Santana Caravaserai

By the time Santana arrived on the San Francisco scene in 1968, the Grateful Dead's freeform antics were already legendary. But Santana was a jam band of another order–fueled by Latin rhythms, blues, bebop, and straight-ahead rock. Having set the audience at the 1969 Woodstock festival on its collective ear, the band did the same for the nation with its self-titled debut, released later that summer. Songs such as "Evil Ways," "Jingo," and "Soul Sacrifice" contain extraordinary ensemble playing, powered by percolating congas and timbales and topped by the grippingly human cry of Carlos Santana's guitar. The 1998 reissue of the album contains three bonus tracks recorded live at Woodstock: "Savor," "Soul Sacrifice," and "Fried Neckbones."

Santana's Greatest Hits is a 1974 compilation album by Santana. It offers highlights from the group's first three albums. It is the band's best-selling compilation album, selling over 7 million copies in the U.S. alone while selling more than 8 million records worldwide.

Shaman is the nineteenth studio album by Santana. Shaman was released on October 22, 2002 and debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200. It was certified Double Platinum in US. The first single of the album was "The Game of Love", featuring Michelle Branch. "Why Don't You & I", featuring Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, was also re-recorded as a single in 2003, which featured Alex Band of The Calling. Like the previous album, Supernatural, Shaman features various famous rock, hip hop, and pop artists, as well as Spanish opera star, Plácido Domingo. The album is currently Santana's longest studio release to date. The International Version (outside the U.S.) drops the track "Since Supernatural", shuffles the remaining tracks, and includes the song "Let Me Love You Tonight".

Supernatural is the seventeenth album by Santana, released in 1999. It went 15 times platinum in the US and won nine Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year as well as three Latin Grammy Awards including Record of the Year. The album, conceived by Clive Davis and A&R'd by Pete Ganbarg, was a major global hit, eventually selling more than 30 million copies. It is the most successful album by Santana, hitting the number one spot in ten countries, including the United States. It is also the highest selling album of original material released by any artist who had already been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame prior to its release and second highest selling overall behind The Beatles compilation album 1. Among the other guest artists are Eric Clapton, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Lauryn Hill, Dave Matthews, Maná and Cee-Lo Green.

The San Francisco Bay Area rock scene of the late '60s was one that encouraged radical experimentation and discouraged the type of mindless conformity that's often plagued corporate rock. When one considers just how different Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, and the Grateful Dead sounded, it becomes obvious just how much it was encouraged. In the mid-'90s, an album as eclectic as Abraxas would be considered a marketing exec's worst nightmare. But at the dawn of the 1970s, this unorthodox mix of rock, jazz, salsa, and blues proved quite successful.

Santana is the primary exponent of Latin-tinged rock, particularly due to its combination of Latin percussion (congas, timbales, etc.) with bandleader Carlos Santana's distinctive, high-pitched lead guitar playing. The group was the last major act to emerge from the psychedelic San Francisco music scene of the 1960s and it enjoyed massive success at the end of the decade and into the early '70s. The musical direction then changed to a more contemplative and jazzy style as the band's early personnel gradually departed, leaving the name in the hands of Carlos Santana, who guided the group to consistent commercial success over the next quarter-century…

Arriving at the twilight of the 1960s, Santana were psychedelic pioneers who ushered Latin rock into the mainstream with their first three albums: Santana, Abraxas, and Santana III. Thanks to their appearance at Woodstock, their eponymous album was a smash hit right out of the gate, with its single "Evil Ways" making it into the Billboard Top Ten in 1969. They remained at the top of the charts until 1973, when leader and namesake guitarist Carlos Santana began exploring esoteric, spiritual jazz fusion on his own. Carlos may have wandered away from the band who shared his name, but he always returned to the group, sustaining them through years both productive and fallow.