Santana [Legacy Edition]

good album with nice extras specially the Woodstock extras so i am quite please.

shame they didn't do a deluxe edition

1969 - a very exciting year for rock fans, many new styles and influences had been

appearing from all over the world and the foundations were being laid down for future

generations. Among these was Carlos Santana from Mexico, who brought a new Latin

influence to electric guitar led rock, Carlos unselfishly allowing his unrestrained

musicians to express themselves freely with exciting Latin drums, percussion and organ

openly competing with the lead instrument, but all blending in perfectly at the same

time.

Having almost stolen the show at Woodstock with a brilliant well-documented

performance of "Soul Sacrifice" Santana took the music world by storm even before this

amazing first album was released. The popular laid-back peace-loving Hippy image

belied a ruthless businesslike professionalism among musicians and artists, all competing

yet all sharing a revitalised hotbed of creativity and imagination, by this time even The

Beatles were beginning to be overshadowed by overwhelmingly talented artists such as

Santana, the Blues boom and the emergence of the Progressive revolution. Such was

the level of creative pressure at this time bands were expected to release an album (or

two) every year and they still managed to produce great music - we never had it so

good!

Santana had honed his band and his sound almost to perfection, very evident on this

milestone debut album, the crystal clarity, freshness and vitality bursts through the

speakers on every track, so much energy is here it is impossible to keep still - I

remember at the time at almost every party this sexy soulful music would be played

over and over! I still play this album regularly, often marvelling at the brilliant sound

quality and vitality it reveals.

Most of the tracks on this album are exceptional - the first "Waiting" starts gently and

features the rock organ punctuated by brief busts of guitar and bongos, but by the

second track things start to cook! The moderately paced "Evil Ways" was a huge hit for

the band, and is well-placed in the sequence of tracks here (I love the line "when I

come home, baby, my house is dark and my pots are cold.."), after liquid solos from

Carlos and Gregg Rolie on organ things literally burst into speed, a good primer for the

fast pace the songs reach in the next three tracks on side 1. "Shades of Time" slips

into a classic latin beat then literally bursts out of the speakers! An amazing catchy riff

and solo from Carlos the song then leads into "Savor" - now things are really cooking

on gas, as they say! A fast and furious Latin jam featuring percussion and organ, those

drums really come alive, and that single splash cymbal hovers way up over the

speakers, and if that wasn't enough the song is followed by another monster hit, the

instrumental "Jin-Go-Lo-Ba", used for countless TV and radio themes, the tribal drums

on this have to be heard to be believed, lauded by music fans of every genre, the beat

is magical and infectious - guaranteed to break the thickest ice!

On side 2 the pressure doesn't let up, though "Persuasion", and "You Just Don't Care"

are possibly the weakest songs on the album, but still contain some amazing

musicianship, "Treat" is an slow bluesey instrumental containing some late-nite bar room

tinkling piano, the middle section breaks into a Latin rhythm and a trademark signature

solo from Carlos, it's amazing how much emotion this man can bleed from a guitar - a

true master even at this early stage in his career. The whole album is crowned by their

masterpiece "Soul Sacrifice", eminently displayed at Woodstock where the song ran for

eleven minutes but is just over six minutes here. This instrumental has a very catchy

theme and a driving beat, which is worked around with some very energetic playing

from all musicians in turn, including those drums (Mike Shrieve) , percussion (Mike

Carabello and Jose Chepito Areas) and organ (Gregg Rolie).

This important debut was the first in a run of four of Santana's best albums, praised by

fans of all genres, and an essential masterpiece to any Jazz/Fusion collection!

I JUST SAW IT AND JUMP ON IT i did'nt knew first it has great sound quality . disk one has the original lp included :
waiting , evil ways , shades of time , savor, jingo , persuasion, treat and you just don't care- but those songs you can find enywhere ( best of , greatest ....) in this case they put more 3 tracks mixed on it at sony music NY.
disk 2 - original album sessions 6 tracks plus live at the woodstock music & arts festival , august 1969 ( most of the tracks previously unreleased tracks - great , great sound - how can it be????? i"m not asking just happy to get this album for those early days . lately i bought the first three albums of deep purple , like getting the bonus tracks but they don't sound like this - this legacy edition has great sound qaulity!!! so if you remembered the great early days of " santana" this is for you. MOST OF THE TRACKS IN DISK 2 ORIGINAL RECORDED 1969 & RELEASED 2004 SONY BMG MUSIC ETERTAINMENT. DELUXE 20 PG. BOOKLET W/RARE PHOTOS & NEW NOTES. DIGITALLY REMASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL TAPES . I LIKE TO HAVE IT IN MY COLLECTION .