Santana, The #56 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

 

(Continued from Part One)

An entirely new lineup emerged after their third album.  Brown left the group, replaced by Doug Rauch and Tom Rutley.  Rolie moved on during the recording of Santana's next album and eventually formed the supergroup Journey.  Santana added two percussionists (Mingo Lewis and Armando Peraza) to replace the outgoing Carabello.  Tom Coster and Rico Reyes filled in on keyboard and vocals for one track of the album.  

 Santana released the bold album Caravanserai in 1972.  Containing a mix of Rock, Jazz and Salsa, Caravanserai was perhaps the group's most experimental effort.  It does not feature hits, but "Song Of The Wind" with Carlos's gorgeous high guitar notes, and the contrast in styles in the duets between he and Schon, remains a fan favorite.

The group was recognized for their work on the entire album with a nomination at the Grammy Awards for Best Pop Instrumental Performance with Vocal Coloring.  After the album, Schon left to co-found Journey with Rolie.

Although sales had begun to decline from their first four releases, Santana was still able to achieve Gold records with their next four, including the album Welcome in 1973.  Coster was now a regular fixture in the group, which added another keyboardist, Richard Kermode for the album.

Brown returned on bass to replace Rauch and lead singer and keyboardist Leon Patillo joined, replacing Kermode.  Santana released the album Borboletta in 1974, with Leon "Ndugu" Chancler replacing Shrieve after the album.  They also released the three-album live set Lotus, recorded in Japan.  Santana's Greatest Hits, also released in 1974, has now sold over seven million copies.

 

Greg Walker became the group's new lead singer, replacing Patillo.  Amigos in 1975 became Santana's biggest album since Caravanserai, reaching the Top 10 in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, France, Austria and The Netherlands.  The track "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)" jumped to #6 in Switzerland, but was unreleased as a single in most countries. In Greek mythology, Europa was a mortal who Zeus loved, who, in the form of a white bull carried her off to Crete. Carlos Santana wrote this for a girl who was stressed out and on drugs. He played it backstage while on tour with Earth, Wind & Fire and they suggested he record it.

The band switched gears again with Oren Waters taking over lead vocals, Pablo Téllez joining on bass, Gaylord Birch replacing Chancler on drums and Raul Rekow contributing conga and percussion. Santana's next release, Festival, was a bit of a letdown before the Double Platinum album Moonflower in 1977.  Walker returned to sing lead vocals for Moonflower, while Graham Lear took over on drums.

 Santana recorded a great cover of the Zombies' hit "She's Not There", #3 in the Netherlands and #9 in New Zealand but only #27 in the U.S., another underrated song.

Santana's ever-revolving door of musicians continued.  Coster and Patillo were both gone, David Margen replaced Téllez on bass, while keyboardist Chris Rhyne and guitarist Chris Solberg came into the fold.

 

The albums Inner Secrets and Marathon, released in 1978 and 1978, respectively, didn't continue the success, but Santana's remake of the Buddy Holly song "Well All Right" on the former is a worthy track. 

Alex Ligertwood replaced Walker on lead vocals on Marathon, which also included new keyboardist Alan Pasqua.

 Zebop! in 1981 returned the group to prominence and sold over one million copies.  The single "Winning" climbed to #2 on the Mainstream Rock chart and #17 overall.

 

By this time, Richard Baker was the new keyboardist in place of Solberg and Pasqua.  The album Shangó followed, which went Gold, yielded another of The Top Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*, the #15 hit "Hold On".

In 1985, Santana's album Beyond Appearances, which brought synthesizers to the forefront, became the group's first to not be certified.  The album featured nearly an entirely new lineup besides Santana and Peraza--Alphonso Johnson on bass and Chester Cortez Thompson,  David Sancious and Steve Goldstein on keyboards and synthesizers..  Walker and Ligertwood shared lead vocals, with Ligertwood also contributing rhythm guitar.  

 Coster, Rolie and Lear returned for the album Freedom in 1987, with Santana winning a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance (for "Blues For Salvador").  

But their peers didn't buy a lot of records, and new combinations of musicians for the 1990 album Spirits Dancing in the Flesh and the album Milagro in 1992 didn't improve Santana's fortunes.

Although the group continued to tour, they did not head back into the studio for seven years.

Santana won the Billboard Century Award in 1996, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1997 (at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard) and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.  The group released the compilation album The Best of Santana, which went Platinum.

The next year, Carlos sought to bring his music to new audiences.  He combined with several modern artists, including Dave Matthews, Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20, Lauryn Hill, Everlast and Eagle-Eye Cherry, as well as another elite guitarist, Eric Clapton, for his next album.

 Thomas wrote the lyrics for a song called "Smooth", while Santana composed the music.  "Smooth", with Thomas belting out the vocals, became the lead single from the 1999 album Supernatural.  When "Smooth" went to #1, it set a Rock Era record for the longest gap between a debut single and the first #1 song (30 years).  It didn't stop there--"Smooth" held on to #1 for 12 weeks and is The #23 Song of the Rock Era*.

As "Smooth" began to catch fire, so did the album.  Remarkably, it reached #1 28 years after Santana III in 1971, which according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the longest span between #1 albums in the U.S.  Supernatural dominated the Album chart for 12 weeks.  Word spread about Santana's amazing new album, and soon, Supernatural topped charts throughout the world.

 "Maria Maria", with Product G&B, followed "Smooth" to #1, where it stayed for 10 weeks.  The combination of "Smooth" and "Maria Maria" is one of the most potent in U.S. history, as the two combined for a startling 22 weeks at #1, with each selling over two million copies.  It also topped charts in Germany and Switzerland.

 

"Put Your Lights On", with Everlast, gave Santana a Top 10 Mainstream Rock hit.

 "Primavera" (with Mana), which means "Spring" in Spanish, gave Santana a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental.

 "Corazon Espinada" is a song about being in love with a woman and the pain that it causes.

Santana captured nine Grammy Awards--Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (for "Smooth"), Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (for "Maria Maria"), Best Rock Album, Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group (for "Put Your Lights On"), Best Rock Instrumental Performance (for "The Calling") and Best Pop Instrumental Performance (for "El Farol"),  setting a Rock Era record for the most Grammys won in a single year by a group.  They received an additional nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for their work with Dave Matthews on "Love Of My Life".  

Santana won an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Album and were nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Band, Duo or Group and won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Rock Group.  The renewed popularity helped the album Abraxas to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Supernatural has now sold 15 million copies in the United States and over 30 million worldwide.  

In 2002, Santana released Shaman, which debuted at #1 on the heels of Supernatural.  Shaman has now sold over two million copies.  Santana combined with Michelle Branch for the #1 Adult Contemporary hit "The Game Of Love", also #5 overall.

"The Game Of Love" has sold over one million singles.  Another collaboration, "Why Don't You & I", with Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, landed at #8.

The compilation The Ultimate Santana, released in 2007, has been certified Gold.

Santana released the album All That I Am, which debuted at #2 and reached Gold status.  Michelle Branch returned for an encore single, "I'm Feeling You", which hit #5 on the AC chart. 

 The group followed in 2010 with Guitar Heaven, a #5 album, Shape Shifter in 2012 and Corazón in 2014.

Santana was recognized with Kennedy Center Honors in 2013.

In 2016, the reunited lineup of Carlos, Schon, Rolie, Carabello and Shrieve recorded for the first time in 45 years, and Santana released the album Santana IV.  That famous quintet was joined by current Santana members Karl Perazzo on percussion and bassist Benny Rietveld.

Six of Santana's 23 singles have reached the Top 10 with two #1's.

Santana has won 10 Grammy Awards from 13 nominations, one American Music Award out of two nominations, one Billboard Award and one Blockbuster Entertainment Award.  They have sold over 90 million records throughout the world.