Abraxas (album)

Abraxas
Album cover from a painting by Mati Klarwein
Studio album by Santana
Released September 23, 1970 (1970-09-23)
Recorded April 17–May 2, 1970
Studio Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco, California
Genre
Length 37:10
Label CBS
Producer Fred Catero, Carlos Santana
Santana chronology
Santana
(1969)		 Abraxas
(1970)		 Santana III
(1971)
Singles from Abraxas
  1. "Black Magic Woman"
    Released: 1970
  2. "Oye Como Va"
    Released: 1971
  3. "Hope You're Feeling Better"
    Released: 1971

Abraxas is the second studio album by Latin rock band Santana. It was released on September 23, 1970.

Title

The title of the album originates from a line in Hermann Hesse's book, Demian, quoted on the album's back cover: "We stood before it and began to freeze inside from the exertion. We questioned the painting, berated it, made love to it, prayed to it: We called it mother, called it whore and slut, called it our beloved, called it Abraxas...."

Cover art

The album cover features the 1961 painting Annunciation by German-French painter Mati Klarwein.[1] According to the artist, it was one of the first paintings he did after relocating to New York City. Carlos Santana reportedly noticed it in a magazine and asked that it be on the cover of the band's upcoming album.[2] The cover is now considered a classic of rock album covers.[1][3][4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Christgau's Record GuideC+[6]
Rolling Stone(favorable)[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]

In 2003, the album was ranked number 207 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[9] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[10]

Rock critic Robert Christgau, in one of his capsule reviews in The Village Voice, at the time of the album's release, gave it a rating of only C+, which denotes "a not disreputable performance, most likely a failed experiment or a pleasant piece of hackwork."[6]

Covers

The instrumental, "Samba Pa Ti" ("Samba for You"), was covered by José Feliciano, who added lyrics, and also by Angélique Kidjo, who put lyrics in Yoruba on her album Oyo. It is also one of the tracks featured in Nick Hornby's book, 31 Songs.

Legacy

Abraxas was deemed "culturally, historically, or artistically significant" by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in their National Recording Registry in 2016.[11]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Singing Winds, Crying Beasts" (Instrumental)Mike Carabello4:51
2."Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen"Peter Green/Gábor Szabó5:24
3."Oye Como Va"Tito Puente4:17
4."Incident at Neshabur" (Instrumental)Alberto Gianquinto, Carlos Santana4:58
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Se a Cabo"José Areas2:50
2."Mother's Daughter"Gregg Rolie4:25
3."Samba Pa Ti" (Instrumental)Santana4:45
4."Hope You're Feeling Better"Rolie4:10
5."El Nicoya"Areas1:30

Later re-issues

1998 remastered edition
No.TitleLength
10."Se a Cabo" (Live at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England, April 18, 1970)[12] (1998 edition)3:47
11."Toussaint L'Overture" (Live at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England, April 18, 1970) (1998 edition)4:52
12."Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" (Live at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England, April 18, 1970) (1998 edition)4:57

Personnel

[13]

Santana

Additional personnel

Release history

  • In 1990, CBS/Sony published a remastered edition on Audio CD (Universal Product Code: 7464301302 ).
  • In 1991, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab released a remastered version on their Ultradisc (24K) Gold CD (UDCD 552).
  • In 1997, ARS (Audiophile record service Joerg Kessler) of Germany, released a 180 gram 100% virgin vinyl pressing mastered from the original analog tape. It is (Pallas) Germany pressed. Catalog # Ars 32032.
  • In 1998, Sony published a remastered version, which included three previously unreleased live tracks: "Se A Cabo", "Toussaint L'Overture" and "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen," recorded at the Royal Albert Hall on April 18, 1970.
  • In 1998, SME records in Japan, part of Sony Music, also released the remastered version as an SACD. This disc is stereo only, and furthermore, it is a single layer SACD, which means that ordinary CD players will not play it. This disc contains the same bonus tracks as the ordinary 1998 remastered CD.
  • In 2008, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab released a remastered version on their Ultradisc II (24K) Gold CD (UDCD 775) & GAIN 2™ Ultra Analog LP 180g Series (MFSL305).
  • In 2016 Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab released a new, limited edition, 45 rpm 2 lp box set of Abraxas called the 1 step (UD1S). The set was limited to 2500 copies worldwide and involved a process where several of the traditional steps in making a vinyl record were bypassed in order to get a more original sound. It is mastered from the original analog tape.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year Album details Peak chart positions
US AUS CAN FRA NLD NOR UK
1970 1 1 2 7 7 3 7

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions
US AUS CAN NLD GER
1970 "Black Magic Woman" 4 15 4 — 14
1971 "Oye Como Va" 13 13 5 16 29
"Hope You're Feeling Better" — — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[15] 3× Platinum 300,000^
France (SNEP)[16] Platinum 300,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[17] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[18] 5× Platinum 5,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. 1 2 "Artists You Should Know: Mati Klarwein" by Tom Schnabel, KCRW, 27 May 2011
  2. ↑ Annunciation by Mati Klarwein - 1961 (Abraxas) from the artist's website
  3. ↑ Abraxas in the Album Cover Art Gallery
  4. ↑ "The 50 Greatest Album Covers of All Time", Billboard, 12 November 2015
  5. ↑ Henderson, Alex. Abraxas at AllMusic. Retrieved 2005-09-15.
  6. 1 2 Christgau, Robert. "Santana: Abraxas > Consumer Guide Album". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  7. ↑ Nash, Jim (December 24, 1970). "Santana Abraxas > Album Review". Rolling Stone (73). Archived from the original on 2007-01-16. Retrieved 2006-07-25.
  8. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). "Santana". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. London: Fireside. pp. 717–718. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Portions posted at "Santana > Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  9. ↑ Levy, Joe; Steven Van Zandt (2006) [2005]. "205 | Abraxas - Santana". Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (3rd ed.). London: Turnaround. ISBN 1-932958-61-4. OCLC 70672814. Archived from the original on 2007-11-06. Retrieved 9 March 2006.
  10. ↑ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (7 February 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
  11. ↑ "National Recording Registry Recognizes "Mack the Knife," Motown and Mahler", Library of Congress, 23 March 2016
  12. ↑ Discogs - Abraxas 1998 reMastered CD, Columbia / Legacy (CK 65490) US
  13. ↑ Abraxas (Media notes).
  14. ↑ Simino, Junico (19 May 2011). "Royal Blue Studios: Bed-Stuy's Hidden Treasure". Patch.com. Retrieved 16 July 2018. Honablue has mastered some the most popular albums of all time including: Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin II, Santana's Abraxas...
  15. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Santana – Abraxas". Music Canada.
  16. ↑ "French album certifications – Santana – Abraxas" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  17. ↑ "British album certifications – Santana – Abraxas". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Enter Abraxas in the search field and then press Enter.
  18. ↑ "American album certifications – Santana – Abraxas". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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