Abraxas

Released

Santana’s second album, 1970’s Abraxas, includes the group’s two classic hits, a medley of Fleetwood Mac’s “Black Magic Woman” and Gabor Szabo’s “Gypsy Queen” and a cover of Tito Puente’s “Oye Como Va,” but the original compositions hint at the inclinations toward fusion and even spiritual jazz that would propel a revamped lineup’s journey to the stars a couple of years later. The opener, “Singing Winds, Crying Beasts,” with its panning cymbal washes and ominous harp and piano, promises a weirder album than we get, but tracks like “Incident at Neshabur,” the Rare Earth-ish “Hope You’re Feeling Better,” and “Se a Cabo” surge like the ocean, Gregg Rolie’s hard-driving organ and Carlos Santana’s searing guitar charging forth on a bed of complex rhythm.

Phil Freeman

Suggestions
Cheap Thrills cover

Cheap Thrills

Big Brother and the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
Shady Grove cover

Shady Grove

Quicksilver Messenger Service
Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton cover

Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton, John Mayall
Dirty Work cover

Dirty Work

The Rolling Stones
Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man cover

Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man

The Bob Seger System
One More Mile cover

One More Mile

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
Ancestros cover

Ancestros

Síntesis
English Rose cover

English Rose

Fleetwood Mac