What Santana would you take on a road trip?

[F4lconF16]

Help! The girlfriend and I are headed to Portland Sunday. What Santana would be good to put on road trip CDs? (Any other music selections welcome.)

[malthaussen]

1. Carlos n/t

[F4lconF16]

2. You people are always so kind.

My undying gratitude for your words of helpfulness.

Or word, I guess.

[malthaussen]

3. Hey, it's the Lounge.:)

The whole opera of Santana is good enough that you could just blindfold yourself and pick at random, but FWIW, I thought his version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" kicked some serious butt.

-- Mal

[Enthusiast]

4. Caravanserai

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[Number9Dream]

13. Caravanserai - a favorite road album

And if you like that, F4IconF16, you might try some Spanish flavored Al Dimeola... Perhaps "Electric Rendezvous":

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[Enthusiast]

14. We are huge DiMeola fans here.

[Miles Archer]

20. "RTF Returns"

So many of these "reunion" projects are a disappointment, for a number of reasons. Sometimes the muse has flown off for good, other times the band members can no longer stand the sight of each other. "RTF Returns," on the other hand, SMOKED. Anyone who spent countless hours lost in the soundscapes of "Where Have I Known You Before" and "Romantic Warrior" needs to hear this one.

[Enthusiast]

21. I will check that out. I knew nothing of RTF Returns.

Wow!

[Enthusiast]

5. Santana III

[Enthusiast]

6. This one was sadly overlooked by the critics and mistakenly so.

Get all three of these CDs and listen to them all on the way to Portland. Guaranteed.

[Miles Archer]

7. For long stretches of highway driving, NOTHING tops "Lotus."

Second choice is "Moonflower."

[Enthusiast]

9. Can you explain why you feel nothing tops Lotus?

While I do like Lotus, I prefer the studio material.

I have only seen Santana twice but widely separated in time—once in the mid 1970s and once in the late 1990s. I enjoyed every note. I think maybe it depends on which you are most used to listening to.

[Miles Archer]

11. When "Lotus" was released...

...it was an event. You probably remember that the original was a 3-album Japanese import-only release. There was a steady progression following "Santana III" (Caravanserai->Welcome->Borboletta) that raised the band from what was already a solid Latin/Rock/Funk/Jam Band staus to something really unique, sort of a more thoughtful and less bombastic Mahavishnu Orchestra, or even fusion-era Miles Davis, and I'm not just saying that because Carlos teamed with John McLaughlin and also covered Miles' "In A Silent Way&quot .

"Lotus" was immediately embraced by FM radio. The winning moment in every music fan's life in Silicon Valley was either walking into a store that had a copy, or getting them to order / hold a copy for you. It was tight, dangerous music...and while shorter-lengthed "greatest hits" like "Oye Como Va" and "Black Magic Woman" do appear, it was the side-long stuff that demanded the most attention. The opening 33 minutes of CD1 (it's been a while since I owned the vinyl) is like the legendary "journeys" DeadHeads like to remember: "Meditation->Going Home->A-1 Funk->Every Step Of The Way->Black Magic Woman->Gypsy Queen->Oye Como Va"...it just flows ridiculously. The final track, the 16-minute "Incident At Neshabur," is the real show-stopper here. So based on that...and the request for the "best Santana for a road trip," and my own road trips of the last 3 years (California->Nevada->Texas->Nevada->Colorado->Nevada->South Carolina), I prefer "Lotus."

I have an appreciation for Carlos' career as a whole, but am less appreciative of the times when he was clearly chasing hits (songs like "Winning," and some of his cover versions like "She's Not There," even though they do have their time and place. That made "Moonflower" a little scizophrenic for me, as it had the commercial stuff AND the more free-form material on the same album. I love it, but my go-to Santana is usually Caravanserai, Welcome, Lotus, and Swing of Delight.

[Enthusiast]

12. Thanks, Miles. That's an interesting take.

I still have Caravanserai, Welcome, Borboletta and some others on vinyl. I have been going through my vinyl playing some older stuff.

[F4lconF16]

15. I have genuinely never wanted to listen to an album more.

Thank you for that

[redwitch]

16. I love "Moonflower!"

I saw them at the carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY for that tour. The lighting on Carlos while he played his extraordinary solos made it look like beams of light were shooting out of him. Now that I think back, they probably were.

[Miles Archer]

17. The DEFINITIVE version of "Europa"...

...I love the SONG, but I don't care how many times he's played it, he's never matched the nuances of this performance. The legend was built on tracks like this:

[redwitch]

19. Oh thank you!

Absolutely gorgeous! I need some good headphones so I can really savor this. Haven't heard it in forever. Thank you!

[Enthusiast]

22. Nice!

[Xyzse]

8. Whichever one has Black Magic Woman.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. The Live Album

I forget the name, but it came out around 1979. All the hits, some lesser known songs, and just a killer performance.

[Capt.Rocky300]

18. Havana Moon.....

Not a huge seller but a great solo effort by Carlos. IMHO.