''Caravanserai'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

, released on October 11, 1972. The album marked a period of transition for Santana as it was the band's last to feature several key early members, while shifting in a more instrumental, progressive

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

direction. It sold in fewer quantities than the band's previous chart-topping albums, stalling at No. 8 on the ''Billboard'' LPs chart, but has been critically acclaimed.

Release and promotion

The album was mixed and released in both

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

and

quadraphonic Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space. The system allows for th ...

. It was released on October 11, 1972. The album was supported with a tour, which spanned the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Oceania and lasted from September 1972 to December 1973. The shows on July 3 and 4, 1973 at the Osaka Kosei Nenkin Kaikan in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, Japan, were released as the triple

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

LP '' Lotus''. The inner cover carried a quote by

Paramahansa Yogananda Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh; January 5, 1893March 7, 1952) was an Indian Hindu monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization Self-Realization Fellows ...

: In 2000

SME records , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...

in Japan, part of Sony Music, also released the remastered version as an

SACD Super Audio CD (SACD) is an optical disc format for audio storage introduced in 1999. It was developed jointly by Sony and Philips, Philips Electronics and intended to be the successor to the Compact Disc (CD) format. The SACD format allows mul ...

. This disc contains the stereo mix only. The album was remastered in 2003 for re-release on Legacy/Columbia/SME.

Reception

The album reached number eight in the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and number six in the

R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

chart in 1972. The album was regarded as an artistic success, but the musical changes that began on its release in 1972 marked the start of a fall in Santana's commercial popularity. In a 2013 interview, drummer and album co-producer

Michael Shrieve Michael Shrieve (born July 6, 1949) is an American drummer, percussionist, and composer. He is best known as the drummer of the rock band Santana, playing on the band's first seven albums from 1969 to 1974. At age 20, Shrieve was the second youn ...

recalled that

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

president

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...

, upon first hearing the finished album, told Santana he was committing "career suicide." A 1976 review in ''

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

'' by Ralph Gleason said the album affirmed and "speaks directly to the universality of man, both in the sound of the music and in the vocals." ''Caravanserai'' was also voted number 609 in the third edition of

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

'' (2000).

Track listing

On the Q8 quad version, "Song of the Wind" and "La Fuente del Ritmo"—the next to last tracks on each side of the LP—were traded to even the timing for the tape.

Personnel

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured ...

– lead guitar (2-4, 8, 9), guitar (5, 6, 10), vocals (4, 6, 8), percussion (1, 8) *

Neal Schon Neal (Neil) is a given masculine name and surname of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "hono ...

– guitar (1, 3-6, 8-10) *

Gregg Rolie Gregg Alan Rolie (born June 17, 1947) is an American singer and keyboardist. Rolie served as lead singer of the bands Santana and Journey – both of which he co-founded. He also helmed rock group The Storm, performed in Ringo Starr & His All ...

– organ (2-6, 8, 10), electric piano (6), vocals (4), piano *

Douglas Rauch Douglass Haywood Rauch (September 14, 1950 – April 23, 1979) was an American bassist. He played with Carlos Santana during his jazz fusion period in the early 1970s. He also teamed up with David Bowie for his Diamond Dogs tour for a month i ...

– bass (2-6), guitar (2-3) * Douglas Rodrigues – guitar (2) *

Wendy Haas Wendy Haas-Mull (born c. 1949) is an American vocalist and keyboardist best known for her work with the bands Santana and Azteca. Biography Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Wendy Haas began her musical career in her mid-teens, playing ...

– piano (1, 8) * Tom Rutley – acoustic bass (1, 6, 8-10) *

– drums (1-6, 8-10), percussion, vocals (8) * José "Chepito" Areas – percussion, congas (7), timbales (2-4, 6-7, 9-10), bongos (8) *

James Mingo Lewis James "Mingo" Lewis (born 8 December 1953) is an American percussionist and drummer who played with Santana, Al Di Meola, Return to Forever (he was a band member for Di Meola's first five albums), and The Tubes. Playing Lewis plays congas, b ...

– percussion (1, 8-9), congas (2-10), bongos (7), vocals (6), acoustic piano (9) *

Armando Peraza Armando Peraza (May 30, 1924 – April 14, 2014) was a 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 (although the b ...

– percussion (8), bongos (9) *

Hadley Caliman Hadley Caliman (January 12, 1932 – September 8, 2010) was an American jazz saxophone and flute player.All ...

– saxophone intro (1), flute (10) * Rico Reyes – vocals (6) * Lenny White – castanets (6) *

Tom Coster Tom Coster (born August 21, 1941) is an American keyboardist, composer, and longtime backing musician for Carlos Santana. Early years Detroit-born and San Francisco-raised, Coster played piano and accordion as a youth, continuing his studies ...

– electric piano (9) *

Tom Harrell Tom Harrell (born June 16, 1946) is an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, and arranger. Voted Trumpeter of the Year of 2018 by ''Jazz Journalists Association'', Harrell has won awards and grants throughout his career, including mul ...

– orchestra arrangement (10)

Production

* Produced by Carlos Santana & Mike Shrieve * Recorded & engineered by Glen Kolotkin & Mike Larner * Recorded at Columbia Studios, San Francisco, California March, April, & May 1972 : April 6, recorded ''All the Love of the Universe''

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Santana (band) albums 1972 albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Carlos Santana Jazz fusion albums by American artists Jazz fusion albums by Mexican artists