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Santana
Posted by Laila Hanson on 05-Jun-08 @ 02:49 PM|
YEARS OF EXISTENCE: 1966-present YEARS OF DECENT EXISTENCE: 1969-1976 BEST RECORDS: Santana (1969), Abraxas (1970), Caravanserai (1972), Moonflower (1977) WORST RECORDS: Everything past 1977. (That's enough CDs to solar panel the roof of your house) GO DOWNLOAD: "Evil Ways," "Black Magic Woman," "Oye Como Va," "Look Up (To See What's Coming Down)," "Soul Sacrifice," "Winning" FILE UNDER: Style Vs. Substance: Who Wins? SIMILAR SOUNDING DINOSAURS: Malo, Mandrill and a bunch of other footnotes who couldn't even make it as a question on VH1's Rock And Roll Jeopardy. Shake down the Mars Volta's iPods and don't be surprised by what you find... THE MUSIC: The '60s were the perfect decade for guitarist Carlos Santana to change the world. Armed with a vision for merging Latin music idioms with electric rock, as well as a multi-ethnic band capable of anything its leader threw at them, Santana (the band) were true innovators in a climate that fostered individuality over sales charts. People still talk about their set at Woodstock more than 40 years ago (captured on the festival's documentary film) as being a milestone in rock. For the next 10 years, the band were embraced by various salsa, funk and jazz scenes, with Carlos embarking on separate blistering collaborations with drummer Buddy Miles and guitarist John McLaughlin. By 1977, however, he remained the lone original member, with many of his former associates going to do things both great (drummer Michael Shrieve explored the possibilities of drum machines and electronic percussion) and abysmal (keyboardist Greg Rollie was a founding member of Journey), and the chemistry simply dissolved. These days, Carlos makes bank by enlisting assorted Wonder Bread rockers (various moon-headed fops from Matchbox Twenty and Maroon 5) to over-emote on top of his exuberant tracks. Hey, even the most spiritually attuned beings have to eat. WHAT THEY SAY: "Santana introduced American and European rock audiences to Latin influences, which they incorporated with blues and hard-rock influences to extraordinary and immediate effect." -Rock, The Rough Guide WHAT I SAY: Imagine if Jimi Hendrix were alive today and he had a hit single featuring guest vocals from Chad Kroeger. (I'm sorry if you read that line with a full stomach.) WHY YOUR (GRAND)PARENTS LIKE THEM: Pop liked watching Mom move her hips to Santan-jams, which led to you being conceived shortly thereafter. Your ugly uncle (y'know, the bald one with the ponytail) was completely down with Carlos' technique, as well as his all-the-world's-holiness-comes-from-my-guitar facial expressions. (Although the fumes probably helped, too.) CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: Carlos is still making the 50-somethings swivel in their Dockers like they're the coolest dudes on the golf course. Last month, Columbia issued the two-disc Multi-Dimensional Warrior, which, aside from having a terrible album title, adequately preserves the man's greatness. Really though, somebody needs to slip him a copy of The Bedlam In Goliath before he books another month of studio time. -Jason Pettigrew |
