Santana is the debut studio album by Latin rock band Santana released in 1969. Over half of the album’s length of composed of instrumental music, recorded by what was originally a purely free-form jam band. At the suggestion of manager Bill Graham, the band took to writing more conventional songs for more impact, but managed to retain the essence of improvisation in the music.
The album was destined to be a major release, given a headstart by the band’s seminal performance at the Woodstock Festival earlier that August. The first single “Jingo” was followed up by “Evil Ways”, and was a US Top 10 hit. The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200 pop album chart and #26 on the UK Albums Chart. It has been mixed and released in both stereo and quadraphonic.
**Tracklisting:***
SIDE A.
- Waiting (instrumental)
- Evil Ways
- Shades Of Time
- Savor (instrumental)
- Jingo
SIDE B.
- Persuasion
- Treat (instrumental)
- You Just Don’t Care
- Soul Sacrifice (instrumental)