Santana

(September 1971) [Limited Ed. Digipak, 2000]

 ^{Santana — Santana III (September 1971) [Limited Ed. Digipak, 2000]}
Neal Schon birth name: Neal Joseph Schon
Born: February 27, 1954, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, United States
Notable instruments:
• Neal Schon Signature Les Paul
• Neal Schon PRS Archtop Trem Guitar
• PRS NS14 & PRS NS15
• Fender Stratocaster © Neal Schon in July 2013, Neal Schon, American rock guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist.
Location: San Francisco, CA, U.S.
Genre: Latin Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Jazz Fusion, Chicano Rock
Album release: September 1971 / April 15th, 2016
Recording date: January, 1971 — July 4, 1971 at Columbia Studios, San Francisco.
Record Label: Columbia
Duration:     56:39
Tracks:
01. Batuka      3:35
02. No One To Depend On      5:31
03. Taboo      5:34
04. Toussaint L’ Overture      5:58
05. Everybody’s Everything      3:34
06. Guajira      5:45
07. Jungle Strut      5:23
08. Everything’ s Coming Our Way      3:15
09. Para Los Rumberos      2:57
10. Batuka (Live at the Fillmore West, July 4, 1971)      3:41
11. Jungle Strut (Live at the Fillmore West, July 4, 1971)      5:59
12. Gumbo (Live at the Fillmore West, July 4, 1971)      5:27
♣   All Recorded Live at the Fillmore West, San Francisco, California, July 4, 1971
♣   Produced by Santana Musicians
Personnel:
• Carlos Santana — guitar, vocals
• Neal Schon — guitar
• Gregg Rolie — keyboards, piano, lead vocals
• David Brown — bass
• Michael Shrieve — drums, percussion
• José “Chepitó” Areas — percussion, conga, timbales, drums
• Mike Carabello — percussion, conga, tambourine, vocals
Additional personnel
• Rico Reyes — percussion, vocals, lead vocals on “Guajira”
• Thomas “Coke” Escovedo — percussion, vocals
• Luis Gasca — trumpet on “Para Los Rumberos”
• Mario Ochoa — piano solo on “Guajira”
• Tower of Power — horn section on “Everybody’ s Everything”
• Linda Tillery — background vocals
• Greg Errico — tambourine
Awards:
Billboard Albums
• 1972 Santana III Jazz Albums      #16
• 1971 Santana III R&B Albums      #5
• 1971 Santana III The Billboard 200      #1
Billboard Singles
• 1972 No One To Depend On The Billboard Hot 100      #36
• 1971 Everybody’s Everything R&B Singles      #39
• 1971 Everybody’s Everything The Billboard Hot 100      #12
Credits:
♣   Gene Ammons Composer
♣   Vic Anesini Mastering
♣   José Chepitó Areas Composer, Congas, Drums, Flugelhorn, Member of Attributed Artist, Percussion, Producer, Rums, Timbales, Vocals
♣   Steven Berkowitz A&R
♣   D. Brown Composer, Engineer
♣   Danny Joe Brown Composer
♣   David Brown Audio Engineer, Bass, Bass Instrument, Composer, Engineer, Member of Attributed Artist, Producer
♣   Milton Brown Composer
♣   Elizabeth Calleja Graphic Design
♣   Mike Carabello Composer, Congas, Member of Attributed Artist, Percussion, Producer, Tambourine, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
♣   Joan Chase Design, Photography
♣   Josh Cheuse Art Direction
♣   Greg Errico Tamboura, Tambourine
♣   Coke Escovedo Composer, Percussion, Percussion Assistant, Timbales, Vocals (Background)
♣   Luis Gasca Guest Artist, Trumpet
♣   Bob Irwin Compilation Producer
♣   Glen Kolotkin Audio Engineer, Engineer
♣   Mike Larner Engineer
♣   Patti Matheny A&R
♣   Mary Ann Mayer Design
♣   Teddy Moss Composer
♣   Tyrone Moss Composer
♣   Mario Ochoa Piano, Soloist
♣   Tito Puente Composer
♣   Rico Reyes Composer, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
♣   Gregg Rolie Composer, Member of Attributed Artist, Organ, Piano, Producer, Vocals
♣   Santana Audio Production
♣   Santana Musicians Producer
♣   Carlos Santana Composer, Guitar, Member of Attributed Artist, Producer, Vocals
♣   Neal Schon Composer, Guitar, Member of Attributed Artist, Producer
♣   Michael Shrieve Composer, Drums, Member of Attributed Artist, Percussion, Producer, Vibraphone
♣   Linda Tillery Vocals (Background)
♣   Tower of Power Guest Artist
♣   Tower of Power Horns Group, Horn
•★•  Original European CD release on Columbia from 2000. Special limited edition digipak (Remastered) version of their 3rd album originally released in 1971. Contains 3 bonus tracks (Live at the Fillmore West, 1971).
•★•  Santana is the third studio album by Santana. The band’ s second self–titled album, it is often referred to as III to distinguish it from the band’ s 1969 debut album. •★•  The album was also known as Man with an Outstretched Hand. It was the third and last album by the Woodstock–era lineup, and it was also considered by many to be the band’ s peak commercially and musically, as subsequent releases aimed towards more experimental jazz and Latin music. The album featured two singles, “Everybody’ s Everything” (guitar solo by Neal Schon), which hit #12 in October 1971, and “No One to Depend On” (solo also by Schon), a staple in FM radio. This is the first album to feature 17–year–old Schon on guitar.                              © Santana. Acer Arena Sydney. Photo credit: Eva Rinaldi
AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek;  Score: ****½
♣   Santana III is an album that undeservingly stands in the shadows behind the towering legend that is the band’s second album, Abraxas. This was also the album that brought guitarist Neal Schon — who was 17 years old — into the original core lineup of Santana. Percussionist Thomas “Coke” Escovedo was brought in to replace (temporarily) José Chepitó Areas, who had suffered a brain aneurysm, yet who recovered quickly and rejoined the band. The rest were Carlos, organist Gregg Rolie, drummer Michael Schrieve, bassist David Brown, and conguero Michael Carabello. “Batuka” is the powerful first evidence of something being very different. The band was rawer, darker, and more powerful with twin leads and Schon’s harder, edgier rock & roll sound paired with Carlos’ blend of ecstatic high notes and soulful fills. It cooks — funky, mean, and tough. “Batuka” immediately transforms itself into “No One to Depend On,” by Escovedo, Carabello, and Rolie. The middle section is highlighted by frantic handclaps, call–and–response lines between Schon and Rolie, and Carlos joining the fray until the entire track explodes into a frenzied finale. And what’s most remarkable is that the set just keeps on cooking, from the subtle slow burn of “Taboo” to the percussive jam workout that is “Toussaint l’Overture,” a live staple in the band’s set list recorded here for the first time (and featuring some cooking Rolie organ work at its beginning). “Everybody’s Everything” is here, as is “Guajira” and “Jungle Strut” — tunes that are still part of Santana’s live show. With acoustic guitars, gorgeous hand percussion, and Santana’s fragile lead vocal, “Everything’s Coming Our Way” is the only “feel good” track here, but it’s a fitting way to begin winding the album down with its Schon and Santana guitar breaks. The album ends with a completely transformed reading of Tito Puente’s “Para los Rumberos,” complete with horns and frantic, almost insanely fast hand drumming and cowbell playing. It’s an album that has aged extremely well due to its spare production (by Carlos and the band) and its live sound. This is essential Santana, a record that deserves to be reconsidered in light of its lasting abundance and vision.
ABOUT
Santana III
♣   The band’s third release is titled, like the debut album, simply Santana. It soon became known as Santana III, to distinguish it from the first record, and the label has stuck. For this album, the group attempted to build on the successful formula that worked so well for Santana and Abraxas. Sadly, the third time was not the charm, as is evidenced by the uneven nature of Santana III.
♣   There were several changes in the lineup for this CD. First was the entrance of percussionistists Thomas “Coke” Escovedo and Rico Reyes, filling in for Jose “Chepito” Areas, who was temporarily sidelined due to a brain aneurism. Second was the addition of a very young Neal Schon, who in the last four decades has made his own mark on music, namely through the success of seminal rock band Journey.
♣   Schon must have been a hot item back then, as he refused an offer to tour with Eric Clapton in Derek and the Dominoes, before joining Santana. However, as immensely talented as he and Carlos are individually, when combined, neither plays as well as they do on their own. (It’s interesting to note that for most of their careers, both Schon and Santana have been in bands where there is only one guitar player.)
♣   It’s true that Santana III did hit number one on the Billboard charts in 1971, but none of the original recordings have demonstrated the staying power of Santana’s earlier hits (notably “Evil Ways,” “Oye Como Va,” and “Black Magic Woman”). Luckily, some of the songs have become staples in Santana’s live show, and were fortuitously re–released as live versions.
♣   Opening the album is “Batuka,” an instrumental jam based on one progression, ala “Soul Sacrifice.” Unfortunately, Batuka never captures the spirit of the song immortalized in the film Woodstock.
♣   Next is “No One to Depend On,” a classic Santana song with gang vocals, hooky percussion breaks, and an unusual feature for Santana: guitar harmonies. A live version of this song released on Sacred Fire: Live in South America is more powerful, though it loses some of the crisp feeling of the percussion riffs on the original.
♣   “Taboo,” with lackluster vocals from Gregg Rolie and tepid guitar fills from Carlos, becomes more interesting in the end, but only in that you begin to hear the style that Neal Schon later refined and used to fuel Journey’s success.
♣   “Toussaint L’Overture,” a powerful song that has become a staple in Santana’s live show, opens with a descending progression, then heads into a B section which contains trademark organ and guitar solos by Rolie and Santana. There’s a great breakdown featuring some potent percussion work, then looping vocal harmonies are introduced. The descending chord progression returns for the extended outro, with Schon and Santana trading some of the best guitar riffs on the album.
♣   Taking a complete left turn, the band launches into “Everybody’s Everything,” a funk song that sounds like it would fit better on an Earth, Wind & Fire record. Schon again appears at the end, using a wah–wah pedal and trading riffs with Carlos.
♣   Like No One to Depend On, “Guajira,” which first appeared on this album, was re–released on the live album Sacred Fire: Live in South America. While the original has some interesting jazz piano work by a guest player, this version is not nearly as powerful as the live recording.
♣   “Jungle Strut” is another instrumental, which turns into a somewhat formless jam. This song, written and originally performed by tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons, doesn’t seem like a good fit for Santana.
♣   Featuring a rare lead vocal by Carlos, “Everything’s Coming Our Way” is a rather mediocre pop song, that also doesn’t feel like a good fit for the band.
♣   Finally, the album ends with “Para Los Rumberos,” a remake (like Oye Como Va before it) of a Tito Puente song. While Santana’s version has some interesting moments, as a whole it is forgettable.
♣   In retrospect, it seems evident that this record finds the group without the fire that characterized their first two albums. That analysis is supported by the fact that this is that last record that includes the entire original lineup.
Notes:
♣   On December 15, 2013, Neal Schon married Michaele Salahi at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. For this occasion, a white tent (photo) had been erected in the rotunda of the Palace
♣   http://www.ultimatesantana.com/
Website: http://www.santana.com/
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Santana

Santana III (September 1971) [Limited Ed. Digipak, 2000]

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