Carlos Santana

For the baseball player, see Carlos Santana (baseball). For the Costa Rican football player, see Carlos Santana (footballer). For the Mexican academic, see Carlos Santana Morales.

Carlos Santana

Carlos Augusto Santana Alves (born July 20, 1947 in Jalisco, Mexico) is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-American rock musician and guitarist. He became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which created a highly successful blend of rock, salsa, and jazz fusion. The band's sound featured his melodic, blues-based guitar lines set against Latin percussion such as timbales and congas. Santana continued to work in these forms over the following decades. He experienced a sudden resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s. Rolling Stone also named Santana number 15 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2003

Biography

Early life

Born July 20, 1947, in Autlán de Navarro, Mexico. His father, Jose, was an accomplished professional violinist, and Carlos learned to play the guitar at age 8. In 1955, the family moved from Autlán de Navarro to Tijuana, the border city between Mexico and California. As a teenager, Santana began performing in Tijuana, inspired by the American rock & roll and blues music of artists like B. B. King, Ray Charles, and Little Richard. In the early 1960s, Santana moved again with his family, this time to San Francisco's Mission District, where his father hoped to find work.

In San Francisco, the young guitarist got the chance to see his idols, most notably King, perform live. He was also introduced to a variety of new musical influences, including jazz and international folk music, and witnessed the growing hippie movement centered in San Francisco in the 1960s. After several years spent working as a dishwasher in a diner and playing for spare change on the streets, Santana decided to become a full-time musician; in 1966, he formed the Santana Blues Band, with fellow street musicians David Brown and Gregg Rolie (bassist and keyboard player, respectively).

With their highly original blend of Latin-infused rock, jazz, blues, salsa, and African rhythms, the band (which quickly became known simply as Santana) gained an immediate following on the San Francisco club scene. The band's early success, capped off by a memorable performance at Woodstock in 1969, led to a recording contract with Columbia Records, then run by Clive Davis. Their first album, Santana (1969), spurred by a Top 10 single, "Evil Ways," went triple platinum, selling over four million copies and remaining on the Billboard chart for over two years. Abraxas, released in 1970, went platinum, scoring two more hit singles, "Oye Como Va" and "Black Magic Woman." The band's next two albums, Santana III (1971) and Caravanserai (1972), were also critical and popular successes. and he was as gay as the shoit that comes out of me at morning

Santana to Caravanserai

Santana was signed by CBS Records and went into the studio to record their first album. They were not satisfied with the results and realized changes needed to be made. This resulted in the dismissal of Livingston. Santana replaced him with Mike Shrieve, who had a strong background in both jazz and rock. Marcus Malone was forced to quit the band due to personal problems, and the band re-enlisted Michael Carabello. Carabello brought with him percussionist José Chepito Areas, who was already well-known in his country, Nicaragua, and, with his skills and professional experience, was a major contributor to the band.

Bill Graham, who had been a fan of the band from the start, convinced the promoters of the Woodstock Music and Art Festival to let them appear before their first album was even released. They were one of the surprises of the festival; their set was legendary and, later, the exposure of their eleven-minute instrumental "Soul Sacrifice" in the Woodstock film and soundtrack albums vastly increased Santana's popularity. Graham also gave the band some key advice to record the Willie Bobo song "Evil Ways", as he felt it would get them radio airplay. Their first album, simply titled Santana, became a huge hit, reaching number four on the U.S. album charts, and the catchy single "Evil Ways" reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1970, the group reached its early commercial peak with their second album, Abraxas, which reached number one on the album charts and went on to sell over four million copies. Instrumental in the production of the album was pianist Alberto Gianquinto, who advised the group to stay away from lengthy percussion jams and concentrate on tighter song structures. The innovative Santana musical blend made a number-four hit out of the English band Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman" and a number-thirteen hit out of salsa legend Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va". Carlos Santana, alongside the classic Santana lineup of their first two albums, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. He performed "Black Magic Woman" with the writer of the song, Fleetwood Mac's founder Peter Green. Green was inducted the same night.

However, Woodstock and the band's sudden success put pressure on the group, highlighting the different musical directions in which Rolie and Santana were starting to go. Rolie, along with some of the other band members, wanted to emphasize a basic hard rock sound which had established the band in the first place. Santana on the other hand, was growing musically beyond his love of blues & rock and wanted more jazzy, ethereal elements in the music, which were influenced by his fascination with Miles Davis and John Coltrane, as well as his growing interest in spirituality and meditation. To further complicate matters, Chepito Areas was stricken with a near-fatal brain hemorrhage, and Santana wanted the band to continue performing by finding a temporary replacement (first Willie Bobo, then Coke Escovedo), while others in the band, especially Michael Carabello, felt it was wrong to perform publicly without Areas. Cliques formed, and the band started to disintegrate.

Teenage San Francisco Bay Area guitar prodigy Neal Schon was asked to join the band in 1971, though, at the time, he was also invited by Eric Clapton to join Derek and the Dominos. Choosing Santana, he joined in time to complete the third album, Santana 3. The band now boasted a powerful dual-lead-guitar act that gave the album a tougher sound. The sound of the band was also helped by the return of a recuperated Chepito Areas and the assistance of Coke Escovedo in the percussion section. Enhancing the band's sound further was the support of popular Bay Area group Tower of Power's horn section, Luis Gasca of Malo, and a number of friends who helped with percussion and vocals, injecting more energy to the proceedings. Santana 3 was another success, reaching number one on the album charts, selling two million copies, and yielding the hits "Everybody's Everything" and "No One to Depend On".

But tension in the band continued. Along with musical differences, drug use became a problem, and Santana was deeply worried it was affecting the band's performance. Coke Escovedo encouraged Santana to take more control of the band's musical direction, much to the dismay of some of the others who thought that the band and its sound was a collective effort. Also, financial irregularities were exposed while under the management of Stan Marcum, whom Bill Graham criticized as being incompetent. Growing resentments between Santana and Michael Carabello over lifestyle issues resulted in his departure on bad terms. James Mingo Lewis was hired at the last minute as a replacement at a concert in New York City. David Brown later left due to substance abuse problems. A South American tour was cut short in Lima, Peru, due to student protests against U.S. governmental policies and unruly fans. The madness of the tour convinced Santana that changes needed to be made in the band and in his life.

In January 1972, Santana, Neal Schon and Coke Escovedo joined former Band of Gypsys drummer Buddy Miles for a concert at Hawaii's Diamond Head Crater, which was recorded for a live album. The performance was erratic and uneven, but the album managed to achieve gold-record status on the weight of Santana's popularity.

In early 1972, Santana and the remaining members of the band started working on their fourth album, Caravanserai. During the studio sessions, Santana and Michael Shrieve brought in other musicians: percussionists James Mingo Lewis and Latin-Jazz veteran, Armando Peraza replacing Michael Carabello, and bassists Tom Rutley and Doug Rauch replacing David Brown. Also assisting on keyboards were Wendy Haas and Tom Coster. With the unsettling influx of new players in the studio, Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon decided that it was time to leave after the completion of the album, even though both made spectacular contributions to the session. Rolie left and went home to Seattle, opening a restaurant with his father, and later became a founding member of Journey (which Schon would later join as well).

When Caravanserai did emerge in 1972, it marked a strong change in musical direction towards jazz fusion. The album received critical praise, but CBS executive Clive Davis warned Santana and the band that it would sabotage the band's position as a Top Forty act. Nevertheless, over the years, the album would achieve platinum status. The difficulties Santana and the band went through during this period were chronicled in Ben Fong-Torres' Rolling Stone cover story "The Resurrection of Carlos Santana".

Around this time, Santana met Deborah King, whom he later married in 1973. She is the daughter of the late blues singer and guitarist Saunders King. They have three children: Salvador, Stella and Angelica. Together with wife Deborah, Santana founded a not-for-profit organization, the Milagro Foundation, which provides financial aid for educational, medical, and other needs. On October 19, 2007, Deborah, his wife of 34 years, filed for divorce citing "irreconcilable differences".[3]

Spiritual journey

In 1972, Santana became a huge fan of the pioneering fusion band The Mahavishnu Orchestra and its guitarist John McLaughlin. Aware of Santana's interest in meditation, McLaughlin introduced Santana and Deborah to his guru, Sri Chinmoy. Chinmoy accepted them as disciples in 1973. Santana was given the name "Devadip" - meaning "The lamp, light and eye of God." Santana and McLaughlin recorded an album together, Love, Devotion, Surrender with members of Santana and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, along with percussionist Don Alias and organist Larry Young, who both had made appearances on Miles Davis' classic Bitches Brew in 1969.

In 1973, Santana, having obtained legal rights to the band's name, formed a new version of Santana, with Armando Peraza and Chepito Areas on percussion, Doug Rauch on bass, Michael Shrieve on drums, and Tom Coster and Richard Kermode on keyboards. Santana was later able to recruit jazz vocalist Leon Thomas for a tour of Japan, which was recorded for the live, sprawling, high-energy fusion album Lotus. CBS records would not allow its release unless the material was condensed. Santana did not agree to those terms, and the album was available in the U.S. only as an expensive, imported, three-record set. The group later went into the studio and recorded "Welcome", which further reflected Santana's interests in jazz fusion and his commitment to the spiritual life of Sri Chinmoy.

In 2008, He told the magazine Rolling Stone in an interview that he would hear Jesus' voice comforting him when he was becoming suicidal.

Shifting styles in the 1970s

A collaboration with John Coltrane's widow, Alice Coltrane - Illuminations followed. The album delved into avant-garde esoteric free jazz, Eastern Indian and classical influences with other ex-Miles Davis sidemen Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland. Soon after, Santana replaced his band members again. This time Kermode, Thomas and Rauch departed from the group and were replaced by vocalist Leon Patillo (later a successful Contemporary Christian artist) and returning bassist David Brown. He also recruited soprano saxophonist, Jules Broussard to the lineup. The band recorded one studio album Borboletta, which was released in 1974. Drummer Leon 'Ndugu' Chancler later joined the band as a replacement for Michael Shrieve, who left to pursue a solo career.

By this time, the Bill Graham's management company had assumed the affairs of the group. Graham was critical of Santana's direction into jazz and felt he needed to concentrate on getting Santana back into the charts with the edgy, street-wise ethnic sound that had made them famous. Santana himself was seeing that the group's direction was alienating many fans. Although the albums and performances were given good reviews by critics in jazz and fusion circles, sales had plummeted.

Santana along with Tom Coster, producer David Rubinson, and Chandler formed yet another version of Santana, adding vocalist Greg Walker. The 1976 album Amigos, which featured the songs "Dance, Sister, Dance" and "Let It Shine", had a strong funk and Latin sound. The album also received considerable airplay on FM album-oriented rock stations with the instrumental "Europa (Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile)" and re-introduced Santana back into the charts. Rolling Stone magazine ran a second cover story on Santana entitled "Santana Comes Home".

The albums conceived through the late 1970s followed the same formula, although with several lineup changes. Among the personnel who came and left the band was percussionist Raul Rekow, who joined in early 1977 and remains to this day. Most-notable of the band's commercial efforts of this era was a version of the 1960s Zombies hit, "She's Not There", on the 1977 album Moonflower.

The relative success of the band's albums in this era allowed Santana to pursue a solo career funded by CBS. First, Oneness, Silver Dreams, Golden Reality in 1979 and The Swing of Delight in 1980, which featured some of his musical heroes: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams from Miles Davis' legendary 1960s quintet.

The pressures and temptations of being a high-profile rock musician and requisites of the spiritual lifestyle which guru Sri Chinmoy and his followers demanded, were great sources of conflict to Santana's and his marriage. He was becoming increasingly disillusioned with what he thought was Chinmoy's often-unreasonable rules imposed on his life, one being his refusal to allow Santana and Deborah to start a family. He felt too that his fame was being used to increase the guru's visibility. Santana and Deborah eventually ended their relationship with Chinmoy in 1982.

The 1980s

More radio-oriented singles followed from Santana the band. "Winning" in 1981 and "Hold On" ( a remake of Canadian artist Ian Thomas's song) in 1982 both reached the top twenty. After his break with Sri Chinmoy, Santana went into the studio to record another solo album with Keith Olson and legendary R&B producer Jerry Wexler. The 1983 album revisited Santana's early musical experiences in Tijuana with Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love" and the title cut, Chuck Berry's "Havana Moon". The album's guests included Booker T. Jones, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Willie Nelson and even Santana's father's mariachi orchestra. Santana again paid tribute to his early rock roots by doing the film score to La Bamba, which was based on the tragically short life of rock and roll legend Ritchie Valens and starred Lou Diamond Phillips.

Although the band had concentrated on trying to produce albums with commercial appeal during the 1980s, changing tastes in popular culture began to reflect in the band's sagging record sales of their latest effort Beyond Appearances. In 1985, Bill Graham had to once again pull strings for Santana to convince principal Live Aid concert organizer Bob Geldof to allow the band to appear at the festival. The group's high-energy performance proved why they were still a top concert draw the world over despite their poor performance on the charts. Personally, Santana retained a great deal of respect in both jazz and rock circles, with Prince and guitarist Kirk Hammett of Metallica citing him as an influence.

The band Santana returned in 1986 with a new album Freedom. Buddy Miles, who was trying to revive his music career after spending much of the late 1970s and early 1980s incarcerated for drug charges, returned for lead vocals. His onstage presence provided a dose of charisma to the show; but, once again, the sales of the album fell flat.

Growing weary of trying to appease record company executives with formulaic hit records, Santana took great pleasure in jamming and making guest appearances with notables such as the jazz fusion group Weather Report, jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, Blues legend John Lee Hooker, Aretha Franklin, Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid, and West African singer Salif Keita. He and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead later recorded and performed with Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji, who conceived one of Santana's famous 1960s drum jams, "Jingo". In 1988, Santana organized a reunion with past members from the Santana band for a series of concert dates. CBS records released a 20-year retrospective of the band's accomplishments with Viva Santana.

That same year Santana formed an all-instrumental group featuring jazz legend Wayne Shorter on tenor and soprano sax. The group also included Patrice Rushen on keyboards, Alphonso Johnson on bass, Armando Peraza and Chepito Areas on percussion, and Leon 'Ndugu' Chancler on drums. They toured briefly and received much acclaim from the music press, who compared the effort with the era of Caravanserai. Santana released another solo record, Blues for Salvador, which won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

In 1990, Santana left Columbia Records after twenty-two years and signed with Polygram. The following year, he made a guest appearance on Ottmar Liebert's album Solo Para Ti, on the songs "Reaching out 2 U" and on a cover of his own song, "Samba Pa Ti". In 1992, Santana hired jam band Phish as his opening act. He remains close to the band today, especially to guitarist Trey Anastasio.

Return to commercial success

Carlos Santana during a concert in 2005

Santana's record sales in the 1990s were very low. Toward the end of the decade he was without a contract. However, Arista Records' Clive Davis, who had worked with Santana at Columbia Records, signed him and encouraged him to record a star-studded album with mostly younger artists. The result was 1999's Supernatural, which included collaborations with Everlast, Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, Eric Clapton, Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, Cee-Lo, Maná, Dave Matthews, and others.

However, the lead single was what grabbed the attention of both fans and the music industry. "Smooth", a dynamic cha-cha stop-start number co-written and sung by Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, and laced throughout with Santana's guitar fills and runs. The track's energy was immediately apparent on radio, and it was played on a wide variety of station formats. "Smooth" spent twelve weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming in the process the last #1 single of the 1990s. The music video set on a hot barrio street was also very popular. Supernatural reached number one on the US album charts and the follow-up single, "Maria Maria", featuring the R&B duo The Product G&B, also hit number one, spending ten weeks there in the spring of 2000. Supernatural eventually sold over 15 million copies in the United States, making it Santana's biggest sales success by far.

Supernatural won nine Grammy Awards (eight for Santana personally), including Album of the Year, Record of the Year for "Smooth", and Song of the Year for Thomas and Itaal Shur. Santana's acceptance speeches described his feelings about music's place in one's spiritual existence. In 2001, Santana's guitar skills were featured in Michael Jackson's song "Whatever Happens", from the album Invincible.

In 2002, Santana released Shaman, revisiting the Supernatural format of guest artists including P.O.D. and Seal. Although the album was not the runaway success its predecessor had been, it produced two radio-friendly hits. "The Game of Love" featuring Michelle Branch, rose to number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent many weeks at the top of the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and "Why Don't You & I" written by and featuring Chad Kroeger from the group Nickelback (the original and a remix with Alex Band from the group The Calling were combined towards chart performance) which reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. "The Game of Love" went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

In August 2003, Santana was named fifteenth on Rolling Stone magazine's "List of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

In 2005, Herbie Hancock approached Santana to collaborate on an album again using the Supernatural formula. Possibilities was released on August 30, 2005, featuring Carlos Santana and Angélique Kidjo on "Safiatou".

Santana's 2005 album All That I Am consisting primarily of collaborations with other artists; the first single, the peppy "I'm Feeling You", was again with Michelle Branch and The Wreckers. Other musicians joining the mix this time included Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Kirk Hammett from Metallica, hip-hop/reggae star Sean Paul and R&B singer Joss Stone. In April and May 2006, Santana toured Europe, where he promoted his son Salvador Santana's band as his opening act.

In 2007, Santana appeared, along with Sheila E. and José Feliciano, on Gloria Estefan's album 90 Millas, on the single "No Llores". He also teamed again with Chad Kroeger for the hit single "Into the Night."

On October 19, his wife of 34 years, Deborah, filed for divorce citing "irreconcilable differences".

In 2008, Santana is working with his long-time friend, Marcelo Vieira, on his solo album Marcelo Vieira's Acoustic Sounds, which is due to be released at the end of the year. It features tracks such as "For Flavia" and "Across the Grave", the later featuring heavy melodic riffs by Santana.

Influences

Around the age of 8, Santana "fell under the influence" of blues performers like B.B. King and John Lee Hooker.[1] He also credits Jimi Hendrix as an important influence.[2] Andrea Smith also considers him and his band as influences.

Equipment

Guitars

Two shots of Santana on stage

In the mid 1970's, Carlos Santana endorsed a lot of musical equipment, including the Gibson L-6S, and Mesa Boogie amplifiers. He was featured in several Gibson advertisements throughout the decade. Santana played a red Gibson SG Special with P-90 pickups at the Woodstock festival. Then he switched between the P90 SG and a regular Humbucker SG until 1972 when he usually played a standard or a custom maple top Les Paul. From 1976 until 1982 his main guitar was a Yamaha SG 175B and sometimes a white Gibson SG Custom with 3 open coil pick-ups. In 1982 he started to use a custom made PRS guitar, which became his main instrument around 1988. On "Supernatural" he used a custom made PRS guitar for the majority of the tracks.

Santana currently endorses PRS Guitars, and is in fact one of Paul Reed Smith's first customers. He uses a Santana II model guitar using PRS Santana III pickups with nickel covers and a tremolo, with .009-.042 gauge D'Addario strings. His Signature Series models vary greatly from this in some cases, such as the Santana SE and Santana III guitars (which have ceased production). The Santana III has covered pickups instead, and no abalone stringers between the pickups (a feature unique to his official guitar). The Santana SE guitar has 22 frets, tremolo, a basic sunburst top, and a pickguard.

Santana's guitar necks and fretboards are constructed out of a single solid piece of Brazilian Rosewood, instead of the more traditional mahogany neck/Indian rosewood fretboard combination found in stock Santana models and other PRS guitars. The Brazilian Rosewood helps create the smooth, singing, glass-like tone that he is famous for.

Carlos Santana also uses a classical guitar, the Alvarez Yairi CY127CE with Alvarez tension nylon strings.

On January 2008, Carlos Santana unveils new Signature Model PRS Santana MD. Santana introduced the very latest PRS signature model, the Santana MD, and its "multi-dimensional" Voice Control. Also shared was Santana's appreciation of Paul Smith's "vision of sound." The Santana MD has all the latest Santana model updates - pickups, knob placement, inlays, tuners and a Mastering Voice Control for early '60s single coil sounds that don't hum. With this model Carlos returns to the basics in his sound like the Woodstock rock festival back in 1969, but with new technology, the technology of PRS Guitars. Carlos made a new album with his new PRS Santana Signature MD, the album is called Ultimate.

Effects

For the distinctive Santana electric guitar sound, Santana does not use many effects pedals. His PRS guitar is connected to a Mu-Tron wah wah pedal (or, more recently, a Dunlop 535Q wah) and a T-Rex Replica delay pedal, then through a customized Jim Dunlop amp switcher which in turn is connected to the different amps or cabinets.

Previous setups include an Ibanez Tube Screamer right after the guitar.

In the song "Stand Up" from the album Marathon, Santana uses a Heil talk box in the guitar solo.

Amplifiers

The Santana lead guitar tone is produced by a humbucker equipped guitar (Gibson/Yamaha/PRS) into a small but powerful Mesa Boogie Mark 1 combo amplifier. More recently, Santana has also been using a custom built Dumble_Amplifiers boutique amplifier with Tone Tubby Alnico hemp coned speakers; the sound is noticeably cleaner. For rhythm, he uses Marshall amplifiers for distorted rhythm ("crunch") and Fender Twins for clean rhythm [ref. The Best of Carlos Santana by Wolf Marshall].

To play the track "Europa", Santana uses the Mesa Boogie Mark 1 at full volume, marking a position in front of the amplifier's speaker that allows him to use the acoustic feedback to produce long sustained notes, like that of a bowed viola. For "Bella" and "Samba Pa Ti", he uses the Fender Twin Reverb. Although his guitar technician, Renee Martinez says " Sometimes, he’ll only use the Boogie for most of the night, or he’ll use all three amps at once."

Santana claims to have come up with the idea of a sustain control (the splitting of Gain & Master Volume controls) for the Mesa Boogie [ref. as above]. He also put the Boogie in Mesa Boogie: 'Santana exclaimed to Smith, "Shit, man. That little thing really Boogies!" It was this statement that brought the Boogie name to fruition.'

Specifically, Santana combines a Mesa/Boogie Mark I head running through a Boogie cabinet with Altec 417-8H (or recently JBL E120s) speakers, and a Dumble Overdrive Reverb and/or a Dumble Overdrive Special running through a Brown or Marshall 4x12 cabinet with Celestion G12M "Greenback" speakers, depending on the desired sound. Shure KSM-32 microphones are used to pick up the sound, going to the PA. Additionally, a Fender Cyber-Twin Amp is mostly used at home.

Discography

• Abraxas (1970) US: 5x Multi-Platinum
• Santana III, (1971) US: 2x Multi-Platinum
• Caravanserai (1972) US: Platinum
• Welcome (1973) US: Gold
• Lotus (Live) (1974)
• Borboletta (1974) US: Gold
• Amigos (1976) US: Gold
• Festival (1977) US: Gold
• Moonflower (Live) (1977) US: 2x Multi-Platinum
• Inner Secrets (1978) US: Gold
• Marathon (1979) US: Gold
• Zebop! (1981) US: Platinum
• Shango (1982)
• Beyond Appearances (1985)
• Freedom (1987)
• Spirits Dancing in the Flesh (1990)
• Milagro (1992)
• Sacred Fire: Live in South America (1993)*
• Santana Live at the Fillmore (1997)
• Supernatural (1999) US: 15x Multi-Platinum
• Shaman (2002) US: 2x Multi-Platinum
• All That I Am (2005) US: Gold

Albums as a solo artist or in collaborations

• Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live! (1972; with Buddy Miles) US: Platinum
• Love Devotion Surrender (1973; with John McLaughlin) US: Gold
• Illuminations (1974; with Alice Coltrane)
• Oneness: Silver Dreams, Golden Reality (1979)
• The Swing of Delight (1980)
• Havana Moon (1983; with Booker T & the MGs, Willie Nelson, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds)
• Blues for Salvador (1987)
• Santana Brothers (1994; C.S. with Jorge Santana & Carlos Hernandez)
• Carlos Santana and Wayne Shorter - Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1988 (2007)

Official compilations

• Santana's Greatest Hits (1974)
• Viva Santana! (Remixed Hits, Live & Previously Unreleased Collection) (1988)
• Definitive Collection (Import) (1992)
• Dance of the Rainbow Serpent (3-CD Box Set) (1995)
• The Very Best of Santana (Single Disc Import) (1996)
• The Ultimate Collection (3-CD Import) (1997)
• The Best of Santana (1998)
• Best Instrumentals (Import) (1998)
• Best Instrumentals Vol. 2 (Import) (1999)
• The Best of Santana Vol. 2 (2000)
• The Essential Santana (2-CD 2002)
• Ceremony: Remixes & Rarities (2003)
• Love Songs (Import) (2003)
• Hit Collection (2007)
• Ultimate Santana (2007)
• The Very Best of Santana (Live in 1968) (2007)
• Multi-Dimensional Warrior (2008)

Unofficial releases

• Samba Pa Ti (1988)
• Persuasion (1989)
• Latin Tropical (1990)
• Santana (1990)
• The Big Jams (1991)
• Soul Sacrifice (1994)
• Santana Jam (1994)
• With a Little Help from My Friends (1994)
• Jin-Go-Lo-Ba (1995)
• Santana Live (????)
• Jingo and more famous tracks (????)

Singles

• 1969: "Jingo" #56 US
• 1969: "Evil Ways" #9 US
• 1971: "Black Magic Woman" #4 US
• 1971: "Oye Como Va" #13 US
• 1971: "Everybody's Everything" #12 US
• 1972: "No One to Depend On" #36 US
• 1974: "Samba Pa Ti" #27 UK
• 1976: "Let It Shine" #77 US
• 1977: "She's Not There" #27 US, #11 UK
• 1978: "Well All Right" #69 US
• 1979: "One Chain (Don't Make No Prison)" #59 US
• 1979: "Stormy" #32 US
• 1980: "You Know That I Love You" #35 US
• 1981: "Winning" #17 US
• 1981: "The Sensitive Kind" #56 US
• 1982: "Hold On" #15 US
• 1982: "Nowhere to Run" #66 US
• 1985: "Say It Again" #46 US
• 1999: "Smooth" (featuring Rob Thomas) #1 US, #3 UK (charted in 2000)
• 2000: "Maria Maria" (featuring The Product G&B) #1 US, #6 UK
• 2002: "The Game of Love" (featuring Michelle Branch) #5 US, #16 UK
• 2003: "Nothing at All" (featuring Musiq Soulchild)
• 2003: "Feels Like Fire" (featuring Dido) #26 NZ
• 2004: "Why Don't You & I" (featuring Alex Band) #8 US
• 2005: "I'm Feeling You" (featuring Michelle Branch) #55 US
• 2005: "Just Feel Better" (featuring Steven Tyler) #8 AUS
• 2006: "Cry Baby Cry" (featuring Sean Paul and Joss Stone) #71 UK
• 2006: "Illegal" (Shakira featuring Carlos Santana) #4 ITA, #11 GER
• 2007: "No Llores" (Gloria Estefan featuring Carlos Santana, José Feliciano and Sheila E.)
• 2007: "Into the Night" (featuring Chad Kroeger) #2 CAN, #5 SA, #5 Italy, #19 Germany, #26 US
• 2008: "This Boy's Fire" (featuring Jennifer Lopez with Baby Bash)
• 2008: "Fuego en el Fuego" (Eros Ramazzotti featuring Carlos Santana) #19 Spain

Note: The singles Smooth, Maria Maria, and Into The Night have each been certified Platinum by the RIAA.

Videos

• Carlos Santana--Influences (video)
• Sacred Fire. Live in Mexico. (video & DVD)
• Supernatural (video & DVD)
• Viva Santana (DVD)
• Santana Live By Request (DVD)

Sources

• Soul Sacrifice; The Carlos Santana Story Simon Leng 2000
• Space Between the Stars Deborah Santana 2004
• Rolling Stone "The Resurrection of Carlos Santana" Ben Fong Torres 1972
• New Musical Express "Spirit of Santana" Chris Charlesworth November 1973
• Guitar Player Magazine 1978
• Rolling Stone "The Epic Life of Carlos Santana" 2000
• Santana I - Sony Legacy Edition: liner notes
• Abraxas - Sony Legacy Edition: liner notes
• Santana III - Sony Legacy edition: liner notes
• Viva Santana - CBS CD release 1988; liner notes
• Power, Passion and Beauty - The Story of the Legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra Walter Kolosky 2006
• Best of Carlos Santana - Wolf Marshall 1996; introduction and interview

External links

• Official website
• Santana - videos
• Milagro Foundation
• 2006 Carlos Santana Interview

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