Recorded April 17–May 2, 1970 Release date September 1970 | Length 37:10 | |
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Released September 1970 (1970-09) Similar Santana albums, Jazz fusion albums |
Santana abraxas full album
Abraxas is the second studio album by latin rock band Santana. Building upon the interest generated by their first album released in August 1969 entitled Santana and their highly acclaimed live performance at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969, the band released Abraxas in September 1970. The album's mix of rock, blues, jazz, salsa, and other influences was very well received, showing a musical maturation from their first album and refining the band's early sound.
Contents
- Santana abraxas full album
- Title
- Music
- Legacy
- Later re issues
- Personnel
- Additional personnel
- Release history
- Songs
- References
In 2016, the album was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry due to its "cultural, historic, or artistic significance."
Title
The title of the album, which features Mati Klarwein's 1961 painting, Annunciation, on the cover, comes from a line in Hermann Hesse's book, Demian, quoted on the album's back cover: "We stood before it and began to freeze inside from the exertion. We questioned the painting, berated it, made love to it, prayed to it: We called it mother, called it whore and slut, called it our beloved, called it Abraxas...." The word "Abraxas" has use within Gnostic cosmology.
Music
Abraxas features a mixture of Latin influences with familiar rock themes such as showcased electric guitar, organ, and heavy drums. The album also demonstrates Santana's stylistic versatility, including tracks such as "Samba Pa Ti" (a classic slow-burning piece) and "Incident at Neshabur", both being instrumentals. The latter has several rhythm and time signature changes consistent with its jazz feel. Latin percussion — congas, bongos and timbales, as well as a conventional rock drum setup, expanded Santana's foray into Latin rhythm. The piece 'Samba Pa Ti' was originally recorded in the key of G, and is in fact two separate unfinished pieces which were combined to a single piece comprising a slow emotive first part followed by an extended play out in a faster tempo; This piece along with 'Black Magic Woman,' written by Peter Green, helped underpin the truly unique blend of Latin American / Blues / Rock style created by the artist.
Legacy
In 2003 the album was ranked number 207 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
The instrumental, "Samba Pa Ti" ("Samba for You"), was covered by José Feliciano, who added lyrics, and also by Angélique Kidjo, who put lyrics in Yoruba on her album Oyo. It is also one of the tracks featured in Nick Hornby's book, 31 Songs. It was used in the UK as the background music for TV ads for Marks & Spencer food in 2006. It also was featured as the ending song in the Cold Case episode, "Dead Heat", which aired November 8, 2009.
Abraxas was deemed "culturally, historically, or artistically significant" by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in their National Recording Registry in 2016.
Santana's Abraxas is featured in the 2009 Coen Brothers film A Serious Man as a point of contention regarding the Columbia House Record Club.
Later re-issues
Note
Personnel
Additional personnel
Release history
Songs
1Singing Winds - Crying Beasts
2Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen5:20
3Oye como va4:18