Name: Abraxas
Brand: Legacy
SKU: 305503
Price: 8.65 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)

Performer Notes

Santana: Carlos Santana (vocals, guitar); Gregg Rolie (vocals, keyboards); Dave Brown (bass instrument); Michael Shrieve (drums); Jos‚ Chepit¢ Areas (congas, timbales); Mike Carabello (congas).
Additional personnel: Rico Reyes (vocals, percussion); Alberto Gianquinto (piano).
ABRAXAS, the second album by the original (and arguably most powerful) Santana line-up, proved the band's commercial breakthrough. The album's contains two of the group's biggest hits, "Black Magic Woman," a slinky, smooth-edged interpretation of the song written by Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green, and their take on Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va," which injects Carlos Santana's stinging guitar leads into a surging salsa groove. The band's unique, genre-blurring approach makes these singles--and everything else here--unlike anything that had been heard before.
The opener, "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts," showcases Carlos Santana's passionate, soulful six-string mastery over a drifting, psychedelic backdrop. The album ranges in feel, encompassing furiously propulsive jams ("Se A Cabo"), low-key Brazilian grooves ("Samba Para Ti"), and jazzy instrumentals ("Incident at Neshabur"). All the elements that made Santana's debut dazzling--roiling, polyrhythmic percussion, dense, pancultural influences, virtuoso guitar work--are here--sharpened and painted with the rich, heady sound of late-'60s San Francisco (Santana was just as exploratory and innovative as their hometown cohorts the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane). ABRAXAS remains a seminal Latin-rock release, and one of the undisputed classics of the era.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (12/24/70, p.54) - "...On ABRAXAS, Santana is a popularized Mongo Santamaria and they might do for Latin music what Chuck Berry did for the blues....a total boogie and the music is right from start to finish."

Q (5/00, p.131) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Displays even more grace and power...[than their] fresh, fierce debut..."

Vibe (12/99, p.156) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century

Musician (7/98, pp.86-88) - "...Sony Legacy's sonic wizards have made...[Santana's] first three albums reappear, each appended with additional live recordings....epochal works...an explosive fusion of Hispanic-edged rock, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and interstellar improvisation..."

Uncut (magazine) (p.83) - "[A] mix of psych, blues and salsa, all tied together by the fluid guitar of one of rock's great stylists."

Album: Abraxas
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Singing Winds, Crying Beasts	More Info...
2)	Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen	More Info...
3)	Oye Como Va	More Info...
4)	Incident at Neshabur	More Info...
5)	Se a Cabo	More Info...
6)	Mother's Daughter	More Info...
7)	Samba Pa Ti	More Info...
8)	Hope You're Feeling Better	More Info...
9)	El Nicoya	More Info...
10)	Se a Cabo	More Info...
11)	Toussaint L'Overture	More Info...
12)	Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen	More Info...

Album: Abraxas
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Singing Winds, Crying Beasts	More Info...
2)	Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen	More Info...
3)	Oye Como Va	More Info...
4)	Incident at Neshabur	More Info...
5)	Se a Cabo	More Info...
6)	Mother's Daughter	More Info...
7)	Samba Pa Ti	More Info...
8)	Hope You're Feeling Better	More Info...
9)	El Nicoya	More Info...
10)	Se a Cabo	More Info...
11)	Toussaint L'Overture	More Info...
12)	Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen	More Info...