Santana is the debut studio album by American Latin rock band Santana. It was released on August 22, 1969. Over half of the album's length is composed of instrumental music, recorded by what was originally a purely free-form jam band. 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 in the music.
| Santana | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 22, 1969[1] | |||
| Recorded | May 1969 | |||
| Studio | Pacific, San Mateo | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 37:15 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer |
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| Santana chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Santana | ||||
The album was destined to be a major release, given a boost by the band's performance at the Woodstock Festival earlier that August. The album's first single, "Jingo", was only a modest performer, spending eight weeks on the chart and reaching #56;[2] however, "Evil Ways", the second single taken from the album, was a U.S. Top 10 hit, reaching #9 and spending thirteen weeks on the chart.[2] The album spent more than two years (108 weeks) on the Billboard 200 pop album chart and peaked at #4 in November 1969.[3] It also reached #26 on the UK Albums Chart. It has been mixed and released in both stereo and quadraphonic. The album cover features artwork by Lee Conklin.
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [5] |
| Q | [6] |
| Rolling Stone | [7] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [8] |
| The Village Voice | C−[9] |
In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, 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.[10] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau shared Winner's sentiment in his "unreconstructed opposition to the methedrine school of American music. A lot of noise".[9]
A retrospective Rolling Stone review was more enthusiastic, finding Santana "thrilling ... with ambition, soul and absolute conviction - every moment played straight from the heart".[7] In 2003, the magazine ranked Santana number 150 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[11] moving up to 149 in a 2012 revised list.[12] Colin Larkin deemed it an excellent example of Latin rock in his Encyclopedia of Popular Music (2011).[5]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by the members of Santana except where noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Waiting" (instrumental) | 4:03 | |
| 2. | "Evil Ways" | Clarence "Sonny" Henry | 3:54 |
| 3. | "Shades of Time" | Carlos Santana, Gregg Rolie | 3:14 |
| 4. | "Savor" (instrumental) | 2:47 | |
| 5. | "Jingo" | Babatunde Olatunji | 4:21 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Persuasion" | 2:33 | |
| 7. | "Treat" (instrumental) | 4:43 | |
| 8. | "You Just Don't Care" | 4:34 | |
| 9. | "Soul Sacrifice" (instrumental) | Santana, Rolie, David Brown, Marcus Malone | 6:37 |
1998 reissue
editWriting credits and songs' lengths are in accord with album's inner notes.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Waiting" | Santana, Rolie, José Areas, Brown, Michael Carabello, Michael Shrieve | 4:03 |
| 2. | "Evil Ways" | Henry | 3:57 |
| 3. | "Shades of Time" | Rolie, Santana | 3:14 |
| 4. | "Savor" | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 2:47 |
| 5. | "Jingo" | Olatunji | 4:21 |
| 6. | "Persuasion" | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 2:33 |
| 7. | "Treat" | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 4:43 |
| 8. | "You Just Don't Care" | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 4:34 |
| 9. | "Soul Sacrifice" | Santana, Rolie, Malone, Brown | 6:38 |
| 10. | "Savor" (Live at the Woodstock Festival, Bethel, New York, Saturday, August 16, 1969; previously unissued) | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 5:27 |
| 11. | "Soul Sacrifice" (Live at the Woodstock Festival, Bethel, New York, Saturday, August 16, 1969; released on Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More, 1970) | Santana, Rolie, Malone, Brown | 11:39 |
| 12. | "Fried Neckbones" (Live at the Woodstock Festival, Bethel, New York, Saturday, August 16, 1969; previously unissued) | Willie Bobo, Melvin Lastie | 7:13 |
2004 Legacy Edition
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Waiting" | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 4:07 |
| 2. | "Evil Ways" | Henry | 4:00 |
| 3. | "Shades of Time" | Rolie, Santana | 3:13 |
| 4. | "Savor" | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 2:46 |
| 5. | "Jingo" | Olatunji | 4:23 |
| 6. | "Persuasion" | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 2:36 |
| 7. | "Treat" | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 4:46 |
| 8. | "You Just Don't Care" | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 4:37 |
| 9. | "Soul Sacrifice" | Santana, Rolie, Malone, Brown | 6:38 |
| 10. | "Savor" (Alternate take #2) | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 2:57 |
| 11. | "Soul Sacrifice" (Alternate take #4) | Santana, Rolie, Malone, Brown | 8:50 |
| 12. | "Studio Jam" | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 7:09 |
Note: Tracks 10–12 are from the studio sessions for the album recorded in May 1969.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fried Neckbones" | Bobo, Lastie | 7:41 |
| 2. | "Soul Sacrifice" | Santana, Rolie, Malone, Brown | 9:06 |
| 3. | "Persuasion" | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 3:52 |
| 4. | "Treat" | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 6:49 |
| 5. | "Shades of Time" | Santana, Rolie | 2:29 |
| 6. | "Jingo" | Olatunji | 5:20 |
| 7. | "Waiting" (Live at the Woodstock Festival, Bethel, New York, Saturday, August 16, 1969) | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 4:44 |
| 8. | "You Just Don't Care" (Live at the Woodstock Festival, Bethel, New York, Saturday, August 16, 1969) | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 4:55 |
| 9. | "Savor" (Live at the Woodstock Festival, Bethel, New York, Saturday, August 16, 1969) | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 5:25 |
| 10. | "Jingo" (Live at the Woodstock Festival, Bethel, New York, Saturday, August 16, 1969) | Olatunji | 5:14 |
| 11. | "Persuasion" (Live at the Woodstock Festival, Bethel, New York, Saturday, August 16, 1969) | Santana, Rolie, Areas, Brown, Carabello, Shrieve | 3:05 |
| 12. | "Soul Sacrifice" (Live at the Woodstock Festival, Bethel, New York, Saturday, August 16, 1969) | Santana, Rolie, Malone, Brown | 11:49 |
| 13. | "Fried Neckbones" (Live at the Woodstock Festival, Bethel, New York, Saturday, August 16, 1969) | Bobo, Lastie | 7:13 |
Note: Tracks 1–6 are from the original studio sessions for the album recorded January 27–29, 1969.
Personnel
edit- Carlos Santana – guitar, backing vocals
- David Brown – bass guitar
- Gregg Rolie – lead vocals, Hammond organ, piano
- Michael Shrieve – drums
- Michael Carabello – congas, percussion
- José "Chepito" Areas – timbales, congas, percussion
Production
- Brent Dangerfield and Santana band – producers
- David Brown – engineer
- Lee Conklin – album cover art[13]
- David Rubinson – producer (original first session January 27–29, 1969)
Charts
edit| Chart (1969–1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[14] | 14 |
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[15] | 6 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] | 5 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[17] | 5 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] | 12 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[19] | 98 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[20] | 19 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[21] | 34 |
| US Billboard 200[22] | 4 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[23] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ "Santana - Santana". Dutch Album Top 100. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
- ^ a b "Santana". Billboard.
- ^ "Santana". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
- ^ Santana at AllMusic
- ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2011). "Santana". Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
- ^ Q: 131. May 2000.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - ^ a b "none". Rolling Stone. March 2, 2000. p. 100.
- ^ "Santana: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 28, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
- ^ a b Christgau, Robert (1969). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on June 19, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
- ^ Winner, Langdon (October 18, 1969). "Records". Rolling Stone. No. 44. San Francisco: Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. p. 38. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
- ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. December 11, 2003. p. 131.
- ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
- ^ "Cover Story – Santana's Santana, with illustration by Lee Conklin | The Rock and Roll Report". Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6056". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Santana – Santana" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – S". Infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on October 22, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2012. Select Santana from the menu, then press OK.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Santana – Santana" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Santana – Santana". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ "Santana Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ "American album certifications – Santana – Santana". Recording Industry Association of America.
