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A collaboration with Buddy Miles (the former Jimi Hendrix drummer)
on Live (Columbia, August 1972) yielded
a 25-minute long jam and showed what the problem was: Santana was beginning
to take his craft a little too seriously.
Beginning with Caravanserai (Columbia, November 1972) Santana
(re-christened Devadip and converted to Hinduism) transformed himself from
good-natured entertainer of the night-club scene into a mystic jazz musician.
A slower, trancey pace and a utopian world-beat
(not limited to his Latin roots) entered the picture.
Greg Rolie and guitarist Neil Schon (who had just joined) left to form
Journey while Carlos Santana teamed with
jazz giant John McLaughlin to record
Love Devotion and Surrender (Columbia, June 1973).
Needless to say, Santana was dwarfed by his partner.
The problem of Welcome (Columbia, November 1973) is that it sounds
like the carbon copy of Love Devotion and Surrender: it has the
jazzy jams, it has the lengthy, hypnotic solos, it has the mystic spirit,
it has the slow tempos. But it lacks McLaughlin (not a detail) and the good
material.
If one album justifies Santana's ambitions, it has to be
the triple live Lotus (Columbia, May 1974), inspired by
Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and featuring veteran conga player Armando Peraza.
Borboletta (Columbia, October 1974) was the quintessence of routine:
terrific playing, mediocre material, lots of self-indulgence.
Give And Take and Practice What You Preach could have been on
Abraxas, though, and the album does boast an impressive cast
(Airto Moreira, Flora Purim, Stanley Clarke).
Santana's collaboration with Alice Coltrane,
Illuminations (Columbia, September 1974), was a disappointing tribute
to the music of John Coltrane.
Then Michael
Shrieve, one of the greatest percussionists in the history of music,
left the band to join Stomu Yamashta and launch his solo career.
Amigos (Columbia, March 1976), that featured a completely renovated
band and was dominated by keyboardist Tom Coster,
was a blatant commercial retreat, featuring bland
salsa (Dance Sister Dance),
flamenco (Gitano),
disco (Let It Shine),
soul (Europa),
and funk (Let Me)
numbers, more vocals, catchy melodies and quicker tempos.
For what it's worth, it was Santana's first resurgence.
Festival (Columbia, February 1977) was even more compromised with
mainstream pop, as testified by the MOR ballad The River.
The live album Moonflower (Columbia, September 1977) sealed this
second life of Santana.
Next, Santana embraced disco-music (the seven-minute One Chain)
and heavy-metal (Open Invitation)
on Inner Secrets (Columbia, October 1978), the first album without
Coster.
Marathon (Columbia, September 1979) continues the slide into
confusional state, swinging from
disco (Stand Up) to salsa (Summer Lady), from
fusion (Aqua Marine) to
heavy-metal (You Know That I Love You).
Santana played with Weather Report on This Is This (1976) and
then performed live with their saxophonist Wayne Shorter, a session documented
on the double-CD Live At the 1988 Montreux Jazz Festival (2007).
Oneness (Columbia, March 1979) was Santana's first solo album, although
the difference between Carlos Santana and Santana the band was more blurred
than ever. The main difference was that this album was mostly instrumental.
It was followed by an even more ambitious solo album,
The Swing of Delight (Columbia, August 1980), that featured Herbie
Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams: Miles Davis' legendary
combo.
In the meantime, Santana the band manufactured banal pop-soul muzak
on a couple of embarrassing albums:
Zebop! (Columbia, March 1981) and
Shango (Columbia, August 1982).
Beyond Appearances (Columbia, February 1985) employed synthesizers
and drum-machines.
Santana's solo Havana Moon (Columbia, April 1983) was a tribute to
black music of the 1950s.
His next "solo", Blues For Salvador (Columbia, October 1987), was a
shameless collection of leftovers from Santana albums.
Viva Santana! (Columbia, 1988) is an anthology of the first twenty
years.
Freedom (Columbia, February 1987), with Buddy Miles taking over vocal
duties,
Spirits Dancing In The Flesh (Columbia, June 1990) and
Milagro (Polygram, June 1992)
marked a return to the blues-rock sound of Santana's early days, and the
latter showed a return to form in Somewhere in Heaven and
Red Prophet.
But the live Sacred Fire (Polygram, October 1993) seemed to shut
Santana's career for good.
Santana wasted time recording an album with his two
Brothers (Island, September 1994) and then vanished.
Dance of the Rainbow Serpent (Columbia, 1995) is another anthology.
When he was considered little more than a ghost,
Santana staged a surprising comeback, although
Supernatural (Arista, June 1999) sounds more like a compilation of
modern artists than a Santana album.
The stellar cast includes:
Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 (Smooth),
Lauryn Hill (Do You Like The Way),
Everlast (Put Your Lights On)
Eric Clapton (The Calling),
Mana` (Corazon Espinado),
Wyclef Jean (Maria Maria),
Dave Matthews (Love Of My Life), etc.
A year after its release, the album had already sold 13 million copies.
Santana's muzak had finally found its audience.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Mauro Jimmy Vecchio)
Una collaborazione con Buddy Miles (il precedente batterista di Jimi Hendrix) in "Live" (Columbia, 1972) fruttò una lunga jam di 25 minuti che mostrò quale fosse il problema: Santana stava cominciando a prendere la sua abilità un po’ troppo seriamente.
A partire da "Caravanserai" (Columbia, 1972) Santana ( ribattezzato Devadip e convertitosi all’Induismo) si trasformò da bonario intrattenitore da night-club in un mistico musicista jazz.
Un andamento più lento ed estatico e un utopistico ritmo world (non limitato alle sue origini latine) entrarono nei suoi disegni musicali.
Greg Rolie e il chitarrista Neil Schon (che era appena entrato) lasciarono la band per formare i Journey mentre Carlos Santana collaborò con il gigante del jazz John McLaughlin per registrare "Love, Devotion and Surrender" (Columbia, 1973). Non c’è bisogno di dirlo: Santana venne rimpicciolito dal proprio partner.
Il problema di "Welcome" (Columbia, 1973) è che sembra la copia carbone di "Love Devotion Surrender": ci sono le jams jazz, i lunghi ed ipnotici assoli, lo spirito mistico, i tempi lenti. Ma manca McLaughlin (non un dettaglio) e il buon materiale.
Se c’è un album che comprova le ambizioni di Santana questo deve essere il triplo live "Lotus" (Columbia, 1974) ispirato da "Bitches Brew" di Miles Davis.
"Borboletta" (Columbia, 1974) fu la quintessenza della routine: sonorità terrificanti, materiale mediocre, molta auto indulgenza. "Give and Take" e "Practice what you preach" potevano essere brani di "Abraxas" sebbene l’album si fregi di un cast impressionante (Airto Moreira, Flora Purim, Stanley Clarke).
La collaborazione di Santana con Alice Coltrane , "Illuminations" (Columbia, 1974) fu un tributo deludente alla musica di John Coltrane.
In seguito Michael Shrieve, uno dei più grandi percussionisti della storia della musica, lasciò la band per unirsi a Stomu Yamashta e lanciare la sua carriera solista.
"Amigos" (Columbia, 1976) che mostrò una band completamente rinnovata e dominata dal tastierista Tom Coster, fu una fragorosa ritirata commerciale con blandi numeri di salsa ("Dance Sister Dance"), flamenco ("Gitano"), disco ("Let it shine"), soul ("Europa") e funk (" Let Me"), più cori, melodie orecchiabili e tempi più veloci. Per quello che vale, fu la prima rinascita di Santana.
"Festival" (Columbia, 1977) mostrò un compromesso ancora più evidente con il pop commerciale, come testimoniò la ballata MOR "The River".
L’album live "Moonflower" (Columbia, 1977) sigillò questa seconda vita di Santana.
In seguito Santana abbracciò la musica disco (i sette minuti di "One Chain") e l’heavy metal (Open Invitation") con "Inner Secrets" (Columbia, 1978), il primo album senza Coster.
"Marathon" (Columbia, 1979) continua a scivolare in questo stato confusionale, dondolando dalla disco (Stand up) alla salsa (Summer Lady), dalla fusion (Aqua Marine) all’heavy metal (You Know that I love you).
"Oneness" (Columbia, 1979) fu il primo album solista di Santana, sebbene la differenza tra Carlos Santana e l’omonima band era più offuscata che mai. La differenza principale era che quest’album era per lo più strumentale. Fu seguito da un ancor più ambizioso album solista, "The Swing of Delight" (Columbia, 1980), che presentava Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter e Tony Williams: il leggendario gruppo di Miles Davis.
Nel frattempo, i Santana realizzarono un banale pop soul in un paio di album imbarazzanti: "Zebop" (Columbia, 1981) e "Shango" (Columbia, 1982). "Beyond Appearances" (Columbia, 1985) utilizzò sintetizzatori e batterie elettroniche.
L’album solista di Santana "Havana Moon" (Columbia, 1983) fu un tributo alla musica nera dei ’50. Il successivo "Blues For Salvador" (Columbia, 1987) fu una vergognosa raccolta di rimanenze dai vecchi album.
"Viva Santana!" (Columbia, 1988) è un’antologia dei primi vent’anni.
"Freedom" (Columbia, 1987), con Buddy Miles a prendersi cura delle parti vocali, "Spirits dancing in the flesh" (Columbia, 1990) e "Milagro" (Columbia, 1992) segnarono un ritorno al suono blues-rock dei primi anni e il secondo un ritorno alla forma in "Somewhere in heaven" e "Red Prophet".
Tuttavia il live "Sacred Fire" (Polygram, 1993) sembrò chiudere definitivamente la carriera di Santana. Santana gettò via il suo tempo registrando un album con i suoi due "Brothers" (Island, 1994) e poi scomparve.
"Dance of the rainbow serpent" (Columbia,1995) è un’altra antologia.
Quando era considerato poco più di un fantasma, Santana allestì un sorprendente ritorno, sebbene "Supernatural" (Arista, 1999) sembra più una raccolta di artisti moderni che un album di Santana.
IL cast stellare include: Rob Thomas dei Matchbox 20 (Smooth), Lauryn Hill (Do you like the way), Everlast (Put your lights on), Eric Clapton (The Calling), Manà (Corazon Espinado), Wyclef Jean (Maria Maria), Dave Matthews (Love of my life), etc.
Un anno dopo la sua uscita, l’album aveva già venduto 13 milioni di copie. Santana aveva finalmente trovato il suo pubblico.
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