''The Essential Santana'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

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 22 October 2002. The collection is part of a series of ''Essential'' sets released by

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 ...

. Uniquely among Santana compilations, " Soul Sacrifice" is included in the studio version from their first album, not the live performance from

Woodstock 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. ...

. The compilation contains no songs from the highly successful ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

'' album, despite it being released 3 years before this album. This is because Columbia and Santana's current label

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

were not under common ownership at the time. In 2013, Sony issued another "Essential Santana" 2-CD set which truncates the original's repertoire and does include music from the Arista era, as well as the live Woodstock version of "Soul Sacrifice".

Track listing

Disc one

#" Jingo" (

Babatunde Olatunji Michael Babatunde Olatunji (April 7, 1927 – April 6, 2003) was a Nigerian drummer, educator, social activist, and recording artist. Early life Olatunji was born in the village of Ajido, near Badagry, Lagos State, in southwestern Niger ...

) – 4:22 #"

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 Motion'' ...

" (

Clarence "Sonny" Henry Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a loca ...

) – 3:56 #" Soul Sacrifice" (

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 ...

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 ...

, David Brown,

Marcus Malone Marcus "The Magnificent" Malone (July 29, 1944 – October 12, 2021) was an American percussionist and a founding member of the Latin rock band Santana. Life and career Malone was born in Memphis, Tennessee. The band Santana - originally kn ...

) – 6:36 #*Tracks 1-3 from ''

'', 1969 #"

Black Magic Woman "Black Magic Woman" is a song written by British musician Peter Green, which first appeared as a single for his band Fleetwood Mac in 1968. Subsequently, the song appeared on the 1969 Fleetwood Mac compilation albums '' English Rose'' (US) and ...

/Gypsy Queen" ( Peter Green/

Gábor Szabó Gábor István Szabó (March 8, 1936 – February 26, 1982) was a Hungarian American guitarist whose style incorporated jazz, pop, rock, and Hungarian music. Early years Szabó was born in Budapest, Hungary. He began playing guitar at the age ...

) – 5:19 #"

Oye Como Va "Oye Cómo Va" is a 1962 cha-cha-chá by Tito Puente, originally released on ''El Rey Bravo'' (Tico Records). The song achieved worldwide popularity in 1970, when it was recorded by American rock group Santana for their album ''Abraxas''. This ...

" (

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz c ...

) – 4:17 #"Samba Pa Ti" (Santana) – 4:46 #*Tracks 4-6 from ''

Abraxas Abraxas ( grc-x-biblical, ἀβραξάς, abraxas, variant form romanized: ) is a word of mystic meaning in the system of the Gnostic Basilides, being there applied to the "Great Archon" (), the princeps of the 365 spheres (). The word is found ...

'', 1970 #"

Everybody's Everything Everybody's may refer to: * ''Everybody's'' (Australian magazine), an Australian tabloid-style magazine of the 1960s * ''Everybody's Magazine,'' an American magazine published from 1899 to 1929 * ''Everybody's Weekly ''Everybody’s Weekly'' wa ...

" (Brown, Tyrone Moss, Santana) – 3:32 #"

No One to Depend On "No One to Depend On" is a song by Latin rock band Santana, from their 1971 album, ''Santana III''. The main melody of the song is taken from "Spanish Grease", first recorded by Willie Bobo in 1965. It was written by Mike Carabello, Coke Escovedo ...

" (

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 ...

Coke Escovedo Joseph Thomas "Coke" Escovedo (April 30, 1941 – July 13, 1986) was an American percussionist, who came from a prominent musical family including five musician brothers and his niece, Sheila E. He played in various genres, including R&B, ja ...

, Rolie) – 5:24 #"Toussaint l'Overture" (

José Areas José Octavio "Chepito" Areas Dávila (born 25 July 1946) is a Nicaraguan percussionist best known for having played timbales and Conga drums in the Latin rock group Santana in 1969–1977 and 1987–1989. In 1998, he was inducted into the Rock & ...

, Brown, Carabello, Rolie, Santana,

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 ...

) – 5:56 #"Guajira" (Areas, Brown, Rico Reyes) – 5:44 #*Tracks 7-10 from ''

Santana III ''Santana'' is the third studio album by the American rock band Santana. The band's second self-titled album, it is often referred to as ''III'' or ''Santana III'' to distinguish it from the band's 1969 debut album. The album was also known as ...

'', 1971 #"La Fuente del Ritmo" (Mingo Lewis) – 4:33 #*from ''

Caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering ...

'', 1972 #"In a Silent Way" (

Joe Zawinul Josef Erich Zawinul ( '; 7 July 1932 – 11 September 2007) was an Austrian jazz and jazz fusion keyboardist and composer. First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with Miles Davis and to bec ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

) – 7:58 #*Live at the

Fillmore West The Fillmore West was a historic rock and roll music venue in San Francisco, California, US which became famous under the direction of concert promoter Bill Graham from 1968 to 1971. Named after The Fillmore at the intersection of Fillmore Stre ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, July 4, 1971 #*Previously featured on the compilation '' Fillmore: The Last Days'', 1972 #"Love, Devotion and Surrender" (

Richard Kermode Richard Kermode (October 5, 1946 – January 16, 1996) was an American keyboardist, known for performing with Janis Joplin, Malo, Santana, and Ray Cepeda. History Richard Kermode was born on October 5, 1946, in Lovell, Wyoming. Kermode gre ...

, Santana) – 3:38 #*from ''

Welcome A welcome is a kind of greeting designed to introduce a person to a new place or situation, and to make them feel at ease. The term can similarly be used to describe the feeling of being accepted on the part of the new person. In some context ...

'', 1973 #"Mirage" (

Leon Patillo Leon Norman Patillo (born January 1, 1947) is an American Contemporary Christian music, contemporary Christian singer, keyboardist, and evangelist. Career Patillo's first musical endeavor was with the group Creation, later called Leon's Creatio ...

) – 4:43 #*from ''

Borboletta ''Borboletta'' is the sixth studio album by the American Latin rock band Santana. It is one of their jazz-funk-fusion oriented albums, along with '' Caravanserai'' (1972), and ''Welcome'' (1973). Non-band albums by Carlos Santana in this style a ...

'', 1974 #"Carnaval" (

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 ...

, Santana) – 2:15 #"

Let the Children Play A festival is an extraordinary event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festiva ...

" (Patillo, Santana) – 3:28 #" Jugando" (Areas, Santana) – 2:12 #*Tracks 15-17 from '' Festivál'', 1977

Disc two

She's Not There "She's Not There" is the debut single by British rock band the Zombies, written by keyboardist Rod Argent. It reached 12 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1964, and 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States at the beginning of D ...

" (

Rod Argent Rodney Terence Argent (born 14 June 1945) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Argent came to prominence in the mid 1960s as the keyboardist, founder and leader of the ...

) – 4:09 #*from '' Moonflower'', 1977 #"Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana)" – (

Leon "Ndugu" Chancler Leon "Ndugu" Chancler ( ; July 1, 1952 – February 3, 2018) was an American pop, funk, and jazz drummer. He was also a composer, producer, and university professor. Biography Early life Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, on July 1, 1952, Leon C ...

, Coster,

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 ...

) – 8:00 #*Live from ''Moonflower''; originally from ''Amigos'', 1976 #"

Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile) "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)" is an instrumental from the Santana album '' Amigos'', written by Carlos Santana and Tom Coster. It is one of Santana's most popular compositions and it reached the top in the Spanish Singles Chart in July 1 ...

" (Coster, Santana) – 5:05 #*from ''Amigos'', 1976 #"Stormy" (

Buddy Buie Perry Carlton "Buddy" Buie (January 23, 1941 – July 18, 2015) was an American songwriter, producer and publisher. He is most commonly associated with Roy Orbison, the Classics IV and the Atlanta Rhythm Section. Career Buie was born in Marian ...

, James Cobb) – 4:47 #" Well All Right" (

Jerry Allison Jerry Ivan Allison (August 31, 1939 – August 22, 2022) was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the Crickets and co-writer of their hits "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue", recorded with Buddy Holly. His only solo chart entr ...

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

Joe B. Mauldin Joseph Benson Mauldin, Jr. (July 8, 1940 – February 7, 2015) was an American bass player, songwriter, and audio engineer who was best known as the bassist for the early rock and roll group the Crickets. Mauldin initially played a double (stand ...

Norman Petty Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 – August 15, 1984) was an American musician, record producer, publisher, radio station owner, and considered to be one of the founding fathers of early rock & roll. Biography Petty was born in the small town of Clo ...

) – 4:09 #"Open Invitation" (

Dennis Lambert Dennis Earle Lambert (born 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Career Lambert began his music career in 1960 when he signed to Capitol Records as a recording artist. By the mid-1960s, he was w ...

, David Margen, Brian Potter, Santana, Greg Walker) – 4:45 #*Tracks 4-6 from ''

Inner Secrets ''Inner Secrets'' is the tenth studio album by Santana. It was released in 1978 and marks the start of the phase of Santana's career where he moved away from the fusion of Latin, jazz, rock and blues that marked his previous records and began to m ...

'', 1978 #"Aqua Marine" (

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 ...

, Santana) – 5:35 #" You Know That I Love You" (

Alex Ligertwood Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple peo ...

, Pasqua, Santana, Chris Solberg) – 3:57 #"All I Ever Wanted" (Ligertwood, Santana, Solberg) – 3:35 #*Tracks 7-9 from ''

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

'', 1979 #"

Winning Winning may refer to: * Victory Film * ''Winning'' (film), a 1969 movie starring Paul Newman * '' Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman'', a 2015 documentary by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams Music * ''Winning'', an album by Ten Foot Pole, 2022 ...

" (

Russ Ballard Russell Glyn Ballard (born 31 October 1945) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Originally coming to prominence as the lead singer and guitarist for the band Argent, Ballard became a songwriter and producer by the late 1970s. His co ...

) – 3:29 #*from ''

Zebop! ''Zebop!'' is the 12th studio album by the American rock band Santana. The album had several releases, and various different color cover backgrounds, including pink and red. The album featured "Winning"; both the album and single were one of San ...

'', 1981 #"

Hold On Hold On may refer to: Music Albums and EPs * ''Hold On!'' (album), by Herman's Hermits, 1966 * ''Hold On'' (Trapeze album), or the title song, 1978 * ''Hold On'' (High Inergy album), 1980 * ''Hold On'' (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album), 1987 * ...

" ( Ian Thomas) – 4:36 #"Nowhere to Run" (Ballard) – 2:53 #*Tracks 11-12 from '' Shangó'', 1982 #"Say It Again" (

Val Garay Val Garay (born May 9, 1942, in San Francisco, California, United States) is an American recording engineer and record producer who has worked with Kim Carnes, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Neil Diamond, and others. Garay also co-founded Los An ...

, Steve Goldstein, Anthony LaPeau) – 3:28 #*from ''

Beyond Appearances ''Beyond Appearances'' is the fourteenth studio album by Santana, released in 1985 (see 1985 in music). The album took seven months to make, and involved a mostly different line-up from the previous one, '' Shangó'' (released in 1982): apart fro ...

'', 1985 #"Veracruz" (Jeffrey Cohen,

Buddy Miles George Allen "Buddy" Miles Jr. (September 5, 1947February 26, 2008) was an American composer, drummer, guitarist, vocalist and producer. He was a founding member of the Electric Flag (1967), a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys (1969–197 ...

, Rolie, Santana, Chester D. Thompson) – 3:46 #*from ''

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

'', 1987 #"Blues for Salvador" (Santana, Thompson) – 5:57 #*from ''

Blues for Salvador ''Blues for Salvador'' is a 1987 album by Carlos Santana, dedicated to his son Salvador. The record was released by Carlos Santana as a solo project, not with the Santana band. It won the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, ...

'', 1987 #"The Healer" (

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

, Santana, Thompson) – 5:38 #*with John Lee Hooker; from ''The Healer'', 1989

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Essential Santana, The 2002 greatest hits albums Santana (band) compilation albums Columbia Records compilation albums