There are three albums being as a " must have", I'm presuming, being buried at least with: Brother in arms, any one of Roxy Music, and THIS!

In the early 80s, I was flying out of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and got a rare trip to Copenhagen.  When we arrived at the hotel at dawn, I was flipping through the 'What's On' copy at the desk.  Oh, Santana!  Wonder when that was?  Oh, man, tonight!  Had a lovely daytime sleep and off I went.  A scalpers ticket wasn't so expensive and the seat was right in front. The arena was built as a rollers skating race track.  Some of the seats  leaned, especially on the corners.  I retired to the bar for a Heineken and a huge pork sausage, both banned in the desert kingdom. When I returned to my seat, I saw the most beautiful girl  had ever seen, take a seat right in front of me.  No fighter escort.  Santana took the stage and hit it hard.  I didn't think, I knew.  I had died an gone to heaven. Can anybody listen to Santana and not dance?  Not me.  Nor the girl in front.  It brought out some of our best moves, never to be made again.  Unfortunately, I was too shy to make the big move. We never spoke a word.  I think about her once in a while.  Hope she is still dancing.

 3Dave wrote:

How'd you get that link to work?... I found a clip of Larry Sanders sidekick explaining how Howard got that recording etc... but it won't insert?

 TallCreative1 wrote:

Wasnt that originally a recording of the actor Jeffrey Tambor and his "catch phrase"? 

Yikes. Sounds like a Nickelback song with Carlos Santana noodling over it. It’s worth a deuce.

Carlos Santana is thus an artist who has made a mark on the music scene without falling into emulating his idols and drinking in various styles from different artists who marked the 50s and 60s. With a major position in Rolling Stone magazine's ranking of the best guitarists of all time. I love Santana's art, I'm a fan of his, several of his albums are masterpieces

 h8rhater wrote:


just for our special boy here I rated this a 10. and then made 42 more accounts and rated it a 10 there too!

so, there!

 blighjohnn wrote:

There is no major guitarist named Mark Knoffler.  It seems you've been misinformed.  There IS a Mark Knopfler, but I think JJ Cale sounds nothing like he nor Knopfler like him, so I puzzle at the comparison or assertion. Anyway, as one of Santana's biggest fans, I shy from your description that he's 'generating a personality.'  He spent years seeking his most soulful tone and style.  So did Gilmour.  And Knopfler.  And Hendrix.  And all the other greats.  Including JJ Cale.  You got a problem with that, I doubt they would care. 

 TallCreative1 wrote:

Howard Stern is a putz

 ice-9 wrote:

Ever heard Howard Stern say the big Hey Now? He gives it a whole cosmic, earth shattering meaning..... heh....  HOWARD'S HEY NOWS

This sounds really modern. Guess they were ahead of the times or inspired some of today's sounds...

Never been a fan of Santana, but this song is ok to me....

So what's with "hey now" anyway?  Is it something they say a lot in some parts of the country but not others?  I never heard it growing up, but then I heard the GD sing "Iko-Iko".  These guys are saying it, I think London Grammar has a song in which they keep saying it.  I believe there are others.  

It's prevalence seems to imply that it has some significant meaning, but how could it?  It just seems sort of stupid...

 jimhansis wrote:


Everybody has different tastes!  I like it!  Thank You for being polite in your comment!   

 Shmelo wrote:

He is an accomplished guitarist and has joined the unique club of generating a personality of sound that you recognise immediately who is playing, unlike the ,millions of text book guitarist who are grey unknowns and always will be, even though they are also technically brilliant. 
There would be no Mark Knoffler without JJ Cale , I rest my case.

Caravanserai, Welcome, Barboletta---God playing through Santana's guitar...

Caravanserai, Welcome, Barboletta---God playing through Santana's guitar...

STILL JAMS! When this AMAZING album came out, I was loving it like crazy, and then, within a year, I was trying my best to hold my marriage together, but..., and since Radio was at the time still saturated with single after single from it, for a while it was hard for me to listen to it much at all. Thanks to RP, in recent years, I can jam out to it again, though not without some very bittersweet feelings that still linger. Music, like any true Art, is indeed a vehicle of transport, both backward and, thankfully, "-- don't let me lose my nerve --", forward! Thanks, RP, for I am eternally grateful!

 Shmelo wrote:

not sure why comparison is ever necessary?

My complaint with Carlos' sound is that it sounds the same in almost every song. He's clearly talented but I couldn't listen to an album of his, even with the varied singers that has on this album.

I've always liked Santana's style. I'm not a musician so I can't judge his technical skill and I prefer his older music.  I got hooked on his sound from his first album and the first three were excellent. He's gone in directions I didn't care for over the years. But I will say this about him or any other musician whether I like their sound or not - after 50 years he's still putting out new material,  he's recorded with an impressive list of artists,  he still attracts fans, and he's not on the casino circuit playing Black Magic Woman and Evil Ways every night and never doing anything new.

 Rob57 wrote:
Perhaps he'd been given The Bends for Christmas...

Everlast

Sublime! 

This is one of those tracks where someone in the studio should have said, " Carlos, what the hell are you doing in that guitar break.? Scrap that, run the tape again..."

 lizardking wrote:
 
Like watching Andruw Jones play the outfield. He almost never had to dive for a catch - he was already there. Supernatural instinct for where the ball was going. Helped to be lightning-fast on his feet too. Made it look easy - all the best ones do.
c.

Hey now, hey now...love to sing this to cars that are destined to be bagged for DWI...

 ThirdRail_33 wrote:
 
Like you said, h8rhater, and the sports analogy I'll give is Ken Griffey Jr.  As a kid, watching my era's "Natural" play, yeah, he got a lot of crap for not "trying hard enough when in actuality he was just SO NATURARLLY GIFTED that it just appeared he wasn't trying hard enough.  I'll put Santana in the Griffey category....HoF'er for sure...Long Live RP and all the greats BnR play!!

 ppopp wrote:
 

I think this disc has some of his finest work, and nicely recorded too.

This whole album got very old, very quickly. This song in particular.

 h8rhater wrote:
 
And when you sit / stand sixth row center and watch him (40 years ago, to be sure) as I did, conduct with graceful,  thunderous improv what is almost an out of body experience for 2000 or more in the audience, you know you are in the presence of the most unusual. 

 sbedin wrote:
 

A rank amateur comment. I defend against this here frequently. This monster hit album aside (which frankly even as one of his most ardent fans is not in the same stellar class as most of the first half of his career), if you'd ever SEEN him play, and were nearly as familiar as I am with the many deep cuts in his catalogue, you wouldn't be so snide. Good luck with your musical superstardom. 

I first heard this after a  5 day retreat with yoga and meditation.  My friend who had the CD (yes it was a while ago) played it as we drove through the North Carolina mountains.  I've never forgotten that and love the song still to this day.  

The older I get, the younger I feel with hearing Santana,

 versalog wrote:
 


said the clueless 
+a curious observation ….and No mention of Hendrix (lol)

PS. R .P we need more Hendrix : >
please

why are you comparing, you cant! 

versalog wrote: 

Indeed. Indeed. Excellent reply. 

Stunix wrote :

     versalog wrote:  
so, are you releasing this guitarist chart acording to Versalog? 

Ill release my RP worthy contributors chart, but be warned, youre not very high.... at all.

 versalog wrote: 
Garbage. 
I can name a dozen or 20 tracks that will match him against any ax man. In fact, I think he is one of the great musicians of my lifetime.  And over the decades, he has played with all of them. And they have played with him. And he is still cooking up the magical musical sauce. 

Outstanding album !  Ya Smooth got played and had a pop-y hook to it but it was a worthy hit.  Lights On is actually more worthy of its popularity.  Everlast/Whitey Ford is an outstanding artist especially given his long run and trip through music.  He's a music man to the core and does it his way.  I still jump around when Jump Around gets played......

Santana is the whole group of talented musicians, Carlos isn't the only main guy up there and he gives the stage to his musicians to show their unique gifts.

 h8rhater wrote: "The truly great guitar players make the complicated look effortless."

  True, that. Well said.

 versalog wrote: 
Obviously this is a troll post but, I'll bite, seeing as how I've seen all 4 of the aforementioned guitarists perform live.  I'm no expert but the anecdotal evidence puts the lie to this ridiculous assertion. 

The truly great guitar players make the complicated look effortless.  Clapton does it.  Just watch him.  He leans back and the music just flows right thru him and out that guitar.  Knopfler and Page as well.   It's amazing to see and it's why we go to the live show. 

Carlos Santana easily meets this criteria.  In some ways he does it in an even more soulful way than the other three.  He'll just lean way back, bite that lower lip, and just unload the most beautiful jams.  Chills, people!  Chills.

Versalog has NEVER seen Carlos play.  If he/she did they either had cotton in their ears, talked to their friend during the entire performance (guessing this could well be the case), or do not know what great guitar looks OR sounds like.

 versalog wrote: 
so, are you releasing this guitarist chart acording to Versalog?

Ill release my RP worthy contributors chart, but be warned, youre not very high.... at all.

 versalog wrote: 
Spoken like someone who's never played a single note of music.

I guess these guys planned all; You can love it or hate it ,  but can't ignore it.

Damn it.

Sorry, but these vocals are dreadful.

 versalog wrote: 
Would you like to find out who those guys rate as a guitar god? Also read Gary Moor, or pretty much any other lead guitarist who plays in front of real audiences.

Carlos Santana is a rank amateur compared to Mark Knopfler, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton who, among others not mentioned for brevity's sake, are certainly Guitar Gods.

Cuz there's a monster....under my bed....
 

great song, great album (second time , i know)!

I'm really surprised at the relatively low rating for this song. Perhaps it's because of the overplay it got on FM a few years ago. Any Santana is fine by me.

exellent album! Better: Carlos Sanana and  Band live in Montreux!!

Very nice!

Everlast is great. He's a frequent guest on Joe Rogan's podcast, and is an intelligent and interesting person.

He's aged quite nicely into his elder role... I quite like his acoustic stuff.

 (my comment disappeared)

Though Everlast is not my cup of tea either, I think you're being overly harsh on Rob Thomas. "Smooth" introduced a younger generation to Carlos, the epitome of "smooth." I say "hell yeah!" to that....let the kids hear the master play!   


   Byronape wrote: 

 
  Byronape wrote: 

 Byronape wrote: 
Pantheon of Guitar Gods. And I would agree with that, btw.  45 years since Fillmore East, and counting, still touring and recording. Few can equal that, much less beat it, and over the years he's played with all or most of the so-called guitar gods, as well as a good percentage of the jazz gods, be they guitar or other.  

Well stated.
Rob Lowe was perfect for "Cool" and did the song justice.

 joelbb wrote: 

 joelbb wrote: 
That would be "Smooth", not "Cool", and Rob Thomas, not Rob Lowe. And not that I know that much about him, but Everlast has some good tunes, including "Kill the Emperor,' which may be kind of as good as an angry protest rap is going to get.  
 

 WayUpNorth wrote: 

Agreed. In context this works great.

 joelbb wrote: 
Ouch!

I keep thinking of Hank Kingsly and the Look-Around-Cafe. "Hey now!"

Sounds like Oscar the Grouch singing.

 Byronape wrote: 
Very occasionally I hear a song for the first time and know 100% that it will be an enormous hit.  "Sultans of Swing" was one such.  "Cool", featuring Carlos and "the D-Bag from Matchbox 20" was another.  As it turned out, it won the Grammy for Song of the Year, as did the entire set of collaborations take Album of the Year and Comeback of the Year.  If you saw the tune performed on the Grammy broadcast you saw Rob Lowe singing red hot scat against the horns behind him at the end of the cut, impressing even Santana.  Personally, I didn't think the guy was that talented, nor have I ever heard any vocal from him half so good before or since.  But sometimes vocalists "sing up" in the company of greatness.  You are a mindless, tasteless bitcher, Byron.  Keep snorkeling in the Styxx and you'll likely catch sight of the Turd of the Year, assuming you find a mirror down there in the gloom.

Very nice segue, Bill. (from Dylan's "One More Cup of Coffee" to this,,,)

Hang on a second here .. so, it's under his bed, but hands are in his hair and causing him to lose his nerve (need some Viagra?), ... Just wondering here in Music City if he isn't singing about some kind of Alien?  Hands stretched all the way from under the bed, and then — like OMG! — he's asking for all sinners to put their lights on?  —- Monster under his bed?   Shit-a-brick  i am NEVER going to take those pills again!  Goodnight!

Everlast may not be Pavarotti, but in my opinion the lyrics/sentiment of the song work perfectly with his vocals/delivery.  I think this is a freakin' great song!

Think it's great. I've a feeling sometimes that curmudgeons lurk on this site - folk who have an idea of how things "should" be.

I say, Enjoy....

Love this CD! More, please.

 Byronape wrote: 
 Me encanta la traduccion! 
 

Santana belongs in the Parthenon of Guitar Gods.  Everlast needs to push the broom in the halls.  I really have no use for him or his vocals. 

Come to think of it, the song from this album with the D-Bag from Matchbox 20 sucks too. 

I get that Santana doesn't sing and I'd rather he just not than try and sound bad.  However, how hard up did he have to be to get Everlast?  I can see the conversation now...

Santana: Wait, who is doing the vocals for Put Your Lights On?
Label Exec: A singer named Everlast.
S: Never heard of him.
LE: He had an album.
S:So did Milli Vanilli, that does not mean they should be on my album.
LE: Do you want paid or not?  There were not a lot of options.
S: Que te jodan, que apestoso cerdo codicioso. Espero que contraen el herpes.

(Translation courtesy of babblefish.com)

KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!

This is bad. And note that I am a Santana fan. If you want.  Or don't.

This song is like Santana's line of women's accessories (yes, he designs shoes), bland, cheap and easily forgotten.

 babblecon wrote: 

Noone does it like him, thank goodness.  Why does he think he needs to play between every break in the vocals?  Annoying
and so boring! 

The guitar and percussion almost saved this song from the vocals. He sounds like someone just dropped a cinder block on his throat.

One of the criteria I've recently added to my ratings is whether I can do homework with the song playing. Despite the lack of a decent chord progression and other music-theory stuff, this song passes the Homework Test.

 derfury wrote: 
Just like The Ramones! 

 derfury wrote: 
I like this tune, but have not heard others by Everlast.  Sounds like he needs to work on some new chord progressions!

bill you have got to be kidding me - maybe you could segue to "jump around" - god knows i need to hear that one again - I've been listening for a few years now and this is the only song that i've ever truely despised!

 dave_porter wrote: 

Well, having Tom would be great, and back to the keyboards that Santana sounded great with. Actually though, Greg Rolie would be my choice.

 babblecon wrote: 
The singer is Everlast (Erik Schrody). His breakout album was 'Whitey Ford Sings the Blues', which, if you like this, is worth a listen.

 babblecon wrote: 
That's not his voice, it is Everlast aka Erik Schrody.

Wow what a great lead into this song!

Bob Dylan - One more cup of coffee —-> Santana - Put your lights on.

Perfect! 

Carlos...the best guitar player ever. I don't know any other player that can do it like he does. Whenever I hear him it "always goes down good". I have not heard his voice as in this song, All you sinners, is it him?

Simple, transformative, lyric: "put your lights on".  Santana reaching, working on the possibilities, not just rehashing what was popular.  Stuff of great artists.

I am not particularly into Santana, but I respect him greatly. In this song, Everlast just plays the exact same 4 chord guitar riff he plays in every other song. Everlast infuriates me every time I hear it. It seems the only distinguishing feature between the songs are lyrics.

Love a lot of Santana's early stuff, and some of his later output ("The Healer" with John Lee Hooker is just outstanding). But he seems to be suffering from a desire - either his or his record company's - to record tracks with artists who have been chosen more for their image than anything they would actually add to the music.

The wikipedia article on the album says (currently): "The album, conceived by Clive Davis and A&R'd by Pete Ganbarg, was phenomenally successful, eventually selling over 25 million copies worldwide; it is generally seen to have revived Santana's dormant career." So I guess it achieved what was wanted - but I could happily skip the whole album. The signature Santana sound suffers hugely from the absence of keyboards player Tom Coster IMO.

Beautifully crafted, excellently expressed. A definite 10 for me.

 anotherlistener wrote: 
Does this really matter?  We're not in a concert.  We're listening to radio, and this song doesn't fit well.

This song, like many others of his, is awful.  Please stop playing Santana.

 stkman wrote: 
Actually, it's not really the notes, it's the way he composes his solos.  He does that little double-picking on the same note with the bend on damn near every song of his I've ever heard, for example.  There are just too many "patterns" and repeats for him to be in the upper echelon of guitar players, IMHO.  He's a fine player in a great many ways... as a matter of fact, I saw him on a PBS special playing drums and keys, and he really impressed me with his musicality... but for some reason his guitar playing seems to have gotten to a particular point and just stopped.  If I were someone who is able to make music for a living (I have the desire but not the commercial ability and maybe not even the skill, depending on who you ask), you'd better damn well believe I'd be constantly reworking and refreshing my voice on my instrument.  I don't understand how he doesn't... not trying to judge per se, just saying... 

So like him, it's cool with me, but at least understand where some of us are coming from when it comes to his soloing.   

 spaceman wrote: 
Much to Santana's detriment. Like an anchor on a corvette.

Santana's great, saw him live lots in the '70s in the Bay Area, tremendous improviser and a  consistently good performer, unlike a lot of bands. He provided a great service to rock and roll and pop back then, bringing in a rich latin flavor with both percussion and his guitar work. That's just the early aspect of his talent for collaboration, bringing in lots of other sounds and people and giving them bandwidth to shine. And he's still doing that.

mmmm yeaah

WonderLizard is right Carlos does take a beating here, I have heard it said he only knows 6 notes and allways plays the same licks, whether ya like him or not he knows more than 6 frikkin' notes and as far as licks goes he knows every inch of the neck of that guitar. I'm not gonna try and change anybodies opinion on what they like and there are  better guitar players but the number of worse guitar players far outways the better ones. Carlos allways has been able to put alot of feeling in his notes and I guarantee not many wanted to follow him on stage. As far as his contributions with others, people say the ol' dude is using them while it seems they all pay honor to him and that album didn't hurt their careers one bit.

 WonderLizard wrote:  

 

I whole-heartedly agree... even very talented guitarists have difficulty trying to sound like Santana.  It's so easy being a spectator!

 dawndays wrote: 
Feel the same...but it's only my first time hearing it.

I see your "ugh" and raise you a "Holy hell...what is this crap?!"   (IMO, of course...to each his/her own)

 anotherlistener wrote: 

Man, so many people rippin' on Santana.  #1 You've NEVER seen him in concert.  Doesn't matter who shares the bill, Santana blows 'em away.  #2  You've probably only heard the handful of Santana tunes played on your local (not very good) fm station.  This cat rocks!!

 RedGuitar wrote: 
Man, Carlos sure takes a drubbing in this community. First, his tone is unmistakable—that means it's unique. Sorta like SRV's. Harrison's, Garcia's, Bloomfield's, and others. Second, yes, he has some signature licks, and I guess that's what the hoo-ha is about. But, dig it, if you're a guitarist—I am, and I suppose RedGuitar is, too—then you have learned, know, and love the B.B. King trick lick, which shows up in nearly everything he does. I don't hear any complaints about that. Ditto SRV. He had a couple that he'd start or end a run with or use as a turn-around. Point is that for some, their style encompasses certain signatures: that's how you know who they are.

I first saw Carlos with the orignal Santana in San Francisco—the old Carousel Ballroom before Graham rebadged it "Fillmore West"—before their first album was released. Simply blew everyone through the back of the building. Carlos was then and is now one of the originals.

Ugh. Didn't like this song the first thousand times I heard it.

Love Santana, tired of this record though. How about something off of "Caravanserai"?

The psychedelic guitar is a little bit overwrought.  Ouch!

Love it! Don't get tired of this stuff.

Wow!  First time I ever heard Everlast on here.  I've always liked the group.  Play some more.

 rcurrier wrote: 

LMAO. I always liked him and wished he had a more original name. I hate rap nowadays, but I still proubly admit that I used to love House of Pain.

 wallytune wrote: 

bad  

segue

from Dylan

I love Santana. I love Everlast. This is neither one's best work. It's still pretty dang good though.  c.

 ArbiterOfGoodTaste wrote:

 
Plus he has a popular line of boxing accessories.
 

Really weak when following up One More Cup Of Coffee.
fredriley: Everlast is former front man from hip-hop group House of Pain. He turned into a rocker a few years back and that's him singing.   

RedGuitar wrote:You have a point..sadly though Stevie is no longer with us so we'll never know how he might have changed his style (if at all)..I do find Stevie's music less repetitive however.

Good segway from dylan.

This is Santana? 'Kin 'ell! Quite a departure from their 'classic' sound, but quite nice IMO. So what's "feat Everlast"? Maybe my brain's gone into zombie mode after a long week, but I can't make any sense of that. 7 from the Nottingham jury.