By the Summer of 1969, the hippie aesthetic for jamming had become so prevalent that if you threw a stick up in the air at a rock concert, you’d probably distract a guitarist from his fifteen-minute solo.

Because of this, the rock elite did not immediately embrace Santana. Critics heard the instrumental jams as pointless meandering, and the few songs that had lyrics were criticized for banality. While lesser bands got away with similar behavior, Santana were singled out for releasing an album “with no real content” (a quote from Rolling Stone magazine’s review). I don’t get it; because to my ears, Santana represented something fresh, adding a strong, percussive Latin feel to the genre, pushing the music in a direction that felt fresh to my young ears.

Time has proven that the jaded critics had missed the essence of the band, as this album stands up quite well even after a half-century, representing some of the best music to be released in the late 1960’s.

Featured tracks include;

Waiting

Evil Ways

Shades of Time

Savor

Jingo

Persuasion

Treat

You Just Don’t Care

Soul Sacrifice  

August 1969 - Billboard Charted #4