Carlos Santana Reveals Favorite Woodstock Memory

Storied guitarist Carlos Santana recently took part in a Santana Town Hall discussion that aired on SiriusXM’s Volume channel. Carlos was asked about his favorite memory from the original Woodstock festival in 1969 and quickly mentioned the late Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia.

Santana explained that once he arrived at the site around 12:30 in the afternoon he encountered Garcia. Jerry asked Carlos what time he was going to take the stage and Santana revealed his band would perform four bands after the Grateful Dead to which Garcia responded, “Well, man, make yourself comfortable because we’re not going on until like 12:30 at night.” Garcia then offered Carlos what he referred to as “some of this” in the Town Hall discussion but noted was a hit of mescaline in his 2014 autobiography The Universal Tone.

Carlos accepted as he figured he would have plenty of time for the drug to wear off before Santana took the stage. However, he was still reeling from the effects when the band played their set at Woodstock. The guitarist then recalled his experience getting dosed when Santana shared the bill with the Grateful Dead in 1968. He explained that he was prepared from the 1968 dosing for his trip at Woodstock. “It’s a little challenging (to play under the effects of psychedelics) however I learned my first mantra, which was ‘god please help me. Just keep me in time and in tune … and I promise I’ll never do this again.”

Watch Carlos Santana discuss his Woodstock experience below: