Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Santana III
Santana III was the last album recorded with the original Woodstock-line up and the last to hit #1 in the Billboard charts until 1999’s Supernatural. Coke Escovedo joins in for the first time on percussion, as does Neal Schon – who was a mere 17 of age when they recorded the album – on guitar.
Santana III is viewed by many as one of the band’s commercial and creative highpoints. The band sounds darker, more raw, and more eager with the doubling up on guitar of Schon’s Rock’n’Roll sensibilities and Santana’s ecstatic high notes and soulful fills. Escovedo’s and Chepito’s percussion is as fast as it is furious, and the minimal production adds greatly to the timeless appeal of this album.
For this double LP 180 gram audiophile edition Music On Vinyl have added four bonus tracks that were originally recorded in the same time period as Santanta III but have never appeared on vinyl before. They add an extra drive to an already compelling album, that extra spark to the powder keg that is the explosive Santana!