Abraxas

Santana

album cover

The Linchpin of Latin Rock

With the introductory single "Evil Ways" and this explosive follow-up album, Carlos Santana and his namesake band made the crossroads of Latin dance music and rock into one of the most happening spots in the musical universe.

It was a zone of endless roiling percussion, magical extended guitar journeys, and rhythm that swayed like the hips of Mother Earth herself. If, as some in the press enthused, Santana was bringing revolution, it was with a sound as old as the hills. Tito Puente's "Oye como va," one of two chart-topping hits here, turns on a steady, effortlessly synchronized son montuno rhythm played exactly the way the Latin dance bands of the '50s did it. Except where Puente's brass usually saunters in to relieve the vocalist, Santana's version busts out the guitar like a streak of blue light, spinning a melody that fills the air with psychedelic flowers.

Likewise, the other FM favorite, "Black Magic Woman," fully integrates "rock" and "Latin" into one mighty pulse. Elsewhere on Abraxas, the group stretches in ways far more imaginative than the '90s jam bands ever did (for proof see the instrumental "Incident at Neshabur," a suitelike showcase for the oscillating organ of Gregg Rolie).

Key to the enterprise is Santana, whose guitar has limitless powers of persuasion. Unlike those axmen who lean on the instrument's stun-gun attributes, Santana treats his guitar as a spirit vessel, fashioning long sustained tones into laser beams that cut right into the center of the music. Later, during the lean years of the '80s, the guitar and the percussion were the main reasons to listen to his bands. Here, though, Santana can practically coast, because everything's clicking.

Genre: Rock
Released: 1970, Columbia
Key Tracks: "Oye como va," "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen," "Incident at Neshabur," "Se a cabo"
Catalog Choice: Caravanserai
Next Stop: Malo: Malo
After That: Chick Corea and Return to Forever: Light as a Feather
Book Pages: 671–672