Santana

Also available in a 3-pack with ABRAXAS and SANTANA (3rd LP).
Santana: Carlos Santana (vocals, guitar); Greg Rolie (vocals, piano, organ); Dave Brown (bass); Mike Shrieve (drums); Jose Chepito Areas (timbales, congas, percussion); Mike Carabello (congas, percussion).
Reissue producer: Bob Irwin.
Recorded at Pacific Recording, San Mateo, California in May 1969 and live at The Woodstock Festival, Bethel, New York on August 16, 1969.
Includes liner notes by Ben Fong-Torres.
Santana: Carlos Santana (guitar, vocals); Greg Rolie (piano, organ, vocals); Dave Brown (bass); Michael Shrieve (drums); Jose Chepito Areas (timbales, congas, percussion); Mike Carabello (congas, percussion).
Additional personnel: Tower Of Power (horns); Coke Escovedo.
This is part of Columbia/Legacy's Master Sound series.
Before the arrival of Carlos Santana's eponymous band, the San Francisco rock scene drew the inspiration for its jam-oriented music mainly from blues, rock, and Eastern modalities. Santana added Latin music to the mix, forever changing the course of rock & roll history. On their groundbreaking debut album, the group mix Latin percussion with driving rock grooves. Santana's unique guitar style, alternately biting and liquid, vies with the multiple percussionists for the sonic focus.
Unlike later efforts, Santana's first album features an abundance of loose, collective compositions based on a couple of simple riffs ("Jingo," "Soul Sacrifice"). This approach allows for Santana and his bandmates to flex their improvisational muscles to fine effect. The high-energy level on Santana is infectious -- the laid-back feel of other '60s San Francisco groups was clearly not for Carlos and co. ~ Rovi Staff