Soul of '69

'Stock Stage '69: Santana Sacrificing with his Serpentine SG Special

There's a lot of coverage going on right now of the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. There were some great and historic performances of course -- Hendrix, The Who, CSNY, Sly, Janis, and more. But there was one that for me has always stood out. Not only is it my favorite performance from the festival, I think it's one of the most electrifying performances in rock history. Thankfully, it was captured on film.

Santana!

Soul Sacrifice!

The band was tripping their socks off, and you can tell! Carlos is on fire, teetering right on the edge of losing control. He has famously said that he was hallucinating so hard, he thought his guitar was a snake. He literally couldn't feel the stage under his feet. Yep - playing a snake while hovering - there's one for the ages.

And the raw spitfire tone of his SG Special and its P90s will raise the hair on the back of your neck.

The percussionists, Greg Rolie on B3, the teenage Michael Shreve on drums; it all came together in a red-hot explosion of Latin rock. Transcendence was achieved by Carlos and company on that muddy day in Bethel. If you can't feel this energy, you have no soul to sacrifice.

If you don't believe me, dig the clip, baby!

Soul Sacrifice on YouTube

And whatever you do, STAY AWAY FROM THE BROWN ACID!

Here's a great little article on Gibson's web-site written by my old friend Ted Drozdowski. "The SGs of Woodstock"

Spellbinding!

Playing the new Mobile Fidelity Soundlab remaster of Santana's legendary Abraxas conjures up a lot of teenage memories for me; 1970's summer nights with the FM radio piping from the car as we lounged by the lake, stargazing. Or wearing those big clunky headphones in my room in the wee hours of the night, spacing out to Carlos' crying guitar, Rolie's swirling B3, and that hypnotic, stereophonic percussion. The future was endless and anything was possible.

Half-speed re-cut from the original studio masters by MoFi --yes the company still exists and is going strong after 30 years-- the vinyl is quieter than the tape-hiss! Stereo width and depth-of field are better than on any CD I've heard.

Abraxas was one of the sountracks to our dreams.

Dream again with this sonically beautiful reissue.