FEATURED CD - Santana : Abraxas

[Duncan Glenday]

Not prog (I think) - but worth discussion, Per Allmusic :

he San Francisco Bay Area rock scene of the late '60s was one that encouraged radical experimentation and discouraged the type of mindless conformity that's often plagued corporate rock. When one considers just how different Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, and the Grateful Dead sounded, it becomes obvious just how much it was encouraged. In the mid-'90s, an album as eclectic as Abraxas would be considered a marketing exec's worst nightmare. But at the dawn of the 1970s, this unorthodox mix of rock, jazz, salsa, and blues proved quite successful. Whether adding rock elements to salsa king Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va," embracing instrumental jazz-rock on "Incident at Neshabur" and "Samba Pa Ti," or tackling moody blues-rock on Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman," the band keeps things unpredictable yet cohesive. Many of the Santana albums that came out in the '70s are worth acquiring, but for novices, Abraxas is an excellent place to start.

http://www.allmusic.com/album/abraxas-mw0000191745

[Steve F.]

No, not 'prog' but 'progressive'.

Really nice album bordering on terrific, and very progressive for its time, imo. More progressive than too many things that 'hew to the established prog-line'. Again, imo.

I pulled this out and played this earlier this year and it still thrilled.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Great, great album! One of the major US releases of 1969-70 in terms of creativity and groove, and I think it has aged pretty well too. Unlike much of the band's (and indeed Carlos S.') other stuff.

[notallwhowander]

To think about how young these guys were, and how fresh the album still sounds: this thing is like lightning in a bottle.

[Steve F.]

Great, great album! One of the major US releases of 1969-70 in terms of creativity and groove

Nicely said.

Santana has a pretty solid string (PRETTY solid, not necessarily as solid as this one, imo, but still good and creative) up to Barboletta. That's not a bad run.

[100423]

Fantastic album! Think I'll crank it today!

[Steve F.]

To think about how young these guys were, and how fresh the album still sounds: this thing is like lightning in a bottle.

Also nicely said!

[walt]

A superb amalgam of the hip shaking and cerebral,all nicely stirred in a rock context.Few records of its time made a bigger impression on me than Abraxas.At college, circa 71-74, it seemed every dorm room had this album on its playlist.

[JJ88]

This is certainly their most iconic release and presumably the most famous of the early Santana albums (and indeed, full stop, until that poppy 90s stuff). I've always loved 'Samba Pa Ti' with some of Carlos Santana's most moving playing IMHO.

I think the musical peak might be the live 'Lotus' though'- astonishing stuff.

[Vic2012]

I remember having this album in 1970-71 and just being hypnotized by the album art. I believe it's the same artists that did the album art for Bitches Brew. It's my second favorite Santana album. As I always say, the first three albums have never been equaled (then again, there are still a lot of Santana albums I've never heard). I have everything up to/including "Amigos" and nothing betters those first three albums, when Santana was a "band" and not a "collaborative." Yeah, Caravanserai, Welcome, Borbolleta, etc. all have their brilliant tracks, but it just wasn't the same anymore after album III (my favorite). Abraxas probably suffers from the "hits" being overplayed on classic/rock radio but it's still a timeless classic. Santana, Led Zeppelin, and early Chicago were the "heavy" bands I was into when I was 13-14 years old. Santana was my gateway into latin/jazz and afro-cuban music. It wasn't "authentic" cuban music but it still opened the door for me and made me wanna play percussion.

Great album. Nice to see it featured here.

[mogrooves]

An improvement on the previous album, more varied and dimensional. A hip "take" on "BMW," but the killer was "Incident at Neshabur." Props to the under-rated Rolie.....

[Vic2012]

An improvement on the previous album, more varied and dimensional. A hip "take" on "BMW," but the killer was "Incident at Neshabur." Props to the under-rated Rolie.....

Count me among the many (I'm sure I wasn't the only kid on my block) that did not know that BMW was a cover of a Fleetwood Mac song. I don't remember now when I found out that BMW was a FM song but I was actually kind of shocked when I found out.

Agree about Gregg Rolie. His organ playing is a good 50 percent of what made the original Santana sound so great.

[Reid]

I've always avoided Abraxas due to the overplayed hits. Caravan, and Moonflower are the albums I've listened to the most.

[No Pride]

Great band, great album!

I actually saw the band before this album came out and from what I can remember, it was a great concert!

All of the Hispanic musicians I've played with consider Santana to be a god, and only partially because he helped popularize South American music in the USA.

Yep, that's one band that started off with a bang and kept a degree of momentum through about a half dozen albums. From the original band, Rolie was great and so was (drummer) Michael Shrieve; well, they all were. As a matter of fact, the one thing that has remained consistent about Santana besides his patent guitar licks is that he's always maintained a killer live band. I stopped following a long time ago, but once in a while I'll see a concert on the tube and they're still burning, no small thanks to players like Dennis Chambers and Chester Thompson (the organ player, not the drummer).

[Reid]

The last show I watched was the McLaughlin/Santana at Montreux DVD, which I found highly enjoyable. They seemed to be having a great time, and when they sat down with their acoustic guitars and played Naima, it brought tears to my eyes.

[spacefreak]

Classic! Exquisite combination of sweaty groove and forward-thinking arrangements.

[No Pride]

The last show I watched was the McLaughlin/Santana at Montreux DVD, which I found highly enjoyable.

From the original tour in the '70s? I saw that tour when it came to Chicago. There were great moments, but I felt like Cobham washed over Carlos like a tidal wave. Most notably, it was the loudest concert I've ever seen... and I've seen Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Blue Cheer.

[Reid]

The DVD was produced from a more recent concert in 2011. Both guitarists have their bands onstage.

[grego]

Incident At Neshabur, Samba Pa Ti -

[Fracktured]

One of my all time favorites!! Smokin band. Incident at Neshabur was always one of the highlights of his live shows. This is one of those albums that I never tire of hearing, even after 40+ years.

[JeffCarney]

What's often overlooked is how much stuff these guys influenced and quite a lot prog.

Not that there were many prog bands basing their entire output on this sound, but many reference it. Whether Sebastian Hardie, Karthago, Manuel Gottsching and so many others, there was a very unique approach to groove, compositional and improvisational textures which clearly impacted a lot of rock music worldwide.

As it happens, just spinning Thin Lizzy's Nightlife this morning. I hope they sent Carlos Santana a check for the finale of "I'm Still In Love With You." And Gary Moore's solo should account for a slightly greater share.

[profusion]

Because I've owned Viva Santana! since its release in 1988, I never figured I needed a copy of Abraxas, as the former includes many of key Abraxas tracks. I was mistaken. Abraxas needs to be listened to start-to-finish to be fully appreciated, including the lesser-known tracks.

I agree that it's startling how these really young guys could progress so rapidly from the street grooves of Santana I to the polished writing and playing of Abraxas. Part of the key was having pianist Albert Gianquinto participate in the sessions. He added a lot to Abraxas that the original band themselves couldn't do.

[Blah_Blah_Woof_Woof]

Not only does it share cover artists with Bitches Brew, it was as ground-breaking as the Miles LP. It just flows so well; my brother had the 8-track of this is his VW van and it drove me crazy when it changed tracks in the middle of instrumental passages.

When I was in a high school band, we did a medley of Beck's Rice Pudding and Incident at Neshabur.

[grego]

As much as I love Abraxas, I think the next one, Caravanserai, is better, arguably Santana's best album.

[Sputnik]

I always liked Santana, but never owned any of their stuff until I decided to explor etheir catalog a year or so ago. Now I have much of their 70s work, and I enjoy it. Obvioulsy Abraxas is a seminal album that largely defines their sound. I think I might have a very slight preferance for Santana III, but to me these are both wonderful albums and stand among their best work to my ears.

I'm somewhat mixed on thier later fusion-oriented stuff. Some good moments, but I think I prefer Santana at this earlier stage where there's a stronger compositional emphasis and they're still more of a rock band. It's been fun exploring these albums that I was never that familar with back i the day.

Bill