SANTANA – I am guilty of associating many songs, albums and even bands/musicians to a certain season of the year. In the past, I wrote that RUSH is my Winter band… a band I turn to when I’m driving in snowstorms. Maybe the whole music imbedding “thing” comes into play here. When I used to live in Northwestern Connecticut, the snowstorms were very generous and very consistent, couple that with RUSH being a super HUGE band in that area of the world and maybe the exposure factor really left it’s mark with me.
Come Wintertime, it just felt as if FM stations played RUSH every 5 minutes while I was growing up, in very expensive Connecticut. Therefore, I gather that all the parameters were lining up for my RUSH/Winter imbedding many years ago.
I led with my RUSH and Wintertime “vibe” (as I’ll now call it), to introduce what is my Summertime “vibe” band… or musician… take your pick for it’s Santana. Yes, we all know that Santana is an exemplary musician and yes, Santana has always had a fabulous band behind him, (the original Santana band lineup is in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame). Therefore, referring to Santana as either a band or musician can go both ways. Now, if you want to get picky, I can say… Carlos Santana, the exemplary and legendary guitarist. I’ll just stick to “Santana” and hopefully we can all agree.
Since I was a young lad, Santana always had an open sound to his guitar tone… a feeling of sunny days and hot weather just seems to drift over me when I hear him play. Driving to the beach comes to mind each time I listen to Black Magic Woman. This song has me seeing visions of ocean waves slapping against the hot sand of the beach, while I feel my feet burrowing into the deeper depths of the cool sand. Black Magic Woman has always been a Summer chill-out song for me… so listening to it while driving in a snowstorm would ruin it’s ambiance, in my own mind.
Santana can tell a story with his guitar, having a lead vocalist on his songs proves to be a bonus for my ears. If there ever was a song that Santana speaks that mystical guitar language through his playing, it is Black Magic Woman. Captivating is the word.
Back in the Summer of 1999, my wife was expecting with our twin daughters… and so was I expecting too. We were on the threshold of a forever life changing event, the birth of our daughters with a target date of late September. That Summer of ’99 was extremely hot and humid… abnormally humid as the “weather experts” were saying back then. (You know those “weather experts”… they get it right every time). One album that kept my wife and I from going bananas during that period in our lives was… Santana – Supernatural.
As Metal as my witness, this Santana album chilled us out, as well as it lifted our spirits and made us feel very comfortable… on our journey to becoming first time parents. This Supernatural album just cast a magical spell on us… we would listen each day and night to those Summer Grooves and melodies of Santana’s guitar and be glad we did. Our favorite song from Supernatural was of course, Smooth, with Rob Thomas on lead vocals. That song is a quintessential Summertime Santana song if there ever was one. The music video for Smooth was a hit back in ’99 too… it radiates Summertime cool in the city streets.
It has gotten to the point, that when I see a photo of Carlos Santana, I think of Summer. Carlos “Summertime” Santana. Gee Metal whiz… it’s just me I guess. The same can be said for Jimmy Buffet, only equating Summertime and the ocean to Jimmy is way too obvious. Jimmy Buffet is all about songs that stir up images of the Tropics and fun in the Summer sun. However… I can never eat a cheeseburger without thinking of Jimmy Buffet… (I don’t drink Margaritas by the way).
I never want to resist or ignore the positive memories and images that music provides me. Just as I equate a song, album, musician or band to a season, I can equally equate them to specific moments in my life. Santana just happens to be an example of just how good music makes me feel.
* Santana (entire original band), was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1998.
* For more info on the ever legendary guitarist, songwriter, musician and Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer – Carlos Santana, just click on this link: SANTANA – Official Web Site
* For more info on my favorite Wintertime band, RUSH, click here: RUSH Aw, heck, RUSH is a favorite of mine all year long.
LONG LIVE SANTANA!
… AND RUSH & JIMMY BUFFET TOO!
Stone.
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