Santana (band)

Santana is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1966 by Mexican-born guitarist Carlos Santana. The band has undergone various recording and performing line-ups in its history, with Santana being the only consistent member. After signing with Columbia Records, the band's appearance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 increased their profile, and they went on to record the critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums Santana (1969), Abraxas (1970), and Santana III (1971). These were recorded by the group's "classic" line-up, comprising lead vocalist Gregg Rolie, percussionists José "Chepito" Areas and Michael Carabello, drummer Michael Shrieve and bassist David Brown. Hit songs of this period include "Evil Ways", "Black Magic Woman" (both 1970), "Oye Como Va" (1971), and the instrumental "Samba Pa Ti" (1973).

Following a change in line-up and musical direction in 1972, the band experimented with elements of jazz fusion on Caravanserai (1972), Welcome (1973), and Borboletta (1974). The band reached a new peak of critical and commercial success with their eighteenth album, Supernatural (1999), which included the Billboard Hot 100-number one singles "Smooth" (featuring Rob Thomas) and "Maria Maria" (featuring The Product G&B). The album peaked atop the charts in eleven countries, and sold 12 million copies domestically. It won eight Grammy Awards at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, a record tied with Michael Jackson, and three Latin Grammy Awards. In 2014, the "classic" line-up—with the exception of Brown, who died in 2000—reunited for Santana IV (2016) and the group continue to perform and record.

Santana is one of the best-selling groups of all time, with over 47 million certified records sold in the US and an estimated 100 million sold worldwide. Its discography includes 25 studio albums, 14 of which reached the US Top 10. In 1998, the line-up of Santana, Rolie, Carabello, Shrieve, Brown, and Areas was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 1966, Mexican-born American musician Carlos Santana discovered San Francisco's hippie and counterculture movement and found himself "wanting to be part of this new wave." Later that year, he began to assemble his own band, the first line-up of which included Sergio "Gus" Rodriguez on bass, Danny Haro on drums, and Michael Carabello on percussion. In January 1967, the four were granted an audition spot for concert promoter Bill Graham at the Fillmore Auditorium on a bill with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the Charles Lloyd Quartet, and named themselves the Santana Blues Band. Within a month, the group expanded with the addition of Tom Fraser on guitar and vocals, who also brought in Gregg Rolie on organ and vocals. The band stalled for several weeks, however, after Carlos was hospitalised with tuberculosis. In June 1967, Graham fired the group from performing at the Fillmore after some members turned up late for a gig supporting The Who and Loading Zone. The incident drove Carlos to bring in new and committed musicians, keeping Rolie with him. By the year's end, the band adopted the shorter name of Santana. Until early 1969, the band were joined by Marcus Malone on percussion, who left the group after being convicted of manslaughter.

In late 1968, the group secured a record deal with Columbia Records, following a successful audition opening for the Grateful Dead. The band had caught the interest of Columbia and Atlantic Records, and an audition was organised for both labels, but Carlos refused to perform for Atlantic as he wanted to be on the same label as Miles Davis and Bob Dylan. In December, Santana performed a series of concerts at the Fillmore that were recorded for a proposed live album. Biographer Simon Leng said it marked Santana moving away from its blues and R&B roots towards the "Santana sound" with the addition of Afro-Cuban and jazz numbers into their sets. After several line-up changes, the group finally stabilised in May 1969 with Santana, Rolie, Carabello, David Brown on bass, Michael Shrieve on drums, and Jose "Chepito" Areas on percussion, which became known as the "classic" line-up.

The band recorded their debut album, Santana, in San Francisco in May 1969. It was their third go at recording an album, after previous attempts failed to produce results they wanted. The sessions featured Alberto Gianquinto on piano, who also helped with the arrangements of the tracks. He quickly noticed the group's main problem: the solo spots were too long. Graham agreed, and advised that the band needed to cut the lengthy jams and begin constructing songs. He also got the band to listen to Willie Bobo's version of "Evil Ways", and suggested they record their own version. With the album recorded, Graham arranged for Santana to tour the Midwest as openers for Crosby, Stills and Nash, which expanded the group's profile outside the West Coast. Around this time, Graham had been asked to help organise the upcoming Woodstock Festival and agreed to promote it on the condition that Santana would be added to the bill. Graham persisted, and the band were assigned a 45-minute set in the afternoon of August 16, the second day, for $2,500. The performance launched the group to international fame, and Santana, released on August 30, peaked at No. 4 on the US Billboard 200. The first single, "Jingo", was followed by "Evil Ways", which peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. In October 1969, Graham had Santana perform at the Gold Rush rock music festival and on The Ed Sullivan Show, further increasing the group's nationwide exposure.

In April 1970, Santana returned to the studio to record its second album, Abraxas. The album, highlighted by a reworking of "Black Magic Woman" by Fleetwood Mac that peaked at No. 4 in the US Billboard Hot 100, was released in September 1970 and rose to number 1 on the US Billboard 200.

By 1971, the group were still struggling to maintain a strong musical direction. From January to July they recorded Santana III. Released in September 1971, the album also reached number 1 on the US Billboard 200. At the peak of the band's popularity, the album was the last to feature its classic Woodstock era line-up. Santana explained that there was a lot of unnecessary internal resentment and that managerial problems contributed to the problem, leading to Graham's dismissal. That year, they performed at a concert in Accra to commemorate Ghana's 14th Independence Day. The concert was filmed and released in theaters as Soul to Soul. Matters came to a head shortly before the Santana III tour in September 1971 began, when Carlos wanted Carabello to leave the group, otherwise he would. The band started the tour without Carlos, performing amidst shouts from the audience for the guitarist. After several gigs, Carlos reunited with the band to find Carabello, Areas, and manager/promoter Stan Marcum had quit, leaving the band to perform without percussionists. James "Mingo" Lewis was quickly brought in as a temporary replacement after he saw the band live and offered his services. Santana's gig in Lima, Peru in December 1971 brought further trouble, as the outbreak of violence resulted in their equipment being confiscated and the band deported from the country. The incident was a wake-up call for Carlos, who was determined to "bring the madness to an end."

In 1972, Santana had been increasingly influenced by the music of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Joe Zawinul, who had explored jazz fusion by this time. The fourth album, Caravanserai (1972), marked a number of line-up changes; bassist David Brown left in 1971 before recording started and was replaced by Doug Rauch and Tom Rutley. Carabello was replaced with two percussionists, Armando Peraza and Mingo Lewis. Rolie was replaced by Tom Coster on a few songs. Caravanserai debuted at number 8 in the US.

13 months after Caravanserai, Santana released Welcome. Welcome was the first of four consecutive albums to achieve gold certification, as opposed to the previous four, which all at least reached platinum status. The album peaked at number 25 on the Billboard 200, the lowest of the band's career so far. The next few albums contained a more experimental style than their previous work, beginning with Borboletta, which fared arguably worse than its predecessor, despite climbing five spots higher on the Billboard album charts in the US.

The group's 1976 release, Amigos, was far more successful. Reaching number 10 on the US charts, and also hitting the top 10 in France, Australia, New Zealand, Austria and the Netherlands, it was a return to the success of their early albums. Festival, did not obtain the same newfound success, but was followed by another successful album, Moonflower, released in 1977. The album was possibly the most successful since Santana III, achieving 2× platinum in the US, and being the first album since 1974's Borboletta, to break the top 10 in the UK. It was characterized by a stylistic shift for the band, as it contained heavier influences from the more conventional sound of the group's early work, while still maintaining the experimental sound of their last few albums.

Their next two releases, Inner Secrets and Marathon, released in 1978 and '79, respectively, were a further musical shift for the band, moving away from the Latin-fused rock music that had characterized their work in the late 1960s and the majority of the '70s, to move towards a more album-oriented, conventional rock sound. These albums, however, fared poorly commercially, although both achieved gold status in the US.

The 1980s started relatively brightly for Santana, with 1981's platinum-selling Zebop!, which also reached the top 20 in several countries, and continued the more conventional rock sound. The following year, Shangó was released; this album marked a steep decline in the band's commercial fortunes, although it still achieved gold status.