After absolutely digging Santana’s first album it was just natural that CB would grab ‘Abraxas’ and right from the start I was back in that familiar territory. There was no warming up needed, percussion, electric piano and that searing guitar. The Santana sound. A little instrumental tune up to kick things off then into ‘Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Woman’. Perfect. No better song for CB. What a great groove and version of Peter Green’s tune. Love the way they lead in and then bring in the vocals. Santana kills this one. Then it’s right into ‘Oye Como Va’ with a cool organ lick, bongos and percussion joining in, some spanish vocals and then Carlos goes to town. I love his playing. What a cool groove on this one. The last cut of side one has the band laying down their jazz/rock, sound.
Side two picks it up where we left off on side one with a harder edge. ‘Mother Daughter’ gets Greg Rolie back in the mix with his lyrics and vocals (thought he was the perfect fit). I really like his work and this song, the band cooks. The band slows it down at the start of the next cut with Carlos laying down some nice work. The music builds and the tempo picks up. ‘Hope You’re Feeling Better’ is just a great rock tune with the organ opening it up and the drums kicking in. Liked it when the band rocked out. Carlos cuts loose again. The album ends with a percussive instrumental.
Santana was a band that CB didn’t have a hard time liking. CB loved it. The music was infectious. Driving percussion, organ, vocals, great beat, jams and Carlos’s fantastic playing. The whole package resonated with me. The music just keeps coming at you. Great stuff. I really dig this record.
Catch the Santana beat and the Santana sound.
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I like this one a lot. My introduction to Santanta wasn’t particularly a positive one… that Supernatural shenanigans from 99 or whenever it was. Totally thought he was middle of the road… and then my head was turned towards old Santana stuff thanks to Bruce over at Vinyl Connection. Man, some really intense stuff going on… you can feel the band on the boil. So good.
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Different stuff J. My neighbor gave me a recent Santana record. I snuck over to his place at midnight and put on his porch. Unlistenable for CG. Santana’s first albums are top notch stuff.
(I dropped a comment on you good Bob take)
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Haha! Santana record left on the porch… marvellous! Later stuff is too smooth (pun intended). Not enough of a kick.
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I also dropped off a scary little garden gnome. Had him messed up for weeks. Yeah the early Carlos is the way to go.
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Haha! Amazing!
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Hi CB. I love this album too. What a band And the cover artwork is outstanding!
I think I’ve read that Carlos has been doing a long-term residency in Las Vegas. Not positive about that, though.
Bye for now —
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Like I commented to J, these early Santana albums are fantastic. I was listening to it before I posted and rocked out. Vegas? That scares me.
Later gator –
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Good call – this is an LP I really want. I loved that ‘Mother’s Daughter’ track.
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I’ll keep my eye out for a copy. Yeah it’s a good track. I always forget how much I like Rolie’s vocals until i hear them.
(Go France)
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Santana are one of my favorite bands ever and there is only one Carlos. Excellent album. ‘Samba Pa Ti’ is a beautiful song. We saw them a couple of years ago. Terrific show although the sound mix wasn’t the best. I’d go see them again in a heartbeat even in Vegas. Can’t say enough about this band. Unique. No one even remotely sounds like them.
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I remember your piece on them. Everytime i listen to this album I’m reminded of all those things you just said. I seen them on a double bill years ago with Clapton. The first album i one i still listen to a lot similar to Zep and Creams first outings.
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With Clapton? Boy that sounds like a hell of a show.
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Yes a very good double bill back when they just came out and played. I remember how much you liked the show you saw recently. Like I was saying to J I heard this album, a recent one and it just didn’t grab me. It was done with a bunch of I guess mainstream singers. I think that singer from that Canadian band was on it, Kroeger? I take your word though Doc I’m sure he still cooks.
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Oh, yeah. He does. Carlos may have, for commercial reasons, aligned himself with people who aren’t his equal. But when he comes out with the band they still burn.
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I seen him on a PBS thing a while ago and yeah he was burning. He brought out Peter Green for Black Magic Woman. Nice touch. He strikes me a cool guy.
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The psychedelic albumcover is from Mati Klarwein, a German surrealist painter who also did Miles Davis’s “Bitches Brew”.
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Yes. Great album in all categories. Guys like you and VC have made me appreciate my old vinyl a lot more that I was. Vinyl Connection just reminded me of your comment.
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Mati Klarwein was a student of the Austrian painter Ernst Fuchs. I think he’s art was a key influence for psychedelic surrealism of the 60ths and erarly 70ths. Mati died in 2002. There are only a few books available of his work. Here is a online collection:
http://www.matiklarweinart.com/
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Thanks. I will bracket the time to look at this.
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Classic stuff. I think Caravansserai is still my fave, but Abraxas is fabulous too.
And good on hotfox for mentioning Mati Klarwein’d amazing artwork.
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Absolutely Bruce. Caravansserai will get some ink. When i first started doing that switch from vinyl to cd’s that record was one of the first purchases (Ry Cooder’s ‘Bop Til You Drop’ was the first. In the who cares category). I still hung onto the record. Another cool cover.
And thanks for the Fox heads up. I answered his comment in my head and not with my fingers. Will take care of that now.
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No worries. I think Caravanserai was in my in my first batch of CD purchases too!
The two posts I did on Mati K still get read now and then, which is always nice.
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I’m going to revisit those takes. Now that you’ve turned me into an accidental collector (Kind of). I will pop over later in the week to see what you have new on the turntable. Amazing how many albums back then were fold outs. Your recent post brought that to mind.
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Hot, hot, hot!
Thom
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Yup, yup, yup!
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