Battle of the early Santana's

[Redo]

Good luck choosing!

 

[soozieq]

[size=x-small]Abraxas[/size] - mind you, ever since 'Samba Pa Ti' was used for a Marks & Spencer cream-cake advert, I can't listen to Carlos in quite the same way anymore

 

[Old Pa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq /img/forum/go_quote.gif [size=x-small]Abraxas[/size] - mind you, ever since 'Samba Pa Ti' was used for a Marks & Spencer cream-cake advert, I can't listen to Carlos in quite the same way anymore

Interesting response since at this time Abraxas does not have a vote. First album was loaded with their best work from several years together and just blew everybody away at release. Subsequent works did not have the musical depth, and then believing their own reviews and personnel changes took their toll. Still, a great and groundbreaking band from the best decade in rock that has stood the test of time.

 

[Redo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Pa /img/forum/go_quote.gif Interesting response since at this time Abraxas does not have a vote. First album was loaded with their best work from several years together and just blew everybody away at release. Subsequent works did not have the musical depth, and then believing their own reviews and personnel changes took their toll. Still, a great and groundbreaking band from the best decade in rock that has stood the test of time.

I have yet to vote myself. It's between I, Abraxas, and Caravanserai for me. I can't decide right now.

III has some amazing energy and refined down to a T, but the second half of the album can get a bit boring.

 

[augustwest]

"Caravanserai" for me, most of the other early "classic rock" Santana just doesn't do it for me.

- augustwest

 

[Chris-2]

I have voted for "Caravanserai" simply because it is my favorite of those on your list, however it is not truely an "early Santana" .

The early Santanas are all those tracks which appear in various combinations on usually cheap price CDs with titles like "The Early Years" , etc ...
Some of these are from recordings made at a particular studio in California before the band did their demo recordings for Columbia, and some are not so early as they are from the audition session of Neil Schon, and some I am not sure where were recorded - one seems to be a jam session from which a track on their 3rd album was developed.
Also there are some live concert recordings from performances just before the 1st Columbia LP {now Sony CD} was released.
Some of these early tracks are worth hearing - I will post more about them if any-one is interested, please ask in this Thread .

Official early Santana is "Santana" ; "Abraxis" ; III .
"Caravanserai" is the beginning of the second stage of Carlos's band's evolution, which includes "Welcome" and "Borboletta".

Sorry if I seem pedantic about this, however I was hearing all these albums, except the first one, at their original time of release, and soon following Carlos and his bands with interest !
First I had heard the single of "Evil Ways" played on the radio.

If one was to exclude "Caravanserai" from the list, then I would vote for the first album simply because it started all this great combination of musical influences, and it does contain three of my favorite tracks.
I recommend the Legacy Edition 2CD set, because included are the original sessions' demo recordings for Columbia, all of which are worth hearing to compare with the later recorded versions, and also to hear the track "Fried Neckbones and some Home Fries" which should have been included on the 1st album I think, in place of one of its lesser tracks.
This piece had been played by the Santana band at gigs for a while before the recording, and there are some live recordings from that period in the 2CD Legacy Edition set.

I also recommend the Legacy Edition 2CD set of "III".

It seems we are not getting a 2CD set for "Abraxis" - perhaps those few live tracks added to the single CD reissue are all Sony has available from that period, but I doubt it !
Though maybe the tapes of other tracks from then have deteriorated beyond reasonable sound quality salvage.

As for "Caravanserai" , perhaps there was nothing else recorded in the Studio at that time, does any-one know ?

Chris.