Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits

Music legend Santana still creating smooth sounds

Staff Report

Santana was one of the last big acts to emerge from the San Francisco music scene of the '60s, enjoying major success at the end of that decade and into the early '70s. The band recorded its self-titled debut album and began to tour nationally, making an important stop at the Woodstock festival on Aug. 15, 1969.

"Santana" was released the same month. It remained on the charts for over two years and spawned the Top 10 single "Evil Ways." The band's second album, "Abraxas," was released in 1970 and was even more successful than its first. It hit No. 1 on the strength of the huge hits "Black Magic Woman" and "Oye Como Va."

While the band's personnel changed many times over the years, Carlos Santana steadily guided the group to commercial success over the next quarter-century. The band was still selling many records into the '80s including the 1981 album "Zebop!," which featured a Top 20 single "Winning."

In 1986 Santana staged a 20-year anniversary reunion concert that featured many past band members. The group continued to consistently release music, without much fanfare until "Supernatural" in 1999. The album featured appearances by guest stars including Wyclef Jean, Eric Clapton, Lauryn Hill, Rob Thomas and Dave Matthews. The album and the single "Smooth" hit No. 1 and in 2000, a second single, "Maria Maria," also topped the charts.

"Supernatural's" sales exploded and the album garnered 11 Grammy nominations. It won a record-breaking nine Grammys, including Song of the Year for "Smooth," Santana's collaboration with Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas.

Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits features songs that span the performer's entire career. In addition to Santana on lead guitar, the band line-up is: Chester Thompson (keyboards), Karl Perazzo (timbales), Benny Rietveld (bass), Dennis Chambers (drums), Raul Rekow (congas), Andy Vargas (vocals), Tony Lindsay (vocals), Tommy Anthony (rhythm guitar), Jeff Cressman (trombone) and Bill Ortiz (trumpet).