Recommend Me Some More Santana

what i own
-1st album
-abraxas
-III
-supernatural
-shaman
-all that i am
-essential (older 2 cd version with nothing beyond 1990 on it)
-viva santana
-dance of the rainbow serpent

 

Welcome
Caravanserai
Borboletta

 

Highly Recommended:

Santana Caravanserai (1972)


Santana: Lotus (1974)

 

Santana III is awesome. Just wanted to say!

 

I liked havana moon, but it is very different.
Moonflower is good if you like live stuff.
If you like the later pop stuff, you may like zebop and inner secrets.

 

Lotus.

 

The live fillmore set from 71 on the legacy edition is amazing. One of the best shows they ever did.

 

Thanks, I’ll check this out!

 

Santana IV, recorded a few years ago. Not Santana, but some of the band Members from Abraxas and III got together and did an album as Abraxas Pool I think you will really like

 

i don't know what album it was off (i was busy with my own thing at the time) but i remember seeing him play an instrumental called "blues for salvador" on some tv show one time, and at the time i found it very moving

 

i have that song on several releases. i believe thats the title of the album too

 

I highly recommend these choices as well! Borboletta is my all time favorite Santana album. I'd add Moonflower to the list.

 

Not Santana the band, but Love, Devotion, Surrender with John McLaughlin is essential.

 

i was about to write to avoid the jon mclaughlin and alice coltrane albums, and then i read your post.

i decided to write it anyway, they are both an acquired taste.

 

Another vote for Caravansai... a remarkable album and a brave move for the band at that point in their career. Talk about following the muse.

 

Live at the Fillmore '68 captures the early energy of an emerging force in psychedelic rock. I prefer the early Santana up through Abraxas. I also happen to love Spirits Dancing in the Flesh. A completely different side of Santana that was very reflective of the late 80's/early 90's in general.

 

I came to Santana by way of Miles Davis > McLaughlin > Love, Devotion, Surrender > Santana which may help to explain my position I guess.

But you're probably right about it being an acquired taste. OP may be better served picking up Caravanserai and Welcome before trying Love, Devotion, Surrender. If memory serves McLaughlin is a guest on one (?) track on Welcome as well.

 

I love these 3 along with everything else mentioned

 

Santana Moonflower, released in 1977. A double album combing mostly live recordings plus new studio recordings. I've been listenting to this album for 40 years and its still one of my favorites:



Track List from Wikipedia:

Side one[edit]

1. "Dawn/Go Within" – 2:44 (Studio)
2. "Carnaval" – 2:17 (Live)
3. "Let the Children Play" (Leon Patillo, Santana) – 2:37 (Live)
4. "Jugando" (José "Chepito" Areas, Santana) – 2:09 (Live)
5. "I'll Be Waiting" (Santana) – 5:20 (Studio; also issued on single)
6. "Zulu" – 3:25 (Studio)

Side two[edit]

1. "Bahia" – 1:37 (Studio)
2. "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" (Peter Green, Gábor Szabó) – 6:32 (Live)
3. "Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana)" (Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, Coster, David Rubinson) – 7:45 (Live)
4. "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)" – 6:07 (Live)

Side three[edit]

1. "She's Not There" (Rod Argent) – 4:09 (Studio; also issued on single)
2. "Flor d'Luna (Moonflower)" (Coster) – 5:01 (Studio)
3. "Soul Sacrifice/Head, Hands & Feet" (Santana, Gregg Rolie, David Brown, Marcus Malone, Graham Lear) – 14:01 (Live)

Side four[edit]

1. "El Morocco" – 5:05 (Studio)
2. "Transcendance" (Santana) – 5:13 (Studio)
3. "Savor/Toussaint L'Overture" (Santana, Rolie, Brown, Michael Carabello, Michael Shrieve, Areas) – 12:56 (Live)

 

It's worth getting the album Love, Devotion, Surrender just for the A Love Supreme track.
Another fabulous album that is almost always overlooked is Silver Dreams Golden Reality

 

Give Beyond Appearances and Freedom a try. Very underrated, though you might not like them if you can't stand 80's production values. If you only want to check out some specific tracks from these albums, go with Written in Sand, Brotherhood (an extended live version is on Viva which I see you already have), Spirit, Right Now, She Can't Let Go, Once It's Gotcha, and Victim of Circumstance. If you can't bring yourself to buy those albums but you still want a comp that mainly focuses on the late-70's to early-90's, Multi-Dimensional Warrior is a great choice. It helps that it doesn't really rely on the hits like most of Santana's other comps do.

 

After the classic first three albums, I like Lotus best. Forum member Jazzis accurately reviewed it here in 2009:

6th album and the first official Santana live album (not counting the Santana / Buddy Miles collaboration from early 1972, which wasn’t a proper Santana album). Recorded in Japan in June of 1973 (before the 5th album - Welcome - was recorded) and released as a massive 3 LPs album (initially in Japan only), it features the new Santana Mk. II as an octet, with core members Tom Coster (keyboards), Doug Rauch (bass) and Michael Shrieve (drums), supported by several musicians added for the Japanese tour: Richard Kermode (keyboards), Leon Thomas (vocals), Armando Peraza (percussion) and Jose Areas (percussion). All these musicians (and a few distinguished guests) were to take part in the recording of Welcome soon after and the tour was an excellent opportunity to fuse, cement and rehearse the line-up. Although Carlos Santana was a transformed musician by the time this music was recorded, leaving the Latin Rock groove behind and stepping full steam ahead into Fusion and Jazz-Rock, playing live before audiences meant to perform the well known and much loved Santana material from the three legendary first albums alongside the new material. As a result, this album presents to the listener an entirely new outlook at the early Santana material, performed here with a much jazzier edge, creating Fusion per excellence. Carlos plays wonderfully, with his usual melodic feel, but improvises more, which is of course all for the better. The two keyboards players provide the band with a massive sound, with Coster soloing often in Chick Corea’s fashion. The expanded rhythm section is busy at all times driving the music forward. In short, this is everything a Fusion fan might wish to find in an album – over two solid hours of musical bliss, with great tunes and excellent musicianship. Wholeheartedly recommended!

 

Santana at the absolute height !. I saw this band as Australia was part of the tour.

 

If you want most of the band's discography, there are 4 Original Album Series box sets that you can get. They run between $10 to $20 depending on the amount of albums they have.

OAS 1 (1972-1976): Caravanserai, Welcome, Borboletta, Amigos, Love Devotion Surrender (Carlos solo)
OAS 2 (1978-1987): Inner Secrets, Marathon, Zebop, Shango, Freedom
OAS 3 (1974-1980, all Carlos solo): Illuminations, Oneness, The Swing of Delight
OAS 4 (1983-1990): Havana Moon (Carlos solo), Beyond Appearances, Spirits Dancing in the Flesh

 

That just reminded me that the name of the album I posted is actually Oneness: Silver Dreams - Golden Reality.
It's a great album that came out after he had released a number of uninspiring albums - more in the style of Caravanserai