gerry.hectic, Jan 17, 2005
This was their difficult second album where Carlos Santana's dazzling electric guitar solos set the seeds of Latin/jazz/rock. Released in 1970 and produced two monster hits, "Black Magic Woman" (written by Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green) segued into "Gypsy Queen" (by Hungarian jazz guitarist Gabor Szabo) and the cover of Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va". These tracks got Santana into the 'pop'/rock scene and mutli-million selling LPdom. If you judge an album by its cover, buy this one to buy. Don't let your Mum see it (not when it was originally released anyway).
Appears in countless top 100 LP's of all time. Don't let that put you off. Choice tracks: as above and 'Se A Cabo', 'Samba Pati Ti'. Just to enforce how different this sound was at the time, CBS were advertising their big hitters latest albums on the inner sleeve; the likes of Ray Conniff, Andy Williams, Lynn Anderson and Andy Ross. Your parents will possibly know who these people were, but don't ask.
4.0/5 (