REPOST: Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles - Live! (1972)

(U.S 1966–present, U.S 1967–2008)
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I purchased Carlos Santana and Buddy Miles Live on vinyl in 1972 when it was first released, and I still consider it one of my favorite live music albums. The brass sound that was popular in the early 1970's adds energy and pop to this live recording. I first heard the fast version of Evil Ways on this live album, and still prefer it to the slower studio recording that is on the Santana Greatest Hits album. In fact, the first five cuts on this live album are a wild ride. If I have a possible complaint about Carlos Santana and Buddy Miles live, it would be that it is too short. If this album were only the first half, I'd love it. The combination of Carlos Santana's blistering guitar solos (and those of Neal Schon) and his Latin-rock-based band with the heavy, heavy gut drumming of Buddy Miles (soon to be a member of Jimi Hendrix's second great group, A Band of Gypsies, made for great, continually exciting music. "Lava," "Them Changes" (much better than on Buddy Miles's own group recording of the same time). 

The first half of the album is as exciting music as you could find at the time. The second half is a long, meandering piece entitled "Free Form Funkafide Filth", and the piece is about as good, and as dated, as its title. It's somewhat boring, heavy, and it doesn't go anywhere. But that doesn't matter because the first half is so good!
I wish this group had played together longer.
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Live Album or Studio Scam?
There seem to be all sorts of urban legends surrounding this 1972 Top Ten album from Carlos Santana and Buddy Miles. Some people claim that the concert never took place (see topix.com) which seems unlikely, since Santana and Miles toured together extensively in late 1971 and early 1972. Others suggest that Carlos played little on the album, and while I respect the six-string talents of Neal Schon (who legend also says turned down an invitation from Eric Clapton to flesh out Derek and the Dominos to play with Santana's band, and who built a great reputation for himself as lead guitarist for Journey), there are numerous guitar runs on 'Live!' that have Carlos Santana written all over them. I think many of the myth-makers are deluded by the overly-engineered master tapes. It was common practice in the early seventies to modulate the amplitude of the crowd noise and this seems to be what was done with 'Live!'. While it sounds hokey at times (with what sounds like looped audience applause at times), that doesn't mean the performances didn't happen.
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Perhaps also lending to the controversy is the liner notes listing the recording date as 'January 0, 1972', a non-existent date, suggesting the concert never happened. But the concert actually took place in Hawaii, in the center of the Diamond Head volcanic crater, on January 1, 1972 during the 'Sunshine '72 Festival', so the bogus date on the linear notes is probably a typo or was done as a joke.
Supporting that fact is a collage of about fourteen photographs from the concert itself. One can see Carlos playing guitar in several of them, and there's a number of Hawaiian-looking people standing around as well. That's proof enough for me. I guess this one doesn't rise to the level of the McCartney death hoax!
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Fortunately, the music does rise to the occasion. I first acquired a copy of this album as one of my 12 "free" records when I joined the Columbia Record Club. I wasn't sure if I would like it, but in 1972 most people were convinced you couldn't go wrong with Carlos Santana, and I was one of them. I wasn't disappointed. While it may take a little time and a few listens for the 25 minute plus "Free Form Funkafide Filth" to grow on you... it does. I'm not sure how 'free form' this filth is (it's credited to Miles, Santana, drummer Gregg Errico, and bassist Ron Johnson), but it manages to hit a funk groove on several occasions and passes the ample running time (especially for a vinyl record) admirably.
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The real gems, however, are on side one. While the track listing lists five separate tracks, tracks one and two ("Marbles" and "Lava") and tracks four and five ("Faith Interlude" and Mile's best known composition, "Them Changes") segue seamlessly into one another, creating a musical suite. Only an upbeat, horn augmented version of "Evil Ways" stands alone, almost as a centerpiece. All of these tracks, save "Faith Interlude", which is perfectly titled given it's buoyant strains, are funky tomes of dynamite. Robert Hogins on organ and Coke Escovedo on timbales, along with a trio of conga players, do yoeman's work keeping up with Santana, Schon, and Miles. Over the years these tracks have merged in my mind, and belong together as one piece of work every bit as much as the flip side of the original vinyl disc.
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This album has been reissued on CD several times, having been remastered in 1994 and then reissued in 2005 and 2008. The pressed copies of the 2008 release must have gone quickly, explaining why it is no longer available. Sadly, no additional tracks have ever been added to any of the reissues, suggesting that no additional quality recordings from the concert exist. That's a little hard to believe, but what else could explain it? If additional material comparable to what is being offered here is ever released, criminal negligence charges should be levied against Bob Irwin, the "Reissue Producer", for keeping it under wraps for so long. [Don Schmittdiel 2008]
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The rip was taken from CD in FLAC format and includes artwork from both CD and LP. Photos taken at the Sunshine '72 Festival inside the Diamond Head volcano, Honolulu Hawaii are also included. I have also chosen to include an alternative rip of Side 1 as a single FLAC file (riiped from my vinyl), to retain the continuity of the tracks as heard on the LP, where one song runs into the other.
I personally enjoy this alternative, as the continuity of the concert atmosphere is retained.
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Track Listing
SIDE 1
01. "Marbles" (McLaughlin) – 4:18
02. "Lava" (Miles) – 2:10
03. "Evil Ways" (Henry) – 6:36
04. "Faith Interlude" (Miles, Santana) – 2:13
05. "Them Changes" (Miles) – 5:50
SIDE 2
06. "Free Form Funkafide Filth" (Errico, Johnson, Miles) – 24:54
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Band Members:
Carlos Santana - guitar, vocals
Neal Schon - guitar
Buddy Miles - Drums, percussion, congas, vocals
Ron Johnson - Bass
Bob Hogins - Organ, Electric Piano
Greg Errico - drums
Richard Clark - drums, percussion, congas
Coke Escovedo - percussion, tímbales.
Mingo Lewis - percussion
Mike Carabello - percussion, congas
Victor Pantoja - percussion, congas
Hadley Caliman - flute, saxophone
Luis Gasca - trumpet

NEW IMPROVED RIP !

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Santana and Miles Link (455Mb)
New Link 6/01/2025

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Carlos Santana - Blues For Salvador (1987)

(U.S  1965 - Present)
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Blues For Salvador was released in 1987. Dedicated to his wife, Deborah Santana, the record was released as a solo project, without the Santana band. It won the 1987 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, his first Grammy ever.

On previous solo albums, Carlos Santana had made noticeable stylistic changes and worked with Jazz, Pop, and even Country musicians. On this, his fourth Carlos Santana release, the line between a "solo" and a "group" project is blurred; this record is really a collection of the Santana Band out takes and stray tracks.

Included are an instrumental version of "Deeper, Dig Deeper" from Freedom, and an alternate take of "Hannibal" from Zebop!, as well as "Now That You Know" from the group's 1985 tour. Interesting to note that "Trane" features jazz drummer Tony Williams on drums.

Carlos explores a somewhat softer more R&B flavour sound. There is a lesser Latin influence here but none the less these delightful sounds do creep up from time to time. This effort is almost exclusively an instrumental, as whatever vocals do exist are used more to emphasize the use of the human voice as a supporting instrument rather than as a dominant force.

The songs themselves are not as catchy as on Supernatural, Abraxas, or Santana 3 but certainly have their captivating moments. The opening number, "Bailando/Aquatic Park" is a definite highlight as is the energetic "Trane". "Bella" has some touching instrumentation as Carlos and Chester Thompson blend quite nicely together. Some of the other pieces lack a strong central melody, however, just the presence of Carlos's guitar makes this release one that can be appreciated.
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Admittedly there are at least three tracks on Blues For Salvador that have a really outdated 80's pop rock commercial feel for the time. But the rest of the set is purely heaven sent and timeless !

Finishing off the set is the experimental quality with "Blues For Salvador" that was not really felt or expressed with Santana's other pop sounding projects or efforts from the 80's. At times there is a slight underlying new age or ambient feel to some of the instrumentals such as "Mingus".

Nonetheless, the Latin, rock, jazz fusion sound is still there and unmistakably Santana's trademark sound.
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Interview
"Carlos Santana Opens Up About Blues, Jazz and More in 1988 Guitar World Interview

Here's an interview with Carlos Santana from the June 1988 issue of Guitar World. The original story, which started on page 18, ran with the headline, "Another Kind of Blue: Carlos Santana has embarked on yet another musical adventure, one that has a lot to do with theory, and everything to do with the guitar."

“I know I'm not the kind of person who’s gonna wind up a walking jukebox, like many rock ‘n’ roll artists,” says Carlos Santana. “They just play their hits and that’s it. That doesn’t appeal to me. I don’t wanna just go out and play "Black Magic Woman" and "Oye Como Va" all night because that was part of the seventies, and my watch says it’s 1988. So I wanna get into ’88 and not look back.”

A little over a year ago, I chided Carlos in a Guitar World record review of Freedom. "Scrap the sappy, safe, predictable, slick pop arrangements and get back to playing the guitar, man," is what I said, or words to that effect.

I don't know if he ever saw that review, but he must've been thinking along the same lines himself when he recorded his recent Blues For Salvador, his 22nd LP for Columbia. This album kicks my ass around the block every time I give a listen.

Carlos Santana 1987

Killer guitar on every cut. Eight of the album's nine cuts are instrumental, featuring Carlos' signature singing, stinging guitar lines. For guitar fans, it's a dream come true; easily his most exciting, most scintillating, most inspired display of ax magic in over a decade. Ah, welcome home, Carlos!

And he's not playing the hits, either. No lame pop structures or hook-laden wimp fare like the highly saleable radio hit "Winning" from a few years back. No cheesy vocals anywhere in sight. Sure, sure, it 's good to go gold and bring home the bacon. But I just couldn't deal with that limp radio-play pap with the sounds of Abraxas or Caravanserai still fresh in my ears and the sight of Santana burning up the Woodstock stage on "Soul Sacrifice" still imbedded in my memory banks. That's like munching on Yodels and Ring-Dings after feasting on fine French cuisine.

You drop the needle anywhere on Blues For Salvador and you get the real deal. The man redeems himself for any past lapses. "Bailando/Aquatic Park" revives the memory of "Soul Sacrifice." The lyrical ballad "Bella" is played with a soulful Wes Montgomery tone that allows the nuance of Carlos' expression to shine through beautifully. His adventurous guitar synth work on the mood piece "Mingus" is highly ambitious, if not monumental -- or even characteristic. And the sheer conviction that Carlos displays on the title cut, a duologue with keyboardist Chester Thompson, is positively Herculean.

There's more. He stretches like in days of old on the live jamming vehicle, "Now That You Know," recorded during his band's '85 World Tour. He burns red-hot on the Latin percussion workout of "Hannibal," which segues to a loose, bluesy swing feel at the tag. He cranks out some vicious wah-wah licks, reminiscent of Jimi in all his glory, on the funky "Deeper, Dig Deeper." And he unleashes with a vengeance on "Trane," which is powered by old-time runnin' buddy drummer Tony Williams.

There may not be any displays of two-handed tapping, wang-bar theatrics or scalar pyrotechnics on Blues For Salvador, but nevertheless, it gets my vote for Top Guitar Album Of The Year. It's a strong statement from a national treasure. And it seems that this powerful, expressive album is now serving as the bridge to a leap in a new direction for Carlos Santana, as well.

''I'm planning to do more of this from now on," the once and future guitar hero explained recently. "I have come to the conclusion -- and I don't know why it took me so long, but nevertheless, I'm here now -- that a lot of people tell me they don't get enough guitar on my albums. So I decided to do an album where the guitar would be the singer, playing the melody. And it feels really, really good. I have come to a point where I'm not afraid to be the main vocal in there. I mean, if cats like Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul can see that I can cut it, I guess I can cut it. It gives me a certain kind of confidence to be able to play with musicians of that caliber. So it 's easier for me now to embrace this vision of the guitar being the main, primary vocal."

He's referring to recent collaborations with jazz heavyweights Hancock (Monster, Columbia), Zawinul (This Is This, Columbia) and Shorter, whom he's been jamming with a lot lately. Those artists tapped Carlos for his unique quality, his Signature sound, not for his knowledge of scales and chord inversions.

They were after the feeling he projects in his playing, the conviction behind his notes. Yet Carlos admits he's at a point now in his career where he would like to learn a thing or two about theory so that he can make the leap to the next level.

"I have been accused of being a very simplistic, very lyrical player, and that's okay. That just comes from the blues, which is my background. But every day you wake up and transcend. You can't ever rest on your laurels. Every day you wake up is an opportunity to go beyond, and that's why I let my band go right now. For the first time in my life I'm just roaming around, vagabonding.

"I'm just jamming a lot these days with guys like Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams. And it feels good because now I don't have the responsibility of maintaining a group... being a baby-sitter, psychologist and all the things that you have to be to be the leader of a band.

"So it 's a good time for me. I can afford to go out there and really learn ... take some time and just learn some theory or learn how to sing or learn more about harmony and voicings. That's what I need to do right now because I want my vision to be more expanded. I need to know the architectural order of someone like Wayne Shorter. For me, listening to his music makes me feel like a two-year-old, like

I don't know anything about music. And I need to crawl out of the crib and find how that order relates. I can understand the blues, but I need to learn more cycles. So I'm trying to stretch out a bit on the guitar now, make that leap to a new level. I don't know if I'm gonna succeed or fail, but I'm definitely hungry for it..
This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from my CD copy of this album. Full album artwork and select photos are included. Although this is not his best solo release (see 'The Swing Of Delight' or 'Havana Moon') it is still worth a listen. The album grows on you over time. Interesting to see an old buddy of his returns to play on this one - Buddy Miles.
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Track Listing

1. Bailando/ Aquatic Park (5:47)
2. Bella (4:29)
3. I'm Gone (3:09)
4. 'Trane (3:10)
5. Deeper, Dig Deeper (6:08)
6. Mingus (1:25)
7. Now That You Know (10:25)
8. Hannibal (4:27)
9. Blues for Salvador (5:59)

Line-up / Musicians
Carlos Santana / guitars, vocals
Benny Rietveld / Bass
Armando Peraza / Congas, Bongos
Walfredo Reyes / Drums
Alex Ligertwood / Vocals
Chester Thompson / keyboards, vocals
Alphonso Johnson / bass
Vernon Reid / guitar
Paul Rekow / congas
Greg Walker / Vocals
Armando Peraza / Congas, Bongos
Graham Lear / Drums
Orestes Vilato / percussion
Buddy Miles / percussion
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Carlos Santana Link (112Mb) New Link 17/12/2023