Carlos Santana makes his guitars 🎸
sing as well as cry! 😊😢

No looping all human talent played live a hundred thousand times

Not a saxophone. That was a Hamon B3 organ

The drums at the bottom are congas, originally from Nigeria. They are being played in the Cuban style.

Still takes me back to middle school in 1968 when I  heard this song and was blown away.

Love , love , love Santana have for 60 years

An Afro-Latin song written by a white, Jewish, Cockney London Englishman (Peter Green). . .  And made famous by Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana.🎸.... A Godsend. A gift from God for all humanity!!☝️😎👌

When I first heard this song about
58 years ago I was speechless. So was my friend who had bought the album. We grew up in Detroit, Michigan. We had NEVER heard such music. We lived in Motown where so many soul artists made music. But this was something different. We proceeded to inform our friends about this SANTANA. And so it began. This music with its beat and inspiration. ❤

No saxophone in the intro, is the Santana guitar

This song is beautifully layered. And the "magic" here is Carlos Santana's guitar work. Amazing. I'd also like to say, the song actually isn't moving faster late in the song, the drums just make it seem so. Call it an "audio illusion" if you will. But with Carlos' strong and patient guitar juxtaposed against the drums, it's a fantastic meld to finish an incredible song, probably Santana's defining piece of work.

The following theme is the best.....Oye como va....

Carlos Santana once told an interviewer that the music he plays is African music, not Mexican; he is 100% right.

Here is his exact quote:
First of all, the music that people call Latin or Hispanic is really African. So Black people need to get the credit for that. Number two, Latin people are very passionate, and the music that we love is definitely Afro-rooted -- whether it's Bob Marley or Afro-Cuban -- because it deals with rhythms.

All of the genres of music that is created in the Americas were created by people of African descent.

You mention Mento.
Mento emerged in Jamaica in the late 19th century as a fusion of traditional African rhythms with European folk dances like the quadrille. As Jamaica's first popular indigenous music, it laid the foundational rhythmic and cultural groundwork for later genres like ska, rocksteady, and reggae.

Key Influences and Evolution:
The roots of mento can be traced directly to enslaved Africans who were brought to Jamaica. Stripped of their cultures, they incorporated their memories of traditional African drumming and call-and-response singing with European folk styles they were required to perform for slave owners. Following emancipation, these traditions morphed into distinctly Jamaican sounds heard in cultural and social gatherings.

Traditional Sound and Instruments:
Mento is defined by its upbeat, syncopated rhythm and storytelling lyrics that frequently offer humorous, witty, or critical commentary on everyday island life. Traditional street bands rely entirely on acoustic instruments.

The core ensemble usually features:
Rhumba box:
A large wooden bass box that the musician sits on and plucks, carrying the bassline.

Banjo and acoustic guitar:
Providing the melodic and harmonic foundation.

Bamboo sax or flute:
Hand-made horns used for solo lines.

Hand drums and maracas:
Driving the syncopated rhythms.

Latin/jazz/rock fusion in this era was a joy to the aural senses. In particular, Carlos' guitar styling made for such a pleasant listening experience. Glad you enjoyed it. Not many of us then had headphones. We'd lay on the floor with our head between speakers to enjoy the tracking. Parents feared the trance we enjoyed. Usually not drug induced, though.  From the back of the album, "We called it mother; we called it whore; we called it Abraxas."

I believe the Artist was Abdul Mati Klarwein. I had a large book of all colour plates of his amazing artwork that was stolen 😢

Santana Abraxas is one of those albums that has to be listened to right through because the tracks blend into each other and form a coherent whole.

The picture is famous, it was painted in 1961 by  Mati Klarwein, it's called Annunciation. And it's his interpretation of the Annunciation of the birth of Jesus. Best you Google it yourself rather than get my angle on it.

But before that, play the whole album from start to finish.

Song goes to a different realm at 4:14. Great that you played the album version, not the short single usually played on the radio.

Pure Magic 💥 I’m 70 years old ~ this song was released when I was 13 years old 😂 it still sounds Brilliant!  So happy you discovered Carlos Santana! He’s in his early 80’s and Still creates Beautiful Music ~ ❤

Eddie, first I love your enthusiasm over this song. Not to dis anybody, but that was a cover of Fleetwood Mac's song. Look up the original right here on YT and prepare for being further blown-away! What Santana did to the arrangement of that song is pure musical genius! Look up other Santana music and soar on the heights of musical pleasure -- Savor/Jingo, Soul Sacrifice, Jungle Strutt, Everybody's Everything, Oye Como Va. Just to name a few!

What you have heard, Eddie Tiger, is typical of the band Santana. Almost every song is a blend of African and Latin beats, rock and jazz.