Hey, remember when I said no more rock stars and no more repetition? The great thing about rules is they were made to be broken.
Today's repeat rock star, whom I've covered numerous times in articles with titles far more clever than this one, ought need no introduction other than to say he's obviously an icon for all times, whose music and innovations in music will live on centuries hence.
He's also into bootlegs and live recordings, and at one time before it all went digital he had one of the biggest collections of this sort of stuff.
I'm not sure what there is to say about him that hasn't been long since said, except maybe that whenever I see him in interviews he seems like he's a pretty hilarious person.
Like when you hear him tell the story of Woodstock, and how the intense facial expressions he's making aren't the result of some higher musical energy, but him struggling to not completely lose it and promising to never take that many tabs of mescaline before performing ever again, if God will please allow him to stay in tune and not mess this up.
If I had to describe his playing, I would use the words tasteful, fluid and voice-like. Like fresh, singing water.
He's also one of those rare rockstars or musicians in general that everyone seems to love. In 50 years of knowing who he is, I don't recall ever hearing someone say out loud that they don't dig his music.
That's not easy to pull off, but over those 50+ years and who knows how many records and tours, Carlos Santana has done it.
Anyway you must have figured out before you even read this, given the wealth of (deserved) tributes flowing online, that he is 75 today.
So we'll celebrate by mashing up a whole bunch of pre-broadcast materials, with a biscuit I put together to be fit for a King.
Santana
King Biscuit Flower Hour sampler
1974-88
01 KBFH intro
02 Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen
03 Oye Como Va
04 Hold On
05 Evil Ways
06 No One to Depend On
07 She's Not There
08 Winning
09 Spirits Dancing In the Flesh
10 Incident At Neshabur
11 Savor/Soul Sacrifice
12 Toussaint L'Overture
13 Europa (Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile)
Total time: 1:19:49
Tracks 02-04: Forum, Montreal CAN 9.22.1982
Track 08: Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth MA 7.4.1981
Carlos Santana - guitar & vocals
Richard Baker - keyboards
Graham Lear - drums
Alex Ligertwood - guitar & vocals
David Margen - bass
Armando Peraza - bongos, congas & vocals
Raul Rekow - congas & vocals
Orestes Vilató - percussion, timbales & vocals
Tracks 05-07: Palladium, NYC 2.10.1978
Carlos Santana - guitar, percussion & vocals
Greg Walker - vocals & percussion
Tom Coster - keyboards & vocals
David Margen - bass & vocals
Graham Lear - drums & percussion
Armando Peraza - congas & bongos
Raul Rekow - congas & percussion
Pete Escovedo - timbales
Francisco Vega - congas
Tracks 09 & 13: Sunrise Theatre, Ft. Lauderdale FL 11.26.1988
Carlos Santana - guitar
Greg Rolie - keyboards
Alphonso Johnson - bass & Chapman Stick
Michael Shrieve - drums
Jose "Chepito" Areas - percussion
Chester D. Thompson - keyboards
Armando Peraza - percussion
Tracks 10 & 11: Rynearson Stadium, Ypsilanti MI 5.25.1975
Carlos Santana - guitar & percussion
Leon Patillo - keyboards
David Brown - bass
Tom Coster - keyboards
"Ndugu" Leon Chancler - drums
Armando Peraza - congas, percussion & vocals
Track 12: Balboa Stadium, San Diego CA 7.28.1974
Carlos Santana - guitar, percussion & vocals
Jose "Chepito" Areas - percussion
Jules Broussard - saxophone & flute
David Brown - bass
Tom Coster - keyboards & vocals
Leon Patillo - keyboards & vocals
Armando Peraza - percussion & vocals
"Ndugu" Leon Chancler - drums
KBFH announcer - Bill Minkin
highlight reel of King Biscuit performances, all sourced from pre-broadcast materials
based on the Santana KBFH Retrospective aired in February 1991... but slightly altered, edited and expanded by EN, July 2022
509 MB FLAC/July 2022 archive link
509 MB FLAC/July 2022 archive link
There's a KBFH program that aired in 1991 that was kind of a retrospective, the pre-FM CD of which is where most of this comes from, but I extended it and used the Michigan Soul Sacrifice because I think it's better. If you want the entire San Diego broadcast, I shared it years ago right here.
I'll be back with maybe a couple more for July, seeing as how it's summer festival season and if I wanted to I could post three concerts a day that had an anniversary or birthday connection, because there are just that many.
But as for the now, don't let me hear you saying you ain't got nobody to depend on (no tengua nadie), when people like Carlos Santana -- born this day in 1947, and rolling along fine as long as he remembers to eat something before going onstage -- exist in our world.--J.
