Carlos Santana
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Carlos Santana Biography
Mexican-born American guitarist Carlos Santana is best known as
the leader of the band that bears his last name, which has toured and
recorded successfully since the late '60s. He has also recorded a
series of exploratory solo albums and collaborations with other
musicians that expand upon 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 to the guitar. The family moved to Tijuana, where he began
playing in clubs and bars. In the early '60s, the family moved to San
Francisco. Santana at first remained in Tijuana, but he later joined
them and attended Mission High School, graduating in June 1965. In
1966, he was one of the founders of the Santana Blues Band. Despite the
name, the group was at first a collective; it was required to name a
nominal leader due to a provision of the musicians union. The name was
eventually shortened to Santana and the band debuted at the Fillmore
West theater in San Francisco 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 to the Super Session album that had featured him
with Mike Bloomfield and Steve Stills. The result was The Live
Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, 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
consisting of Carlos (guitar), Gregg Rolie (keyboards and vocals),
David Brown (bass), Michael Shrieve (drums), Jose Chepito Areas
(percussion), and Michael Carabello (percussion). Santana toured the
U.S. prior to the release of the album, including a notable appearance
at the celebrated Woodstock festival in August 1969 that was filmed and
recorded. Santana was released the same month, and it became a massive
hit, as did its follow-ups Abraxas (1970) and Santana III (1971). After
completing recording and touring activities in connection with Santana
III, the original Santana 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 and a
constantly changing collection of hired musicians. His first recording
after the breakup of the original group was a live show performed in
Hawaii with singer and drummer Buddy Miles, released in June 1972 as
Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live! Consistent with the success of
the Santana band, 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, who bestowed upon Carlos the name Devadip, meaning the eye,
the lamp, and the light of God. Devadip Carlos Santana and Mahavishnu
John McLaughlin's duo album Love Devotion Surrender was released in
June 1973. It reached the Top 20 and eventually went gold. After
releasing another Santana band project, Welcome, Carlos next teamed up
with another religious disciple, Turiya Alice Coltrane, widow of John
Coltrane, for a third duo album. Their collaboration, Illuminations,
was released in September 1974; it spent two months in the charts,
peaking in the bottom quarter 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, the half-live, half-studio Oneness/Silver Dreams -- Golden
Reality, actually credited to Devadip. Like Illuminations, it spent a
couple of months in the charts and peaked in the bottom quarter of the
Top 100. After another gold Santana band album, Marathon (1979), he
returned to solo work with the double-LP jazz collection The Swing of
Delight in August 1980. Featuring such guests as Herbie Hancock, Wayne
Shorter, and Ron Carter, it sold a little better than his previous solo
album. Two more Santana band albums, Zebop! (1981) and Shango (1982),
followed before Carlos released a more pop-oriented solo effort, Havana
Moon, in April 1983. Featuring Willie Nelson, Booker T. Jones, and the
Fabulous Thunderbirds, the album reached the Top 40, actually a better
showing than the next Santana band album, Beyond Appearances (1985). In
1986, Carlos undertook his first musical score, writing music for the
Ritchie Valens film biography La Bamba. He then made another Santana
band album, 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 won Carlos his first Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental
Performance. After a final Santana band album for Columbia Records,
Spirits Dancing in the Flesh (1990), Carlos left the label and signed
to Polydor, which gave him his own custom label, Guts and Grace. The
first Santana band album for the new company, Milagro, was followed by
what was projected to be a series of releases of tapes from Carlos' own
collection of his favorite musicians, Live Forever: Sacred Sources 1,
featuring Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, Stevie Ray Vaughan,
and John Coltrane. Then came a Santana band live album (Sacred Fire -
Live in South America, 1993) and in September 1994, Carlos released
Santana Brothers, a trio album also featuring his brother Jorge Santana
and their nephew, Carlos Hernandez. It charted briefly and was
nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
Carlos spent almost five years away from recording, not returning until
June 1999 when he issued Supernatural on Arista Records. The Santana
band album featured many tracks co-written by guest stars such as Rob
Thomas of matchbox 20, Eric Clapton, Lauryn Hill, and others. Paced by
the number one singles Smooth and Maria Maria, the album became the
biggest hit of Santana's career, selling upwards of ten million copies.
It also won Santana eight Grammy Awards. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music
Guide
Written by William Ruhlmann