Carlos Santana’s Fingerprints

About 15 years ago, I was driving with my then girlfriend when an austere ballad came on the radio.

It was Steven Tyler's voice. I thought to myself, “Is this a new Aerosmith song?”

At that moment, my girlfriend and I both said at the same time, “Santana!”

“The sound of a guitar is like a fingerprint because the sound changes so much depending on the player.”
The guitarist who said this in various interviews is the one and only Carlos Santana.
He is the master of Latin rock.

1. About Carlos Santana

I will not go into his bio and discography, as you can find that information if you look it up, but for those of you who are completely unfamiliar with him, here are some brief bullet points.

• Born in Mexico in 1947
• Learned violin from his father, mariachi, and guitar from age 8
• Moved to San Francisco, California, USA
• At the age of 19, he joined a band that had a vacancy at one of his favorite venues, and was noticed by the audience.
• At age 22, he signed with Columbia Records.
• In 1969, he performed at Woodstock and released an album. It was in the top 10 best-selling albums of all time.
• His second album, released the following year, was a big hit, and it spent six weeks at No. 1.
• In 1976, “Europe” became a big hit in Japan.
• After that, he continued to collaborate with various artists of different genres and also worked as a solo artist.
• In 1999, the album Supernatural was released. The following year, it won 9 Grammy Awards.

Since then, he has continued his activities, co-writing with various artists regardless of genre, including Markel Jackson and Steven Tyler at the beginning of this article.
Now 75 years old, he is still performing live with gusto this year.

Many people in Japan have probably heard “Black Magic Woman” and “Samba Pa Ti” as well as “Europe”.

■ Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)

■ Santana - Black Magic Woman (Official Audio)

■ Samba Pa Ti

2. A Rarity With Captivating Tone

Guitarists tend to focus on flashy playing such as fast playing, lighthanded playing, and arm playing. In fact,it’s the guitarists who make full use of such playing that are popular.

On the other hand, Santana, of course he can and does such things, he plays each note more quietly, as if he were putting his fingerprints on each note.

His guitar playing is unique, as evidenced by the fact that both my girlfriend and I, who had never played guitar before, recognized Santana's guitar playing as soon as we heard it, even though we had never heard the song before.
His guitar is warm, yet melancholic, passionate, persistent, and sometimes soulful with intense sustain, and they coexist in one song.

The sensual, haunting, and ultra-long intoxicating tones of the music make one's brain secrete a lot of chemicals, and even feel as if one is ascending to heaven.
The euphoric rhythms and sounds of Latin percussion naturally make the body move, and the music endlessly enchants the mind.

Then there’s the wah pedal.

As the second half of the songs such as “Europe” and the hard rock song “Open Invitation” progressed, the tempo increased and the percussion including bongos and congas were violently pounded to a fever pitch, and the perverted guitar sound with a wah effect leads you to a trance-like state. This is how Santana draws people in.
That's what I like about Santana, and that's what excites me so much.
There are so many songs like this in the two albums I will mention in the next chapter.

■ Open Invitation

The actual equipment used to create the sound will naturally vary depending on the time of year and the music, but the following is a general list of what is commonly used.

• Guitar: Paul Reed Smith Santana Signature
• Buffer: Pete Cornish LD-1
• Wah pedal: Manufacturer and model vary from time to time (JIM DUNLOP, MU-TRON, etc.)
• Amp splitter (3-distribution)
• Amps: Mesa/Boogie, Dumble, Bludotone (custom)

As you can see, it is a very simple configuration, but since most of the equipment is custom made exclusively for Santana, it is a one-of-a-kind tone that is very difficult to imitate from that aspect as well.

The name “Mesa Boogie” comes from Santana's words when he played the prototype: “Man, that amp really boogies!”

3. This is the one I recommend

If you ask me which album I would recommend to people, I would be tempted to say “this,” “that,” or “this,” but for newcomers, the best albums, The Essential Santana and Supernatural, would be the best choice. The Essential Santana and Supernatural are the best for newcomers to the band.
The best live album is Sacred Fire (especially the 1993 live performance in their hometown in Mexico). I recommend watching the DVDs or other visuals.

Supernatural is the best of the best album that is a compilation of songs from a variety of guest artists, including “Yaleo,” a Latin song that will uplift your spirits from the very first song, and many of the numbers are in the genre of the guest artists. You will never get tired of listening to them.

■ [Da Le] Yaleo

And after all, “Smooth,” covered by Goro Noguchi under the title “Ai ga meramera -SMOOTH-” (Burning With Love-Smooth) has a melody that seems familiar to the Japanese and is sure to strike a chord with many.

■ Santana - Smooth (Stereo) ft. Rob Thomas

4. Would Japanese even like this? Latin melodies

To begin with, Japanese and Latin melodies seem to have something in common. The aforementioned “Smooth,” as well as “Corazon Espinado,” “Oye Como Va,” and “Africa Bamba”, and they all have an atmosphere of Showa-era songs.

■ Santana - Corazon Espinado ft. Mana (Official Video)

■ Santana - Oye Como Va (Audio)

■ Africa Bamba

I won't list examples here, but come to think of it, there are many Showa-era hit songs that employ Latin-style melodies and rhythms.

5. Last but not least - Non-Latin recommendations

Many famous guitarists are metal or hard rock players, but even if you are not a fan of those genres, you may find Santana's guitar music appealing.

■ Santana - Maria Maria (Stereo) ft. The Product G&B

■ Santana - The Game Of Love (Video) ft. Michelle Branch

■ Santana - Put Your Lights On (Video Version) ft. Everlast

If you liked the songs presented in this article, I invite you to get in touch with Carlos Santana's guitar tones, rhythms, and fingerprints.

Finally, the song we heard on the radio at the beginning of this article is ---.

■ Santana - Just Feel Better (VIDEO) ft. Steven Tyler

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