Raul Rekow- conga, timbales; Alan Pasqua - keyboards, organ, piano, vocals; Graham Lear - percussion, drums; David Margen - bass; Armando Peraza - conga, bongo; Raul Rekow - bongos, conga, vocals; Carlos Santana - guitar, percussion, vocals; Chris Solberg - Guitar, keyboards, vocals; Greg Walker - vocals, percussion
This marks the period when Santana returned to having hit singles, with a remake of "She's Not There" from the Zombies and a disco-flavored Latin rocker, "Dance Sister Dance."
Recorded at one of several 1978 performances culled for an appearance on the King Biscuit Flower Hour, this show opens with a riveting version of "Marathon," which merges itself with an astounding version of "Well… All Right." The latter song, written in the 1950s by Buddy Holly, resurfaced a decade later on the Clapton/Winwood/Baker/Grech supergroup LP, Blind Faith. Santana, however, covers the song with such impact and style that it's arguably the best arrangement of the song. The show offers another surprise with Santana's re-make of the 1967 R&B gem. "One Chain (Don't Make No Prison)" and closes the show with a brilliant version of "Open Invitation."
Originally formed in 1966 as the Santana Blues Band (the name came about because the Musician's Local 802 Union required one member to be listed as the leader and the group picked Santana, although at the time, he was just one of the members), by 1968, they had become what would be the last of the great San Francisco-era bands to emerge to national prominence. Promoter Bill Graham shortened the name to simply Santana and pushed the shy Mexican-born guitarist to the forefront of the band, which also included Gregg Rollie on organ and vocals, David Brown on bass, Jose Chepito Areas on percussion, and Michele Shrieve on drums.
Graham was able to get them signed to Columbia Records, and a fluke landed them a gig on their first U.S. tour at the Woodstock Music & Arts Festival, in August of 1969. The rest, as they say, is rock 'n' roll history, after Santana blew the festival away (and the audience who would later see the film and buy the soundtrack) with its distinctly Latin-flavored, blues-based rock.
After the band's third album Santana III, that line-up dissolved. But in 1973, after two solo projects for Carlos (Live With Buddy Miles and an album with Mahavishnu guitarist John McLaughlin) Santana reorganized the band with Areas and Shrieve, and several new members that included vocalist Leon Thomas, and later, Greg Walker.
Without Rollie to do the well-recognized vocals of the band's earlier hits, Santana became a more instrumentally-driven band than it had been prior. They completely rock out on "Incident At Neshabur" and also give faithful renditions of the hits "No One To Depend On" and "Black Magic Woman" (originally recorded by Fleetwood Mac in 1968).
Carlos Santana (with the help of label exec and mentor Clive Davis) would re-invent himself and his band again the early 1990s, when Supernatural would take him back to the top of the charts. He's been paired with several popular celebrity duets that include Rob Thomas, Michele Branch, Everlast, and Wyclef Jean. In 2000, Santana walked away with an amazing eight Grammy Awards for Supernatural.