I still have my original Abraxas copy. It's a Chinese bootleg (all writing etc in mandarin or whatever) bought in Singapore in 1975 ish, still plays well despite having been stored in barns & garages for thirty odd years !
Never did figure out why quadrophonic didn't catch on..I suppose modern versions of the 'surround sound' are derivitives of that original system.
And don't start me off on 8 Track...
Yes, short lived and never since developed. There were still mono LPs being sold then because so many people still had their old players, perhaps that is why. A couple of friends had those systems and it was quite incredible.
Live: Lotus (long since not returned by a friend) and I also have Carlos Santana and Buddy Miles Live album on which Miles has an impressive go on drums as well. If the two had joined forces for a few years, WOW!!
Anybody remember quadrophonic? Had a friend who had Abraxas on that system. It was stunning…followed you round the room…died a death I think but it really was amazing!
Ah yes, Peter. Split. Quite forgotten about that one. By then, I'd left the Hogs to their fate. I guess Abraxas is the classic Santana album, but my heart's still with Caravanserai. There's a blistering live one, too, but I've forgotten which one.
Have to say Santana's finest is Abraxas and Split is miles better than Thank Christ for the Bomb in my humble opinion.
All good music though..
Thanks, Sylvia. It's lovely to get a comment from a female member of the fraternity/sorority, because talking albums'n'stuff always seems such a boys' thing. I've resolutely never grown up.
Bruce, thanks for the link. I'm impatient to watch as I never knew that Carlos played with the great Wayne Shorter. Should be really interesting.
Patrick, I enjoyed your reminiscence of balding folk at the Tony McPhee/Alvin Lee gig. I never really got into Alvin Lee, despite the fact that it was de rigeur at one point to carry around copies of Stonedhenge or Sssh by Ten Years After at our school.
And thanks all; I'm glad I'm not alone in loving Caravanserai. Why, of course I'm not. After all, it went gold if not platinum.
Thanks so much for posting that Mark. Love Caravanserai! I get your point about it being less about Santana as a virtuoso and more about the band. Totally agree.
Yes Brian Alvin Lee could easily be described as a looney. I saw Ten Years After at an all night gig in London which somehow managed to finish early at 3 in the morning! Not ideal for the train home. I have never been able to understand how he could play so fast and yet not seem to hit any bum notes. Sadly no longer with us of course. I believe Tony McPhee has also been very ill and isn’t playing at the moment.
I too am very nostalgic sometimes…probably just miss the thrill of it all…
Oh yes, Santana and that is a good, good album at that. I also like El Chicano from the Mexican-American school of music, have two of their albums too.
I agree on Tony McPhee's voice. Good voice never, guitar good but not in the top league and he was losing his barnet fair by the end of the 1960s, at least it was thin. Alvin Lee, what a looney, Ten Years After were always a pleasure and when he went off into a solo that was never repeatable he got close to the real top rank. Unfortunately, Clapton and Greenie ruled the roost, otherwise he would have been the main man.
Chris, we might well have been at the same place at some time. The John Lee Hooker tour was 1964, not late 60s. I had my 16th birthday at one of the gigs, I have disliked cider ever since. Little Walter was 1967, a year before he put out the lights once and for all.
Mark, are you as nostalgic as I often am? Your musical choices would make me believe that to be the case.
I actually managed to see Tony Mcphee in Leicester just 5 or so years ago. He was supporting Alvin Lee - a great night. In the 40th row or so, it was the biggest sea of bald and balding heads I had ever seen.
Caravanserai? Just reloaded most of Santana into my ipod and nothing beats that first haunting track, except perhaps most of Abraxas? Or even Souls Sacrifice at Woodstock... ah, they don't make 'em like they used to.
Latin american Jazz!! Can't possibly like this can I? Of course I do.... Definitely a really fine album and the percussion is in a league of its own. I don't suppose the Carlos aficionados would have necessarily fallen in love with it, but I reckon it was a brave piece of work. A wise choice to lose Thank Christ for the Bomb, although I did see the Grounhogs live in '71 I wasn't impressed but I'd only gone to see them because John Lee Hooker used them as his backing band when he played the UK in the late sixties. Sadly like a lot of my early record collection Caravanserai went to a second hand record shop in exchange for money. It was the only way to supplement my Beer and Gigs habit...