Abraxas Santana

Next up is the album Abraxas by Santana, which, outside of the song "Tequila" which I heard countless times while watching The Sandlot, was my first real introduction to Latin and Afro-Cuban music.  Abraxas is another album that has an awesome flow from the opening track, "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts," through to the last track, "El Nicoya."  The album is all over the musical spectrum, pulling in rock, blues, jazz, salsa, and African influences to create an incredible collage of sound.  Half the songs on the album are instrumentals and they showcase the band's stylistic versatility and its ability to incorporate Latin and Afro-Cuban themes over traditional rock and blues music.  The two biggest hits off the album are "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" and "Oye Como Va."  "Black Magic Woman" was originally written by Peter Green, formerly of Fleetwood Mac (the 1960s incarnation of the band), and the Santana cover reached #4 on the U.S. Singles chart in 1970.  "Oye Como Va" is another cover song, sung entirely in Spanish.  Both these songs and the album as a whole were well-received by critics when it was first released and it continues to be regarded as one of the best albums of its time.  In my opinion, Abraxas is an excellent and timeless album.  I'm having trouble singling out just a few songs to list from the album, but I'll try and leave a good mix.

Standout songs:

"Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaKnRUfh_5I

"Oye Como Va"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3XSXvas7wY&feature=fvw

"Incident at Neshabur" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUIdealFFds