Abraxas, Bold As Love: Carlos Santana 75

Hey, remember when I said no more rock stars and no more repetition? The great thing about rules is they were made to be broken.

Today's repeat rock star, whom I've covered numerous times in articles with titles far more clever than this one, ought need no introduction other than to say he's obviously an icon for all times, whose music and innovations in music will live on centuries hence.

He's also into bootlegs and live recordings, and at one time before it all went digital he had one of the biggest collections of this sort of stuff.

I'm not sure what there is to say about him that hasn't been long since said, except maybe that whenever I see him in interviews he seems like he's a pretty hilarious person.

Like when you hear him tell the story of Woodstock, and how the intense facial expressions he's making aren't the result of some higher musical energy, but him struggling to not completely lose it and promising to never take that many tabs of mescaline before performing ever again, if God will please allow him to stay in tune and not mess this up.

If I had to describe his playing, I would use the words tasteful, fluid and voice-like. Like fresh, singing water.

He's also one of those rare rockstars or musicians in general that everyone seems to love. In 50 years of knowing who he is, I don't recall ever hearing someone say out loud that they don't dig his music.

That's not easy to pull off, but over those 50+ years and who knows how many records and tours, Carlos Santana has done it.

Anyway you must have figured out before you even read this, given the wealth of (deserved) tributes flowing online, that he is 75 today.

So we'll celebrate by mashing up a whole bunch of pre-broadcast materials, with a biscuit I put together to be fit for a King.

Santana

King Biscuit Flower Hour sampler

1974-88

01 KBFH intro

02 Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen

03 Oye Como Va

04 Hold On

05 Evil Ways

06 No One to Depend On

07 She's Not There

08 Winning

09 Spirits Dancing In the Flesh

10 Incident At Neshabur

11 Savor/Soul Sacrifice

12 Toussaint L'Overture

13 Europa (Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile)

Total time: 1:19:49

Tracks 02-04: Forum, Montreal CAN 9.22.1982

Track 08: Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth MA 7.4.1981

Carlos Santana - guitar & vocals

Richard Baker - keyboards

Graham Lear - drums

Alex Ligertwood - guitar & vocals

David Margen - bass

Armando Peraza - bongos, congas & vocals

Raul Rekow - congas & vocals

Orestes Vilató - percussion, timbales & vocals

Tracks 05-07: Palladium, NYC 2.10.1978

Carlos Santana - guitar, percussion & vocals

Greg Walker - vocals & percussion

Tom Coster - keyboards & vocals

David Margen - bass & vocals

Graham Lear - drums & percussion

Armando Peraza - congas & bongos

Raul Rekow - congas & percussion

Pete Escovedo - timbales

Francisco Vega - congas

Tracks 09 & 13: Sunrise Theatre, Ft. Lauderdale FL 11.26.1988

Carlos Santana - guitar

Greg Rolie - keyboards 

Alphonso Johnson - bass & Chapman Stick

Michael Shrieve - drums

Jose "Chepito" Areas - percussion

Chester D. Thompson - keyboards

Armando Peraza - percussion

Tracks 10 & 11: Rynearson Stadium, Ypsilanti MI 5.25.1975

Carlos Santana - guitar & percussion

Leon Patillo - keyboards 

David Brown - bass

Tom Coster - keyboards 

"Ndugu" Leon Chancler - drums

Armando Peraza - congas, percussion & vocals

Track 12: Balboa Stadium, San Diego CA 7.28.1974

Carlos Santana - guitar, percussion & vocals

Jose "Chepito" Areas - percussion

Jules Broussard - saxophone & flute

David Brown - bass

Tom Coster - keyboards & vocals

Leon Patillo -  keyboards & vocals

Armando Peraza - percussion & vocals

"Ndugu" Leon Chancler - drums

KBFH announcer - Bill Minkin

highlight reel of King Biscuit performances, all sourced from pre-broadcast materials

based on the Santana KBFH Retrospective aired in February 1991... but slightly altered, edited and expanded by EN, July 2022
509 MB FLAC/July 2022 archive link

There's a KBFH program that aired in 1991 that was kind of a retrospective, the pre-FM CD of which is where most of this comes from, but I extended it and used the Michigan Soul Sacrifice because I think it's better. If you want the entire San Diego broadcast, I shared it years ago right here.

I'll be back with maybe a couple more for July, seeing as how it's summer festival season and if I wanted to I could post three concerts a day that had an anniversary or birthday connection, because there are just that many.

But as for the now, don't let me hear you saying you ain't got nobody to depend on (no tengua nadie), when people like Carlos Santana -- born this day in 1947, and rolling along fine as long as he remembers to eat something before going onstage -- exist in our world.--J.