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Mexican-born American guitarist Carlos Santana is best known as the leader of the band that bears his last name, which has
toured andrecordedsuccessfully since the late '60s. He has also recorded a series of exploratory solo albums and
collaborations with other musicians thatexpandupon his basic musical style.
Carlos Santana grew up in Mexico, the son of a father who was a mariachi violinist. He took up the violin at five, but at eight
switched totheguitar. The family moved to Tijuana, where he began playing in clubs and bars. In the early '60s, the family
moved to San Francisco. Sa ...read more
Mexican-born American guitarist Carlos Santana is best known as the leader of the band that bears his last name, which has
toured andrecordedsuccessfully since the late '60s. He has also recorded a series of exploratory solo albums and
collaborations with other musicians thatexpandupon his basic musical style.
Carlos Santana grew up in Mexico, the son of a father who was a mariachi violinist. He took up the violin at five, but at eight
switched totheguitar. The family moved to Tijuana, where he began playing in clubs and bars. In the early '60s, the family
moved to San Francisco. Santanaatfirst remained in Tijuana, but he later joined them and attended Mission High School,
graduating in June 1965. In 1966, he was one ofthefounders of the Santana Blues Band. Despite the name, the group was at
first a collective; it was required to name a nominal leader due toaprovision of the musicians union. The name was eventually
shortened to Santana and the band debuted at the Fillmore West theater inSanFrancisco on June 16, 1968. That September,
Carlos played guitar at a concert held at the Fillmore West by Al Kooper to record a follow-up totheSuper Session album that
had featured him with Mike Bloomfield and Steve Stills. The result was The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield andAlKooper,
which marked Santana's recording debut.
Meanwhile, Santana was signed to Columbia Records and recorded a self-titled debut album. At this point, the group was a
sextet consistingofCarlos (guitar), Gregg Rolie (keyboards and vocals), David Brown (bass), Michael Shrieve (drums), Jose
"Chepito" Areas (percussion),andMichael Carabello (percussion). Santana toured the U.S. prior to the release of the album,
including a notable appearance at thecelebratedWoodstock festival in August 1969 that was filmed and recorded. Santana
was released the same month, and it became a massive hit,as did itsfollow-ups Abraxas (1970) and Santana III (1971). After
completing recording and touring activities in connection with Santana III, theoriginalSantana band broke up.
Carlos retained rights to the group's name and he proceeded to lead a band called Santana from then on, though it consisted
of himself andaconstantly changing collection of hired musicians. His first recording after the breakup of the original group
was a live show performed inHawaiiwith singer and drummer Buddy Miles, released in June 1972 as Carlos Santana & Buddy
Miles! Live! Consistent with the success of theSantanaband, the album reached the Top Ten and eventually went platinum.
Following the release of the Santana band album Caravanserai(1972),Carlos formed a duo with John McLaughlin, guitarist for
the Mahavishnu Orchestra. The two shared a spiritual leader in guru Sri Chinmoy,whobestowed upon Carlos the name
Devadip, meaning "the eye, the lamp, and the light of God." Devadip Carlos Santana and MahavishnuJohnMcLaughlin's duo
album Love Devotion Surrender was released in June 1973. It reached the Top 20 and eventually went gold.
Afterreleasinganother Santana band project, Welcome, Carlos next teamed up with another religious disciple, Turiya Alice
Coltrane, widow of JohnColtrane, fora third duo album. Their collaboration, Illuminations, was released in September 1974; it
spent two months in the charts, peaking inthe bottomquarter of the Top 100.
Carlos focused on the Santana band for most of the rest of the 1970s, releasing a series of gold or platinum albums:
Borboletta (1974),Amigos(1975), Festival (1976), Moonflower (1977), and Inner Secrets (1978). In February 1979, he finally
released his first real solo album, thehalf-live, half-studio Oneness/Silver Dreams -- Golden Reality, actually credited to
Devadip. Like Illuminations, it spent a couple of months inthecharts and peaked in the bottom quarter of the Top 100. After
another gold Santana band album, Marathon (1979), he returned to solo workwiththe double-LP jazz collection The Swing of
Delight in August 1980. Featuring such guests as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Ron Carter,itsold a little better than
his previous solo album. Two more Santana band albums, Zebop! (1981) and Shango (1982), followed beforeCarlosreleased a
more pop-oriented solo effort, Havana Moon, in April 1983. Featuring Willie Nelson, Booker T. Jones, and the
FabulousThunderbirds,the album reached the Top 40, actually a better showing than the next Santana band album, Beyond
Appearances (1985). In 1986,Carlosundertook his first musical score, writing music for the Ritchie Valens film biography La
Bamba. He then made another Santana bandalbum,Freedom (1987), and followed it in October 1987 with a solo album, Blues
for Salvador. The album did not sell well, but the title track wonCarloshis first Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental
Performance. After a final Santana band album for Columbia Records, Spirits Dancing intheFlesh (1990), Carlos left the label
and signed to Polydor, which gave him his own custom label, Guts and Grace. The first Santana band albumforthe new
company, Milagro, was followed by what was projected to be a series of releases of tapes from Carlos' own collection of
hisfavoritemusicians, Live Forever: Sacred Sources 1, featuring Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, Stevie Ray Vaughan,
and John Coltrane.Then camea Santana band live album (Sacred Fire - Live in South America, 1993) and in September 1994,
Carlos released Santana Brothers, atrio albumalso featuring his brother Jorge Santana and their nephew, Carlos Hernandez. It
charted briefly and was nominated for a GrammyAward for BestRock Instrumental Performance.
Carlos spent almost five years away from recording, not returning until June 1999 when he issued Supernatural on Arista
Records. TheSantanaband album featured many tracks co-written by guest stars such as Rob Thomas of matchbox 20, Eric
Clapton, Lauryn Hill, and others.Paced bythe number one singles "Smooth" and "Maria Maria," the album became the biggest
hit of Santana's career, selling upwards of tenmillion copies.It also won Santana eight Grammy Awards. « hide |
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