''Santana'' is the debut studio album by American

Latin rock Latin Rock is a term to describe a subgenre blending traditional sounds and elements of Latin American and Hispanic Caribbean folk with rock music. However, it is widely used in the English-language media to refer any kind of rock music featurin ...

band

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

, released on August 22, 1969, by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. Over half of the album's length is composed of instrumental music, recorded by what was originally a purely free-form

jam band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts and live albums substantially feature improvisational "jam session, jamming". Typically, jam bands will play variations of pre-existing songs, extending them to musical improvisation, improvise ove ...

. At the suggestion of manager Bill Graham, the band took to writing more conventional songs for more impact, but managed to retain the essence of

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

in the music. The album was destined to be a major release, given a boost by the band's performance at the

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

earlier that August. The album's first single, " Jingo", was only a modest performer, spending eight weeks on the chart and reaching #56; however, " Evil Ways", the second single taken from the album, was a

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Top 10 hit, reaching #9 and spending thirteen weeks on the chart. The album spent more than two years (108 weeks) on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart and peaked at #4 in November 1969. It also reached #34 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. It has been mixed and released in both stereo and

quadraphonic Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic, also called quadrasonic or by the neologism quadio ortmanteau, formed by analogy with "stereo" sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are po ...

. The album cover features artwork by Lee Conklin.

Critical reception

In a contemporary review for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', Langdon Winner panned ''Santana'' as "a masterpiece of hollow techniques" and "a speed freak's delight - fast, pounding, frantic music with no real content". He compared the music's effect to methedrine, which "gives a high with no meaning", finding Rolie and Santana's playing repetitively unimaginative, amidst a monotony of incompetent rhythms and inconsequential lyrics. '' Village Voice'' critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

shared Winner's sentiment in his "unreconstructed opposition to the methedrine school of American music. A lot of noise". A retrospective ''

'' review was more enthusiastic, finding ''Santana'' "thrilling ... with ambition, soul and absolute conviction - every moment played straight from the heart". In 2003, the magazine ranked ''Santana'' number 150 on their list of

the 500 greatest albums of all time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indu ...

, moving up to 149 in a 2012 revised list. Colin Larkin deemed it an excellent example of

in his ''

Encyclopedia of Popular Music ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Kno ...

'' (2011).

Track listing

1998 reissue

Writing credits and songs' lengths are in accord with album's inner notes.

2004 Legacy Edition

Note: Tracks 10–12 are from the studio sessions for the album recorded in May 1969. Note: Tracks 1–6 are from the original studio sessions for the album recorded January 27–29, 1969.

Personnel

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

– guitar, backing vocals * David Brown – bass guitar * Gregg Rolie – lead vocals,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

, piano * Michael Shrieve – drums * Michael Carabello – congas, percussion * José "Chepito" Areas – timbales, congas, percussion Production * Brent Dangerfield and Santana band – producers * David Brown –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

* Lee Conklin – album cover art * David Rubinson – producer (original first session January 27–29, 1969)

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

Santana - ''Santana'' (1969) album releases & credits
at Discogs.com
Santana - ''Santana'' (1969) album review by Rovi Staff, credits, releases and ''Billboard'' charts
at AllMusic.com {{Authority control Santana (band) albums 1969 debut albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Carlos Santana Columbia Records live albums 2004 live albums Santana (band) live albums