Sunday Cinema | Happy Birthday Carlos Santana

We’d like to wish the happiest of birthdays to legendary rock guitarist Carlos Santana, who turns 67 today. Carlos is one of those guitarists with a signature tone which is immediately recognizable to most seasoned music fans. The Mexican-born guitarist mastered the fusion of latin music and rock. His original Santana band and most of the Carlos-led ensembles that followed are known for their high-impact, balls-to-the-wall live sets.

[Photo by Adam McCullough]

To celebrate Carlos’s birthday and to show off three of the different ensembles he’s performed with over the years, we’ve compiled three amazing, professionally-shot Santana shows from the Music Vault YouTube channel.

Santana @ Watsonville High School Football Field (Watsonville, CA) -11/26/89

Santana were one of more than 45 acts who came together for a series of earthquake relief concerts in 1989 to raise funds for those that were affected by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake that rocked Northern California on October 17, 1989. Impresario Bill Graham produced the Earthquake Relief ’89 benefits, which raised more than $2 million. Stunning pro-shot footage of Santana’s entire set from November 26, 1989 at the Watsonville High School Football Field recently surfaced on YouTube.

Setlist:

0:00:00 -Introduction
0:00:58 -Tuning
0:02:02 -Let There Be Light/Spirits Dancing In The Flesh
0:07:26 -For Those Who Chant
0:11:44 -It’s A Jungle Out There / Soweto (Africa Libre)
0:21:01 -Full Moon
0:25:37 -Black Magic Woman
0:34:20 -Oye Como Va
0:39:04 -She’s Not There
0:44:17 -Jingo
0:49:13 -Goodness and Mercy
0:53:21 -Choose
0:57:27 -Toussaint Louverture
1:04:49 -Introduction
1:06:05 -Tuning
1:06:29 -Stage Banter
1:07:50 -Mandela
1:15:17 -Europa
1:22:09 -Introduction
1:22:45 -The Healer
1:29:52 -We Don’t Have To Wait
1:44:20 -guitar solo / 12 bar blues jam
1:54:49 -Unknown
1:58:33 -Outro

Santana @ The Olympia Theatre (Paris, France) -12/07/76

Bill Graham brought Santana to The Olympia Theatre in Paris, France for a December 7, 1976 performance at the historic venue. Santana’s extremely talented band at the time included vocalist Luther Rabb, bassist Pablo Telez, keyboardist Tom Coster, percussionists Armando Peraza and Jose Chepito Areas and drummer Graham Lear. Graham hired a camera crew to record the group’s spirited set.

Setlist:

0:00:00 -Bill Graham Intro
0:00:10 -Let The Children Play
0:08:28 -Oye Como Va (incomplete)
0:12:52 -Maria Caracoles
0:17:28 -Europa
0:23:43 -Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen
0:30:33 -Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana)
0:38:24 -Samba Pa Ti
0:50:27 -Savor / Percussion Solos / Toussaint L’Overture

Santana @ Tanglewood (Lenox, MA) -08/18/70

For our money there’s nothing like Santana’s original band that played one of the most memorable sets in the history of rock at Woodstock. The next summer the band visited Tanglewood in Lenox, MA as part of a series of concerts put together by…you guessed it -Bill Graham. Here’s 75 powerful minutes of latin-tinged rock from August 18, 1970.

Setlist:

0:00:00 -Batuka / Se A Cabo
0:07:38 -Black Magic Woman
0:13:19 -Oye Como Va
0:17:51 -Incident At Neshabur
0:23:25 -Toussaint L’Overture
0:28:25 -Evil Ways
0:32:53 -Hope You’re Feeling Better
0:37:31 -Treat
0:44:04 -Savor / Jingo
0:53:42 -Soul Sacrifice
1:06:53 -Gumbo 1:11:34 -Persuasion