As the founder of one of the last bands to emerge from San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury scene of the 1960s, legendary guitarist Carlos Santana—who pioneered Latin rock with his unique blend of jazz, salsa and blues—was a mainstay on record charts from the late ‘60s through the early ‘80s with albums like Santana, Abraxas, and Zebop! selling millions of copies. But when the winds of fortune shifted and Santana hit a slump in the 1990s with declining record sales, he was approached by record producer Clive Davis with the idea of cutting an album of collaborations with mostly younger, more contemporary artists. That album, the multi-platinum selling Supernatural, proved to be a watershed moment for Carlos Santana in a career that has spanned over four decades.
With a who’s who list of guest artists that included Dave Matthews, Lauryn Hill, and rappers Cee-Lo and Everlast, Supernatural, which was released in 1999, won nine Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, and gave Santana's career a much needed shot in the arm. The album turned a whole new generation of music lovers onto his music with the singles “Maria Maria,” featuring hip-hop’s The Product G&B, and the massive hit “Smooth,” with Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, that gave Santana his first chart-topping single since 1971s “Black Magic Woman.”
Santana tried the format again in 2002 with Shaman. The album included an eclectic mix of artists like Seal, Macy Gray, and the Christian metal band P.O.D. and produced two top ten singles: the Grammy Award-winning "The Game of Love" featuring Michelle Branch, and "Why Don't You & I" with Nickelback's Chad Kroeger. Although Shaman debuted at #1 on the charts and went on to sell over five million copies worldwide, it wasn’t the blockbuster Supernatural had been.
Three years later Carlos Santana released All That I Am, his third consecutive collaborative effort. That album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 and featured a lineup that included Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Mary J. Blige, second place American Idol finisher Bo Bice, and the Black Eyed Peas’ Will.i.am. Making a repeat appearance, this time along with her band The Wreckers, Michelle Branch joined Santana on the single “I’m Feeling You,” while Aerosmith's Steven Tyler weighed in with the song “Just Feel Better.” All That I Am has been certified gold, but the album failed to produce the numbers that Shaman did and fell way short of the watermark set by Supernatural.
Now, after two years of trying to sell Santana on yet another collaborative project, Clive Davis has at last convinced the guitarist to take another stab at it with a covers album featuring songs by such behemoths of classic rock as Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and The Doors. "He kept calling," says Santana. "I just put the phone up to the ceiling and said, 'Oh, my God!'" Eventually, though, he folded.
Using Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time as their guide, the two each selected seven tracks and guest singers that include Rapper Nas performing AC/DC’s “Back in Black”; Joe Cocker doing Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing”; Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell tackling vocals on Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”; Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots on “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” by The Rolling Stones; India.Arie and Yo-Yo Ma performing The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”; Train’s Pat Monahan on Van Halen’s “Dance the Night Away”; and a re-teaming with Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas on Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love." Santana also recruited original Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek to play organ to his slide guitar on a version of "Riders on the Storm" that he calls “really far out and psychedelic.” Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” also made the cut though no vocalists have yet been named to the songs.
Concerning his fresh take on the rock classics, Santana says that, “We’re not comparing or competing with those artists, we’re complementing them. But when you hear this, you’re gonna do ‘Damn!’ because it sounds so powerful, with vitality and vibrancy.”
The as-of-yet untitled album is due out in September 2010.
Santana kicks off a tour of the States and Canada at the end of June that runs through the first of August, after which he resumes his residency at The Joint in the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino for a run of dates in August and September where he’ll perform "Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits.” The show serves up music from his 40-year career including solo work, various collaborations, and songs from the band who bears his surname. Santana will then head to Europe in September to play a host of concert dates that run through October. Check out Santana's website at www.santana.com for further information on tour dates and news concerning the upcoming album.
Back in February, Carlos Santana released the double-disc Supernatural: Legacy Edition to commemorate the record's 10th Anniversary. The re-mastered album includes a second disc of rare and unreleased material that features outtakes, dance club mixes and instrumentals of both “Smooth” and “The Calling Jam” with Eric Clapton.
