Santana -

Santana are an American Latin-jazz/rock band from San Francisco, formed in 1966 by guitarist Carlos Santana.

Members: Carlos Santana (guitar, vocals), Gregg Rolie (keyboards, vocals, 1966-72), Rod Harper (drums, 1966-67), Gus Rodriguez (bass, 1966-67), Michael Carabello (congas, 1966-67, 1969-71), Tom Frazier (guitar, 1966-67), Bob “Doc” Livingston (drums, 1967-69), David Brown (bass, 1967-71, 1974-76), Marcus Malone (congas, 1967-69), Michael Shrieve (drums, 1969-74, 1988), Francisco Aguabella (congas, 1969-71), Jose “Chepito” Areas (timbales, 1969-77, 1988-89), Tom Rutley (bass, 1971-72), Rico Reyes (timbales, 1971, 1972), Víctor “Negrito” Pantoja (timbales, 1971), Coke Escovedo (timbales, 1971-72), Pete Escovedo (timbales, 1971, 1977-79), Neal Schon (guitar, 1971-72), Tom Coster (keyboards, 1972-78, 1983-84), Richard Kermode (keyboards, 1972-73), Doug Rauch (bass, 1972-73), James Mingo Lewis (congas, 1972), Leon Thomas (vocals, 1973), Leon “Ndugu” Chancler (drums, 1974-76, 1988), Leon Patillo (vocals, 1974-75), Jules Broussard (saxophone, 1974-75), Greg Walker (vocals, 1975-76, 1976-79, 1983-85), Gaylord Birch (drums, 1976, 1991), Graham Lear (drums, 1976-84, 1985-87), Luther Rabb (vocals, 1976), Joel Badie (vocals, 1976), Byron Miller (bass, 1976), Pablo Telez (bass, 1976-77), Armando Peraza (congas, bongos, 1976, 1977-90), David Margen (bass, 1977-82), Raul Rekow (percussion, 1977-93, 1999-2013), Chris Rhyne (keyboards, 1978-79), Russell Tubbs (flute, 1978), Chris Solberg (guitar, keyboards, 1978-80), Alan Pasqua (keyboards, 1979-80), Alex Ligertwood (vocals, 1979-83, 1984-85, 1987, 1989-91, 1992-94), Orestes Vilató (timbales, 1980-87), Richard Baker (keyboards, 1980-82), Keith Jones (bass, 1983-84, 1989), Chester Thompson (keyboards, 1983-2009), David Sancious (keyboards, 1984), Chester Thompson (drums, 1984), Sterling Crew (keyboards, 1985), Alphonso Johnson (bass, 1985-89, 1992), Buddy Miles (vocals, guitar, 1986, 1987)

Santana was formed in 1966 San Francisco as the Santana Blues Band by Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana (b. 1947).

A 1965 graduate of Mission High School, Carlos was accepted to multiple universities but chose instead to become a full-time musician. His inspirations included the blues and rock guitarists B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Green, and Mike Bloomfield, as well as the Hungarian jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó.

Carlos got his first exposure as part of an ad hoc band of Bay Area musicians assembled by concert promoter Bill Graham to fill in for a drunken Paul Butterflied during a Sunday matinee at the Fillmore Auditorium. Soon thereafter, Carlos formed the Santana Blues Band with bassist David Brown, percussionist Marcus Malone, and singer/organist Gregg Rolie. They debuted at the Avalon Ballroom in the summer of 1967 playing a free-form hybrid of acid rock and Latin rhythms.

In 1969, Graham secured them a deal with Columbia Records, which insisted they shorten their name to Santana. By then, Malone was imprisoned at San Quentin over a manslaughter conviction (he would not be reunited with Carlos Santana until 2013).

The lineup now consisted of Santana, Rolie, Brown, drummer Michael Shrieve, and percussionists Michael Carabello and José “Chepito” Areas. Shrieve, at 19, had served in the live backing bands of B.B. King and Etta James. They recorded their first album in May 1969 at Pacific Recording in San Mateo.

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