with a bow. I realized that playing longer notes, sustaining them, was more appealing.

It was getting crowded at that time with blues people. My voice on the guitar felt more natural in a different vocabulary. But I still love the blues. You need to marinate yourself in that music daily. It's like putting syrup on pancakes. If you don't have any syrup, the pancakes are not that cool [laughs]. If there's no blues in it, then I won't listen.

What was it like to hear those notes sail over that huge Woodstock crowd?

It was beyond scary, especially because I was at the peak of acid. I said, "God, please help me stay in tune. Please help me stay in time. I promise I'll never touch this stuff again." Of course, I lied [laughs]. What I remember is that it was really hot, all of the other bands were playing the same — and we were different. When we started, it felt like we were back in Aquatic Park in San Francisco, where people would drink wine, smoke a little hemp and just play congas. It felt that natural.

It's amazing — within a year [after that show], everybody had congas and timbales: the Rolling Stones, Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis. All we really did was integrate Tito Puente, Afro-Cuban musicians like Mongo Santamaria, into the blues that I loved.

How would you describe your role in Santana as a guitarist? It's your name on the marquee, but there is so much going on under and around you.

I tie it all together. We play Santana music, but at the same time, we become like John F. Kennedy Airport. Bob Marley, Miles, John Coltrane, Marvin Gaye and Jimi — they are going to land here and there. We are going to visit those guys. But we are still going to sound like Santana. What I do with the guitar, when I move around in the music, is make sure that the bass, drums and keyboards are on the one [makes a heartbeat-rhythm sound]. That creates the trance, the spell. And it makes women go absolutely wild. It's the same thing Miles had with his group. You play two or three notes and let people know, "It's fun exploring, but now we gotta get back to this."

Do you have a practice regimen? How much do you play offstage, when you are not recording?

I don't call it practice. I call it dipping. I have a serious collection of records — Wes Montgomery, Miles, Jimi, a lot of Marvin Gaye — and I play along with them. I try to play the way Marvin sings. I don't practice to know where my fingers go. I'm curious about how to penetrate inside the note. I think it was the Grateful Dead who used to say the music is playing you. You're not playing it. I want to utilize sound, resonance, vibration, to bring people closer to their own hearts.

And you do it without pedals — just volume and touch.

I only use a wah-wah once in a while. I'm wired, just like Buddy Guy. Buddy can grab any guitar, any amplifier, and they're gonna sound like him. When I do it, it's still going to sound like me. I stopped fighting it. I used to want to sound like Otis Rush. The way he sings and plays guitar in "Double Trouble" — there's a reason why Eric Clapton quotes him every night [laughs].

You talk a lot about trances. Do you go there when you hit one of those long notes?

You have to give yourself chills before anyone else gets them. I become less of a ringmaster. I forget to correct anyone onstage. I just go into my guitar. I can see the rest of the musicians going, "Yep, he's hungry, and he's helping himself."

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/210..._carlos_santana

[From Issue 1054 — June 12, 2008]

Edited by MadScreamingGallery
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I've been listening to a lot of Santana this week.

I've discovered that Caravanseri is one of their best albums.

Abraxas gives me goosebumps.

Love Devotion Surrender is an underrated gem of jazz fusion.

I also need to listen to Lotus sometime soon.

Love Devotion and Surrender is an unbelievably good album! Their version of A Love Supreme is stellar. I would agree my favorite Santana album is by far Caravanserai. I love the rawness of the first one but Caravanserai moves me more.

Have seen him in concert many times. Every time he plays Black Magic Woman (at an outdoor show), it managed to rain.

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  • 8 months later...
Anybody want to dicuss Santana.I am a big fan.He has had a long career with all different kinds of lineups and syles of music.

My favorite period is the early years with Greg Rollie.I also liked Supernatural and alot of things in between.

My top 5 favorite albums

1) Santana III first album with a young Neil Schon a harder rocking album for sure.

2)Lotus live album with alot of amazing guitar work

3)Moonflower Santana goes popular

4)Santana first album fresh new sound heard at woodstock

5)Abraxis nice combo rock and some more progresive music

There are alot of others I could pick too.

How's it going "xmas" as well as our fellow die hard hard core ZEPPELIN fanatics? I am a big SANTANA fan! I own every single SANTANA album that was released and I still love all of them to this day. I have seen SANTANA live 10 times and he just keeps getting better. I am so glad that "xmas" posted a thread on SANTANA, I did not know that there was a thread on SANTANA and I was getting ready to write one. "xmas" did save me a lot of writing in the long run. As a friendly reminder, I wrote in my FLEETWOOD MAC thread that Peter Green would be a big influence on Carlos Santana. If you listen to the song "The Super-Natural" from the A HARD ROAD album by JOHN MAYALL & THE BLUESBREAKERS released in 1967, you will know EXACTLY where Carlos Santana copied his trademark guitar sound from. Also, Carlos Santana would record a Peter Green composition song that would go on to becoming a trademark SANTANA anthem. The name of the song, "Black Magic Woman." Please do not get me wrong, I am not putting down Carlos Santana in any way. I just want Peter Green to get his due when deserved. Peter Green has become a forgotten guitarist as years went on and many of his accomplishments and achievements in FLEETWOOD MAC have gone unrecognized until the new millenium came upon us. Now, PETER GREEN'S FLEETWOOD MAC is finally getting the recognition and attention that they truly deserve. If you haven't listened to FLEETWOOD MAC (The Peter Green Era) 1967-1970, you are missing out on some of the greatest Hard Rock Blues music that you have ever heard. For those of you that are Mick Taylor fans of THE ROLLING STONES 1969-1974 period, listen to Peter Green's guitar playing and sound style during his years with John Mayall and later with FLEETWOOD MAC. Listening to Green's style of guitar playing and sound, you will know exactly where Mick Taylor copied his Hard Rock Blues sound from. Mick Taylor would bring the Peter Green Hard Rock Blues sound with him when he joined THE ROLLING STONES in 1969 and gave THE STONES new life. THE ROLLING STONES were indeed, THE GREATEST ROCK N" ROLL BAND IN THE WORLD in 1969! Everytime you hear a SANTANA song especially "Black Magic Woman," Peter Green is there in his music. ROCK ON!

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Carols Santana....I love Santana, Abraxis.....I think this defines Santana...

His classic masterpiece Black Magic Woman is on my honorable list. He has such intoxicating charisma stemming from his cultural roots.....Gracias Carlos.

Edited by PlanetPage
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Carols Santana....I love Santana, Abraxis.....I think this defines Santana...

His classic masterpiece Black Magic Woman is on my honorable list. He has such intoxicating charisma stemming from his cultural roots.....Gracias Carlos.

Certainly one of his best albums. I'd recommend his first one and Caravanserai as well. The latter is more jazzy in feel but probably my favorite of all of his.

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Certainly one of his best albums. I'd recommend his first one and Caravanserai as well. The latter is more jazzy in feel but probably my favorite of all of his.

I've met Carlos several times and played a gig with his percussionist, Chepito Areas, a few years back in the city. Caravanserai was a real turning point for Carlos because he bucked Clive Davis' advise to make it more commercial and stayed true to his vision. Michael Shrieve had a big part realizing the sound on this release. In a similar vein were the albums Welcome and the spectacular triple- live album Lotus.

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I've met Carlos several times and played a gig with his percussionist, Chepito Areas, a few years back in the city. Caravanserai was a real turning point for Carlos because he bucked Clive Davis' advise to make it more commercial and stayed true to his vision. Michael Shrieve had a big part realizing the sound on this release. In a similar vein were the albums Welcome and the spectacular triple- live album Lotus.

That's very cool. I also enjoyed the devotional album he did with Alice Coltrane and of course Love, Devotion and Surrender is amazing with John McLaughlin.

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That's very cool. I also enjoyed the devotional album he did with Alice Coltrane and of course Love, Devotion and Surrender is amazing with John McLaughlin.

I have a live double c.d. of a Santana/ Mc Laughlin 1973 concert at the Chicago Auditorium . It was a short tour that coincided with Love, Devotion and Surrender release. It's amazing and has Billy Cobham, Larry Young, Doug Rauch, and Armando Peraza performing with them. A stunning show.

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I have a live double c.d. of a Santana/ Mc Laughlin 1973 concert at the Chicago Auditorium . It was a short tour that coincided with Love, Devotion and Surrender release. It's amazing and has Billy Cobham, Larry Young, Doug Rauch, and Armando Peraza performing with them. A stunning show.

Oh my :o I bet that is amazing, especially with Billy Cobham on drums!!! Is that official or unofficial?

Are you into Santana's more recent releases?

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