Artist:Santana
Song:Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen
Album:Abraxas
I guess these days Carlos Santana is looked at as some sort of guitar legend. There's no question he has the technical ability. Musical taste is another matter. I wonder if he ever listens to Abraxas. He was born July 20, 1947 in Mexico and moved to San Francisco in the early 60s. He formed the Santana Blues Band in 1966 with singer/pianist Gregg Rolie. The personnel changed constantly. The group was spotted by promoter Bill Graham and he put them on his Fillmore West shows. Santana signed with Columbia and their 1969 debut was moderately successful. Rolie was still part of the band along with bassist David Brown and percussionist Mike Carabello. Then they added drummer Mike Shrieve and percussionist Jose "Chepito" Areas. Areas did a lot of the arrangements for Abraxas. The album was huge and the classic Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen was a top 5 hit. What eventually happened was Santana became a disciple of Sri Chinmoy and his music changed. He just seemed to have less fire and I don't think he's ever got that back. Abraxas is a must anyway. Columbia/Legacy rereleased it in 1998 with some bonus live tracks from London in 1970. Here's a video of Black Magic Woman by Santana.
No comments:
Post a Comment