| Abraxas | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Album cover, from a painting by Mati Klarwein |
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| Studio album by Santana | ||||
| Released | September 1970 | |||
| Recorded | April 17–May 2, 1970 at Wally Heider Recording Studio, San Francisco | |||
| Genre | Latin rock, jazz fusion | |||
| Length | 37:32 | |||
| Label | Columbia KC-30130 |
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| Producer | Fred Catero, Carlos Santana | |||
| Santana chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Abraxas | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Robert Christgau | C+ [2] |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable) [3] |
| This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information. | |
Abraxas is the second studio album by the Latin influenced rock band Santana. Consolidating their highly acclaimed live performance at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969, and the interest generated by their first album, Santana (released in May 1969), the band took some time to issue a follow-up. Released in September, 1970, the album's mix of rock, blues, jazz, salsa and other influences made it a classic that defined Santana's early sound, and showed a musical maturation from their first album.
Contents |
The title of the album comes from a line from Herman Hesse's book Demian, which is 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.
"Samba Pa Ti" translated into English means "Samba for You".
This instrumental was covered by José Feliciano, who added lyrics. 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 and Spencer food in 2006. It was also featured as the ending song in the Cold Case episode, "Dead Heat", which aired November 8, 2009.
The album cover features the 1961 painting Annunciation, by Mati Klarwein.
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)[4] 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, made this Santana's first foray into true Latin rhythm. In 2003, the album was ranked number 205 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
| 1998 remastered edition | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts [Instrumental]" | Carabello | 4:51 | ||||||
| 2. | "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" | Green/Szabo | 5:22 | ||||||
| 3. | "Oye Como Va" | Puente | 4:16 | ||||||
| 4. | "Incident at Neshabur [Instrumental]" | Gianquinto, Santana | 4:57 | ||||||
| 5. | "Se a Cabo" | Areas | 2:50 | ||||||
| 6. | "Mother's Daughter" | Rolie | 4:25 | ||||||
| 7. | "Samba Pa Ti [Instrumental]" | Santana | 4:54 | ||||||
| 8. | "Hope You're Feeling Better" | Rolie | 4:11 | ||||||
| 9. | "El Nicoya" | Areas | 1:30 | ||||||
| 10. | "Se a Cabo (Live)" (1998 Edition) | 3:47 | |||||||
| 11. | "Toussaint L'Overture (Live)" (1998 Edition) | 4:52 | |||||||
| 12. | "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen (Live)" (1998 Edition) | 4:57 | |||||||
While the original track listing lists track 5 as "Se a Cabo", the correct Spanish spelling for the phrase is "se acabó", meaning "it's finished".
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | AUS | AUT | FRA | NLD | NLZ | NOR | SWE | SWI | UK | |||||||||||||
| 1970 |
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1 | 1 | — | 7 | 9 | — | 3 | — | — | 7 | |||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or was not released. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Rock | US AC | US AP | AUS | NLD | GER | NZL | SWI | UK | |||||||||||||
| 1970 | "Black Magic Woman" | 4 | — | — | — | 15 | — | 14 | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| 1971 | "Oye Como Va" | 13 | — | — | — | 13 | 16 | 29 | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| "Hope You're Feeling Better" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or was not released. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Certification |
|---|
| Preceded by Cosmo's Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival |
Billboard 200 number-one album October 24–30, 1970 November 28, 1970 – January 1, 1971 |
Succeeded by Led Zeppelin III by Led Zeppelin All Things Must Pass by George Harrison |
| Preceded by Led Zeppelin III by Led Zeppelin |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one album February 22–28, 1971 |
Succeeded by Pendulum by Creedence Clearwater Revival |