September 23, 1970.  

Studio album.

The album Abraxas was released on September 23, 1970, by the group Santana. At the time, Santana consisted of Carlos Santana, José “Chepito” Areas, Mike Carabello, David Brown, Gregg Rollie, and Mike Shrieve. This Latin Rock album featured vocals, guitar, keyboard, drums, timbales, and conga. Carlos Santana is from Autlán, Jalisco, Mexico, and he initially resisted his family’s move to the United States. According to an interview with Santana’s father,  José Santana, in El Chicano from 1971, Carlos hid from his family to avoid immigrating to the United States, so they ended up moving without him. Eventually and reluctantly, Carlos did, and the only thing he brought with him was his guitar. 

According to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Santana's unique style of playing and guitar skills are highlighted in the album, which showcases different music genres and styles, ranging from rock to jazz to blues to Latin American music. The hybridity of Abraxas is also noted by Íñigo Sánchez, who, in her review of a book on hybridity by Deborah Pacino Hernández, explores the album’s impact on Latin American culture. She states that the hybridity of the music resonated with the hybridity of Latin Americans, particularly those living in the United States, and therefore served as a unifying force. Latin American music became popular in the United States throughout the 20th century, and Latin Rock is one of the many genres that excited audiences of diverse backgrounds. After World War II, however, Latin American music lost much of the traction it had gained the previous decades due to increased American nationalism, according to Sánchez. The Cold War that followed caused some Americans to be wary of foreigners, including art from abroad, though not so wary that they lacked curiosity. So, despite the monumental success of Abraxas at the time of its release, we have not yet been able to locate much information surrounding the release of the album itself.

The music in this album is unique, and clearly multicultural. The very first song, “Singing Winds, Crying Beasts,” features what sounds like wind chimes over a cymbal’s sprawl. Rhythm becomes a central focus, with a groovy congo and the beat from the timbales. What is likely the most unusual aspect of this song is that there are no voices — only percussion and guitar. Continuing with the instrumental theme, the next song, “Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen,” does not introduce voice until 1:27 in and is instrument-heavy, with the voice playing a relatively minor role in the song. Song number 3, “Oye Como Va” is the most popular song from this album and one of Santana’s most popular. The jazz influences come out especially in the keyboard solo at 2:00, which suggests improvisation. At 3:38, right after a non-improvised solo, the guitar seems to have an improvised solo as well.

Going through the whole album, Santana achieved a work that is easy to digest and enjoy. Even through the solos, the beat is never lost and remains a prominent feature of the music, which establishes the percussion as equal to whatever instrument is soloing. The fourth song, “Incident at Neshabur”, and the seventh song, “Samba Pa Ti”, are the other instrumentals with keyboard and guitar solos, and both contain grooves that prompt movement, either some sort of accompanying dance or even just a head-bop. That is a major component of Abraxas — it is undeniably groovy: the Latin percussion of the timbales and congas makes the songs feel like dance music, and the jazzy solos create a laid-back feeling that, when combined, make this album incredibly approachable and accessible. 

The percussion instruments themselves have a rich history on their own. The congas come from Cuba and traditionally were used in Afro-Cuban music, though they have clearly been used in various other Latin styles of music. The timbales are also of Afro-Cuban descent and have since migrated to many different styles of Latin music, such as salsa and rock. These instruments are just a few examples of indigenous African influence on Latin American cultures, as the percussiveness of Latin music that we know and love today comes from indigenous Africans who were sent to the Americas during the slave trade. Other examples of Latin music with African roots are cumbia, salsa, and bachata. 

Questions for Classroom Discussion

1. Why do you think Santana chose to start Abraxas with “Singing Winds, Crying Beasts”? How does this impact the listener’s perspective going into the rest of the album in terms of what to expect musically? 

2. Is Santana commenting on multiculturalism with this album? How does their instrumentation contribute to this commentary, if there is any? 

3. What emotions or feelings did you feel listening to this album? Where and how did the music evoke this emotion? Were there any overarching feelings that you felt throughout the album or did they change from song to song? 

4. Do you think this music had an impact on popular music that came after? Do you know of any music that may have taken influence from Santana, and what aspects of the music seem similar? 

5. In what ways do you think Abraxas is unique or innovative compared to other popular music artists in Carlos Santana's, such as the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd? 

Bibliography/Further Reading

Primary Sources

Arnold, Thomas K. "Reveling in Guitars' Resurgence: Music: Rock Musician Carlos Santana is Pleased with the New Popularity of the Guitar, after Dominance by Synthesizer." Los Angeles Times (October 10, 1990): SDF1.

"Billboard Album Reviews." Billboard 82, no. 41 (October 1970): 66, 68.

Ferman, Dave. "Santana." Toronto Star (October 19, 1999): 1.

Seigal, Buddy. "It's Not Santan, but it's Still Magic." Los Angeles Times (1995).

"The Story of Santana." El Chicano (May 21, 1971): 4. 

Secondary Sources

Moreno-Velasquez, Juan A. "Datos Sobre la Vida de Tito Puente." El Diario La Prensa (June 2000).

Sánchez, Íñigo. "Reseña de “Oye Como Va! Hibridity and Identity in Latino Popular Music” de Deborah Pacino Hernández." Revista Transcultural de Música 

Sociedad de Etnomusicología España (2011). 

Laing, Dave. "Santana, Carlos." In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.