''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 Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

. 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 A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational "jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often cr ...

. 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 is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

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

Woodstock Festival 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, New York, Woodstock. ...

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 "Evil Ways" is a song made famous by Mexican-American rock band Santana from their 1969 self-titled debut album. It was written by Clarence "Sonny" Henry and originally recorded by jazz percussionist Willie Bobo on his 1967 album ''Bobo Motio ...

", the second single taken from the album, was a

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Top 10 hit, reaching #9 and spending thirteen weeks on the chart. The album spent more than two years (108 weeks) on the ''Billboard'' 200 pop album chart and peaked at #4 in November 1969. It also reached #26 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. It has been mixed and released in both stereo 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 ...

. 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, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'',

Langdon Winner Langdon Winner (born August 7, 1944) is Thomas Phelan Chair of Humanities and Social Sciences in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York. Langdon Winner was born in San Luis Obispo, ...

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 ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

'' critic

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

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 indust ...

, moving up to 149 in a 2012 revised list.

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 ...

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 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 ...

– guitar, backing vocals * David Brown – bass guitar *

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 ...

– lead vocals,

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

, piano *

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 you ...

– drums *

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

–

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). ...

s, percussion * José "Chepito" Areas –

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: biográfico ...

, congas, percussion Production * Brent Dangerfield and Santana band –

producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

* David Brown –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

* Lee Conklin – album cover art *

David Rubinson David Rubinson (born August 7, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York)Internet Movie DatabaseMini-Biography of David Rubinson Retrieved 2012-06-05.as of 2017 it's 1962? is an American recording engineer and music producer, who was particularly involved in music ...

– producer (original first session January 27–29, 1969)

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

Santana - ''Santana'' (1969) album releases & credits
at

Discogs.com Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the l ...

Santana - ''Santana'' (1969) album review by Rovi Staff, credits, releases and ''Billboard'' charts
at

AllMusic.com AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{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