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Santana

Santana

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Santana: Moonflower

Review by Mick Brown, Sounds, 15 October 1977

THIS IS THE album that should have been called 'A Period of Transition'. Not that it has anything to do with Van Morrison, but it ...

Santana at The Tabernacle, London

Live Review by Andy Gill, MOJO, March 2000

WHEN THE ENTRANCE to the gig is bathed in the harsh glare of high wattage floodlights like the Academy Awards walkway, and you have to ...

Audio interviews

Carlos Santana (1977)

Interview by Steven Rosen, Rock's Backpages audio, 1977

Carlos Santana talks to Steven Rosen about his musical background. (1977)

File format: MP3 File size: 427kb Interview length: 36 seconds Sound quality: **

Santana's Michael Shrieve (2009)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, June 2009

The Santana drummer remembers the glory days — Abraxas, Woodstock etc. — and the coke, Coke Escovedo and the crumbling of the band.

File format: mp3; file size: 42.1mb, interview length: 45' 56" sound quality: * (phoner)

List of articles in the library

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Santana: Matrix, San Francisco CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 14 November 1968

Santana Band Up Close ...

Has Frisco Gone Commercial?

Report by Michael Lydon, The New York Times, 24 November 1968

  SAN FRANCISCO — In the heady first days of the "San Francisco Sound," someone dubbed the city the "Liverpool of the USA." The title, though ...

Spirit, Kaleidoscope, Chicago Transit Authority: Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA; Procol Harum, Santana, Blue Morning, Aum: Rose Palace, Pasadena CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 17 April 1969

Spirit, Procol Play Concerts ...

Santana: Fillmore East, New York NY

Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 11 November 1969

SANTANA'S RHYTHMS HEARD IN 2 CONCERTS ...

Santana: Santana (Columbia CS 9781)

Review by Lenny Kaye, Fusion, 28 November 1969

THERE ARE guitar bands. There are vocal bands. There are organ bands, horn bands, sometimes stray combinations of all of the above. ...

What To Call Altamont?

Report by uncredited writer, The Berkeley Barb, 12 December 1969

AS IF IT were an ancient pilgrimage to Jerusalem they relentlessly pressed on in the cold grey morning to Altamont Speedway. The sheer numbers were ...

Santana, Elvin Bishop: Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 3 March 1970

Santana Plays Two Rock 'n' Roll Shows ...

Santana, the Allman Brothers Band, the Insect Trust: A War On Rock

Report by Miller Francis Jr., The Great Speckled Bird, 30 March 1970

SANTANA AND the Allman Brothers Band flew right into a hornet's nest last week when they showed up to play at the Municipal Auditorium: there ...

Johnny Winter, Flock, Steamhammer, Santana, It's A Beautiful Day, Taj Mahal: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 25 April 1970

ROCKERS TAKE OVER FOR A NIGHT ...

Santana, It's A Beautiful Day, Taj Mahal: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 April 1970

Beautiful Day a beautiful band ...

Elusive Santana phone from California

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 30 January 1971

WE DON'T WANT TO BECOME A BAND OF GRINNING STARS ...

Santana, the Fourth Way: Winterland, San Francisco CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 27 March 1971

'Black Sheep' Band Simple, Funky, Loose ...

Santana, Terry Reid: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 15 May 1971

Slick, smooth Santana ...

Buddy Miles: Big black hunk of funk

Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 3 June 1972

BUDDY MILES ON SANTANA, HENDRIX ...

Santana: Caravanserai (CBS)

Review by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 21 October 1972

I'M STILL TRYING to unscrew my head after listening to Santana's new album, Caravanserai (CBS). One side features sheer technical brilliance. The other side, wow... ...

Various artists: Fillmore: The Last Days (Fillmore Z3X 31390)

Review by Tom Nolan, Rolling Stone, 9 November 1972

HIS SPIRIT is omnipresent in this elaborate package. He has written extensive program notes to the handsome booklet. He is there suddenly at the beginning ...

Soul Man: Santana

Comment by Vernon Gibbs, Crawdaddy!, February 1973

CARLOS SANTANA laid his gleamingly new Gibson double electric white lead carefully on the stage of The Academy of Music and the M.C. reverently requested ...

Carlos Santana & Mahavishnu John McLaughlin: Love Devotion Surrender

Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 June 1973

Jamming in the spirit of Coltrane ...

Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin: A Pair Of White Pants Will Never Let You Down

Report and Interview by Andrew Tyler, New Musical Express, 15 September 1973

THIS PIECE might easily be subtitled "How to operate with ice-cool expediency without ruffling your cosmique mantle." But that would definitely be rushing things. ...

Spirit Of Santana

Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 17 November 1973

Carlos Santana is in Britain this week with a new vocalist, a new name and a new energy – thanks to the divine intervention of ...

Santana: Welcome

Review by Ian MacDonald, New Musical Express, 19 January 1974

SANTANA WERE always a good group, even though debs and deadheads liked them and played 'Soul Sacrifice' endlessly at boring Friday night Strand-ups. ...

John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana: Cruisin' With The Guru

Interview by David Rensin, Creem, March 1974

The backseat revelations of Carlos Santana & Mahavishnu John McLaughlin ...

Santana, Bad Company: Robertson Gymnasium, University of California at Santa Barbara

Live Review by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 12 September 1974

Carlos in a Cavern: Jazz, Sort of ...

Carlos Santana & Alice Coltrane: Illuminations (CBS)

Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 19 October 1974

SO WHAT did you expect he'd do next? Open a macrobiotic restaurant in Marin County? ...

Santana: Latin Limbo Dancing Over Hot Coals

Retrospective by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 28 December 1974

OF ALL the really big American bands perhaps Santana remain the most enigmatic, the least publicised – yet, ironically, enduring the test of time and ...

Eric Clapton, Santana: Nassau Coliseum, Long Island

Live Review by Ian Dove, Cash Box, 12 July 1975

ERIC CLAPTON, kicking off his new American tour, provided the perfect program for his fans — a total recycling of his old hits. Initial baying ...

Santana, Earth Wind and Fire: Hippodrome, Birmingham

Live Review by Bob Fisher, New Musical Express, 13 September 1975

Lift-off on schedule for Santana tour ...

Carlos Santana: I Can Almost Materialize... If I Think Real Hard…

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 20 September 1975

...be still for I bring peace, love, and a new Santana line-up. ...

Santana and Earth Wind and Fire at Hammersmith Odeon

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 20 September 1975

ONE OF THE ironic features of Columbia's prestigious double billing, Earth Wind And Fire/Santana is that in America right now the kudos for star spot ...

Santana: Guitarists Bore Me To Tears

Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 20 September 1975

OF ALL the great groups to have emerged out of San Francisco since the mid-sixties, Santana have retained a musical credibility that surpasses their home ...

Santana: Lotus

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 20 December 1975

OVER ONE HUNDRED Santana fans coughed up the full twenty pounds for this triple live album when it first appeared on import. ...

Santana: The Ice Cream Man Cometh

Interview by John Swenson, Crawdaddy!, July 1976

LACROSSE, WISC – "Everything OK with the Dip?" ...

Grateful Dead: Dead Slay Wembley

Live Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 14 August 1976

JUST LIKE Woodstock. Even before the New Riders of the Purple Sage kicked off Bill Graham's imported California Jam, bad acid circulated the main stand ...

Carlos Santana: T-Shirts And Sympathy

Report and Interview by Mick Brown, Sounds, 20 November 1976

What you been doing with yourself? How come you only got one guy left from last year's band? What's it like working with the third ...

Santana: Festival (CBS)****

Review by Mick Brown, Sounds, 4 December 1976

THIS ONE'S difficult. From the material previewed on Santana's recent UK tour and from the excitement on the part of the band and particularly Carlos ...

Santana: God Flows from Every Mouth

Interview by Miles, New Musical Express, 18 December 1976

AND THAT DON'T MEAN GOBBIN' ON PEOPLE, WARNS SANTANA ...

Santana: Moonflower

Review by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 29 October 1977

YOU HAVE to hand it to him. Carlos Santana may only know a handful of licks, but at least they're attractive — like the moment ...

Sounds: Classics in Latin

Overview by Vernon Gibbs, Penthouse, January 1978

"YOU KNOW why salsa is so popular in New York?"  asks Izzy Sanabria, publisher of Latin New York. "Because the rhythms of salsa are the ...

The California Jam Festival

Live Review by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, 8 April 1978

THERE WEREN'T even traffic jams. ...

Santana: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by David Hancock, Evening News, London, 31 October 1978

Soaring sound of Santana ...

Santana: Inner Secrets

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 11 November 1978

HOLY KRISHNA! His beneficence returns to the fold of lesser mortals for the annual Santana lesson, that quest whose purpose is boundless, ineffable. Wondrous Santana, ...

Santana: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 11 November 1978

A THREE-NIGHT sell out for sluggish pop group Santana is apparently natural and predictable but seems entirely ludicrous. They function, they churn, they exist – ...

Carlos Santana: Oneness: Silver Dreams/Golden Reality (CBS)

Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 3 March 1979

AS THE sleeve makes abundantly clear, this is Carlos Santana's equivalent of Pete Townshend's Meher Baba solo album: a dedication to Sri Chinmoy, the guru ...

Carlos Santana’s Journey Toward Perfection

Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 21 February 1980

"I’VE WANTED SOME Roy Rogers boots ever since I was a kid." Seated in his manager’s office, Devadip Carlos Santana pulls on a glistening red ...

Carlos Santana

Interview by J.D. Considine, Musician, July 1981

Unable to slake his thirst for new music, Santana swings from jazzy solo outings to rock-based group projects. ...

Carlos Santana

Book Excerpt by John Tobler, Stuart Grundy, 'The Guitar Greats' (BBC Books), 1983

CARLOS SANTANA has continuously led the band that bears his name for nearly fifteen years, and maintained a substantial worldwide popularity, something which requires an ...

Paul Reed Smith's High-Class Hybrid

Interview by J.D. Considine, Musician, July 1984

Bridging the Age-old Gap Between Strat and Paul ...

Santana: Cooling Into The Norm

Profile and Interview by Don Snowden, Musician, June 1985

A BRISK BREEZE cools the crisp San Francisco afternoon but the glaring lights and cumulative body heat of 50-odd crew members, band friends and label ...

Carlos Santana

Profile and Interview by Len Brown, unpublished, 1989

This article appeared in edited form in New Musical Express"This is a good time to replenish, to renourish and drink silence." ...

Santana: Beam Me Up!

Interview by David Sinclair, Q, October 1990

Carlos Santana's fortuitous appearance at the bottom end of the Woodstock bill completely changed his life. From that moment, he was swept up into an ...

Carlos Santana: Sacred Fire

Interview by Rob Steen, MOJO, January 1994

THE VERY LEAST YOU CAN SAY ABOUT CARLOS Santana is that he has always been a pleasant plucker. Surely no-one has ever coaxed as much ...

Santana: Santana

Review by Andy Gill, MOJO, March 1995

SUCCESS SWEPT OVER SANTANA WITH A suddenness which might have destroyed a less durable group. ...

Carlos Santana

Profile and Interview by Andy Gill, MOJO, September 1999

FOR OVER A YEAR, Santana had built a reputation the hardest but most reliable way, by word of mouth. In their home town of San ...

Jack of All Trades: Carlos Santana

Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 14 January 2000

AROUND THIS TIME every year, the American music industry holds its collective breath as the Grammy awards nominations are announced, eager to see which of ...

Carlos Santana: Divine Light — Reconstruction And Mix Translation: Bill Laswell (Sony Jazz)****

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, November 2001

AMBIENT, HINDU-influenced, mystical jazz-rock spectacular. ...

Gregg Rolie's Musical Journey

Interview by Joe Matera, Mixdown, March 2002

WHILE HE MIGHT not be a household name on his own, Gregg Rolie is responsible for co-founding two phenomenally popular, multi-platinum many times over super ...

Santana: In Search Of Space

Retrospective and Interview by Dave DiMartino, MOJO, February 2003

IN 2003 CARLOS SANTANA IS A GLOBAL SUPERSTAR ONCE AGAIN. BUT FOR OVER 20 YEARS, THE GUITARIST WAS CONDEMNED TO THE ARTIST’S WILDERNESS. DAVE DIMARTINO ...

Carlos Santana: Many hippie returns

Interview by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 6 November 2005

He played at Woodstock while out of his brain on LSD. But at 58, Carlos Santana isn't just a 1960s relic: stars like Beyoncé and ...

All That He Is: Santana at Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Richard English, Rock's Backpages, May 2006

IN A PANAMA HAT, Hawaiian shirt, baggy jeans, trainers, shades, pallid complexion, and bristly moustache that he was careful not to get his chewing gum ...

School of Rock: Monterey to Altamont

Guide by Barney Hoskyns, iTunes, 2008

BETWEEN 1966 and 1970, there was a seismic change in British and American pop. Within a few short years "pop" became "rock", and teenagers who'd ...

Woodstock's 40th anniversary

Retrospective and Interview by Alan Light, MSN.com, August 2009

Woodstock was a beginning, and it was an end. ...

Frisco, Where Art Thou: Reassessing the Musical Legacy of the '60s Psychedelic Capital

Retrospective by Gene Sculatti, Rock's Backpages, September 2010

LAST SATURDAY, paging through an article on Robert Plant in the September issue of MOJO, I learned that, upon their initial meeting in a Dublin ...

see also Automatic Man

see also Journey

see also Jorge Santana

see also Azteca

see also Carlos Santana

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