Michael Carabello (born November 18, 1947) is an American musician, best known for playing

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

with Santana during that band's early years. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Career

Carabello was born in San Francisco and has Puerto Rican ancestry; he grew up in the city's

Mission District The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...

. He joined Santana in 1968 shortly before the band signed with Columbia Records, and primarily played congas for the band while occasionally playing piano. He appeared on the albums '' Santana'', ''

Abraxas Abraxas ( grc-x-biblical, ἀβραξάς, abraxas, variant form romanized: ) is a word of mystic meaning in the system of the Gnostic Basilides, being there applied to the "Great Archon" (), the princeps of the 365 spheres (). The word is foun ...

'', and '' Santana III'', all of which were internationally successful, and he is also depicted with the band in the ''

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

'' film. He co-wrote several songs on those albums, and is the sole writer for the percussion-oriented track "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts" on ''Abraxas''. Carabello left Santana in 1971. He formed the short-lived jazz band Cobra in 1975, and then settled into a career of teaching and art. In 1998 Carabello was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Santana. He is the only member of the Hall of Fame whose primary instrument is congas. He appeared on ''

Tattoo You ''Tattoo You'' is the 16th British and 18th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 24 August 1981 by Rolling Stones Records. The album is mostly composed of studio outtakes recorded during the 1970s, an ...

'' by

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

in 1981. In 2016 Carabello participated in a reunion of the classic-era Santana lineup for the album ''

Santana IV ''Santana IV'' is the twenty-fourth studio album (thirty eighth album overall) by American rock band Santana, released in April 2016. Overview The album reunited most of the surviving members from the early 1970s lineup of the band (including ...

''. It was the first time he had recorded with Carlos Santana and some other former bandmates in 45 years.

References

External links

Mike Carabello on Allmusic
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Michael Carabello discography at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carabello, Mike Living people Santana (band) members 1947 births American percussionists American people of Puerto Rican descent