''Havana Moon'' is a solo album by

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 ...

, released in 1983. It features covers of

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

and

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

songs and performances by Booker T Jones,

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

and

the Fabulous Thunderbirds The Fabulous Thunderbirds is an American blues rock band formed in 1974. Singer Kim Wilson is the only constant member through the band's entire history. Their 1986 album ''Tuff Enuff'' sold over a million copies, and spawned two minor hit singl ...

, and also Carlos' father José singing "Vereda Tropical", a song Carlos had first heard when his father was serenading his mother following an argument.

Reception

J. D. Considine of ''

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 ...

'' deemed Carlos Santana recording

Tex-Mex music Tejano music (), also known as Tex-Mex music, is a popular music style fusing Mexican influences. Its evolution began in northern Mexico (a variation of regional Mexican music known as ). It reached a larger audience in the late 20th century ...

to be a natural fit, and felt that

were ideal collaborators for such a project. He particularly praised the renditions of "Who Do you Love" and "Havana Moon" for throwing in inspired Tex-Mex elements while staying true to the appeal of the original recordings. However, he found the album's roaming to other styles on the six cuts recorded without the Fabulous Thunderbirds to be dissatisfying, remarking, "It's not so much that ''Havana Moon'' is inconsistent — although it's that, too — as it is confusing, jumping from style to style as if Carlos Santana weren't sure what he wanted to do. It's nice to see that he's eager to expand his horizons, but it's disappointing that he undercuts his efforts by attempting to cover all the bases."

Track listing

Side one

# " Watch Your Step" (Phil Belmonte, Bobby Parker) – 4:01 # "Lightnin'" (

Booker T. Jones Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artis ...

) – 3:51 # " Who Do You Love?" (

Ellas McDaniel Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

) – 2:55 # "Mudbone" (Santana) – 5:51 # "One with You" (Jones) – 5:14

Side two

# "Ecuador" (Santana) – 1:10 # "Tales of Kilimanjaro" (

Alan Pasqua Alan Pasqua (born June 28, 1952) is an American rock and jazz pianist. He studied at Indiana University and the New England Conservatory of Music. His album ''Standards'' with drummer Peter Erskine was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2008. As a s ...

Armando Peraza Armando Peraza (May 30, 1924 – April 14, 2014) was a Cuban Latin jazz percussionist and a member of the rock band Santana. Peraza played congas, bongos, and timbales. Biography Early life Born in Lawton Batista, Havana, Cuba in 1924 (althou ...

, Raul Rekow, Santana) – 4:50 # "Havana Moon" (

) – 4:09 # "Daughter of the Night" (Hasse Huss,

Mikael Rickfors Mikael Rickfors (born 4 December 1948) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. From 1968, he was the lead singer and bass guitarist in Swedish band Bamboo. The band released two singles before breaking up in 1970. Rickfors later performed with the ...

) – 4:18 # " They All Went to Mexico" ( Greg Brown) – 4:47 # "Vereda Tropical" (Gonzalo Curiel) – 4:57

Personnel

* Roberto Moreno – vocals *

– vocals * Greg Walker – vocals * Candelario Lopez – vocals *

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, backing vocals * José Santana – violin, vocals * Chris Solberg – keyboards, guitar, vocals *

Jimmie Vaughan Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan Jr. (born March 20, 1951) is an American blues rock guitarist and singer based in Austin, Texas. He is the older brother of the Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. He was a founding member of The Fabulous Thunder ...

– guitar *

– keyboards, backing vocals * Richard Baker – keyboards *

Barry Beckett Barry Edward Beckett (February 4, 1943 – June 10, 2009) was an American keyboardist, session musician, record producer, and studio founder. He is best known for his work with David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, and Roger Hawkins, his bandmates in the ...

– keyboards *

– keyboards, vocals *

Flaco Jiménez Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez (born March 11, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and accordionist from San Antonio, Texas. He is known for playing Norteño, Tex Mex and Tejano music. Jiménez has been a solo performer and session musician, as ...

–

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

Orestes Vilató Orestes Vilató (born 12 May 1944 in Camagüey, Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and c ...

–

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, percussion,

timbales Timbales () or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size.Orovio, Helio 1981. ''Diccionario de la música cubana: biográfic ...

, backing vocals *

Kim Wilson Kim Wilson (born January 6, 1951) is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s, " Tuff Enuff" (which was the group's only Top ...

–

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

, backing vocals * Greg Adams –

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

* Jose Salcedo – trombone, trumpet *

Óscar Chávez Óscar Chávez (20 March 1935 – 30 April 2020) was a Mexican singer, songwriter and actor. He was the major proponent of the Nueva Trova movement in Mexico in the 1960s and 1970s. Career and education Chavez studied theatre at the National A ...

–

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

Mic Gillette Mic Gillette (May 7, 1951 – January 17, 2016) was an American brass player, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area's East Bay. He is best known for being a member of the bands; Tower of Power, Cold Blood, and The Sons of Champlin. He p ...

– trumpet, horn * Lanette Stevens – backing vocals *

Emilio Castillo Emilio Castillo (born September 24, 1950) is an American saxophone player and composer, best known as the founder of the band Tower of Power. Background In 1965, Emilio Castillo took to music after he and his brother Jack were caught stealing b ...

– horn,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

Marc Russo The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band from San Jose, California. Formed in the fall of 1970, the group was originally a quartet that featured lead vocalist and guitarist Tom Johnston, guitarist and second vocalist Patrick Simmons, bass ...

– horn *

Tramaine Hawkins Tramaine Aunzola Richardson , (née Davis) known professionally as Tramaine Hawkins (born October 11, 1951), is an American award-winning Gospel singer whose career spans over five decades. Since beginning her career in 1966, Hawkins has won two ...

– backing vocals *

Stephen Kupka Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. The band has had a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted the ...

– horn * Gabriel Arias –

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

* Francisco Coronado – violin * Raymundo Coronado – violin * Keith Ferguson –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Luis Gonsalez – bass *

David Hood David Hood (born September 21, 1943) is an American musician, hailing from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, He is known for playing the bass guitar and trombone, and is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Early life and education Hood was b ...

– bass * David Margen – bass, percussion * Fran Christina –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

– percussion,

bongos Bongos (Spanish language, Spanish: ''bongó'') are an Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger ''hembra'' () and the smaller ''macho'' ...

, vocals *

Graham Lear Graham Lear (born July 24, 1949) is a Canadian rock drummer, best known for his time with Gino Vannelli, Santana (band), Santana and REO Speedwagon. He was born in Plymouth, United Kingdom. Background In 1952 his family moved to London, Ontario, ...

– percussion, drums * Raul Rékow – percussion,

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...

, backing vocals *

Alex Ligertwood Alexander John Ligertwood (; ) (born 18 December 1946) is a Scottish singer, guitarist and drummer. Early life, family and education Ligertwood was born in Drumchapel, Glasgow, Scotland. Career He is best known as the lead vocalist of Santa ...

– percussion, vocals * Cherline Hall – backing vocals

Charts

References

External links

*
Havana Moon review at UltimateSantana.com

Havana Moon review & credits at AllMusic.com
{{Authority control 1983 albums Albums produced by Jerry Wexler Albums produced by Barry Beckett Carlos Santana albums CBS Records albums