Santana (1969) (Vinyl record album review)

Record basics

Album name: Santana

Group name: Santana

Year: 1969

Number of discs: one

Label: Columbia Records

Collection: Brenner / Gessner

Distinguishing characteristics:

“GESSNER” written inside album sleeve, indicating that my father owned it

“GESSNER” written on LP, indicating that my father owned it

Buy it on Amazon: $31.83

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I don’t recall ever listening to this Santana record, but I did listen to Abraxas (1970) last summer and rated it 4/5. Santana also played guitar on The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper (1969) that I reviewed yesterday and thought was quite good.

What I expected

Psychedelic rock, hard rock.

What it was actually like

This was a great psychedelic rock record that was pretty jazzy, but unfortunately this copy was quite scratchy. My father must have listened to it a lot.

Most of the songs were instrumental, and since the style was very consistent from track to track, it was sometimes difficult to tell when one ended and the next began. That did not bother me so much, however, because I liked the style: extensive and great guitar solos, lots of elaborate percussion, organ (without abusing it), laconic and languid vocals.

I did recognize a few of the songs: Evil Ways, Treat and Soul Sacrifice.

If I had to choose a favorite, I would go with Persuasion, which had vocals and which was relatively up tempo.

Grade

4/5: would listen again