Santana’s astounding performance of “Soul Sacrifice” at Woodstock in 1969 brought the band’s percussion-heavy, Latin-inflected psychedelic rock to the attention of the world and made the album, Santana, one of the signature recordings of the era.
Made during the legendary bandleader’s most fruitful and creative period, the classic 1969 set functions as an accessible entry point into the tangy worlds of Latin music by way of an intoxicating blend of Afro-Cuban percussion, jazzy tempos, exotic leads, bluesy riffs, and psychedelic accents.Indeed, separation between Carlos Santana’s fluid fills, spicy solos, and broiling grooves and pianist Gregg Rolie’s soulful Hammond organ runs allows the music to come alive with a newfound freshness and radiance. Songs simmer, with each passage bursting forth with vibrant color. Just like the equally essential follow-up Abraxas, Santana also lays claim to one of the biggest (and unfortunate) production gaffes in music history.
For nearly four decades, copies were produced with the left and right channels reversed, meaning that everything was placed in a backwards manner. This even extended to compilations on which individual songs from Santana were included. Rest assured that, in addition to boasting reference audiophile sonics, this 180-gram 45 RPM double LP set gets all the specifications exactly right. And with a record of this magnitude, you want everything to be perfect.
Released weeks before the band blew minds at Woodstock, the groundbreaking record stands alongside Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and Jeff Beck’s Beck-Ola as a pillar of rock fusion. Featuring the Top Ten radio smash “Evil Ways” and jam favorite “Soul Sacrifice,” it hasn’t aged a day. Hear like never before why Rolling Stone says Santana is No. 149 on its list of the Greatest Albums of All Time.
