Santana formed in San Francisco in 1966 around guitarist Carlos Santana and all but invented Latin rock — the 1969 Woodstock set is the stuff of legend. Abraxas (1970) is the essential first buy; Supernatural (1999) sold over 30 million copies and won the Album of the Year Grammy. Shop Santana vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Santana formed in San Francisco, California in 1966 around Carlos Santana (born July 20, 1947, Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico). The band was originally known as the Santana Blues Band. The classic 1969-1971 lineup featuring Carlos Santana, Gregg Rolie (vocals, keyboards; later of Journey), David Brown (bass), Michael Shrieve (drums), Michael Carabello (percussion), and José Areas (percussion) recorded the band's foundational early Columbia Records catalog. They are widely cited as one of the foundational acts of Latin rock as a recognized genre - established by their 1969 Woodstock performance (with Soul Sacrifice becoming cultural lore). Their 1970 album Abraxas - featuring Black Magic Woman (Peter Green Fleetwood Mac cover) and Oye Cómo Va (Tito Puente cover) - sold over 4 million copies and is widely cited as one of the most important Latin rock albums in popular music history. The band's lineup has rotated across multiple decades, with Carlos Santana as the only constant. Their 1999 album Supernatural - featuring the international singles Smooth (with Rob Thomas) and Maria Maria (with the Product G&B) - became a commercial breakthrough at the band's 30-year mark, selling over 30 million copies worldwide and winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2000 (unprecedented late-career renaissance). Their 2016 album Santana IV reunited the classic 1971 lineup. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Their foundational influence on Latin rock and broader contemporary rock is widely cited as one of the most important contributions to the form.
Santana's sound is foundational to Latin rock as a recognized genre - combining Latin rock, blues rock, jazz fusion, salsa rock, Afro-Cuban rock, psychedelic rock, and pop rock with Carlos Santana's foundational lead guitar work (use of melodic phrasing and sustain), integration of Afro-Cuban percussion and Latin American musical traditions, and varied compositional approaches across their multi-decade career.
Original Columbia Records and Arista pressings of the Santana catalog are foundational items in Latin rock and broader rock collecting, with collector premiums on rare pressings.
Listeners new to Santana typically start with Abraxas (1970) or Supernatural (1999).
