Carlos Santana Essay Example

Biographical Information

Carlos Santana was born on July 20th, 1947 in a remote place in Mexico known as Autlan de Navarro. As a singer, guitarist, and a songwriter, Santana, in the early 1960s, relocated to San Francisco to practice his tremendous talent where he also joined The Santana Blues Band in the year 1966. His father who was known as Jose was a violinist by profession, and for that reason, Santana learned how to play violin from his father. He argues that he copied his dad's tunes to learn how to play violin even though he did not like his tones (Ruhlmann 1). To conquer this challenge, at the age of eight he would pick up the electric guitar and instead try to familiarize himself by playing it. It is through this process that he eventually developed a strong passion for playing the guitar instead of the violin he learned from his father. His mother is known as Josefina Barragan, and she has six children including Carlos.

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After learning the art of playing the guitar, Carlos started playing in gigs during the early 50s where he showcased his talent in a variety of country clubs and bars near the Tijuana Strip. Later his family moved to San Francisco, California about a year before he joined them in 1961. He then got promoted to go and attend the renowned Fillmore West within San Francisco as he played for them as well. His promoter was known as Bill Graham. In 1969, Carlos produced his very first album known as "Santana." Within the same year, he got another promotion to perform at Woodstock Music and Art Festival where so many people got a chance to know much about him (Ruhlmann 2). His surprise fame continued to grow as he gained more popularity within San Francisco. Carlos utilized his gained popularity and decided to produce his second album known as "Abraxas" in 1970. The album gained quite a considerable reception because it was rated the most sold album with a production of over four million copies all around the globe.

Major Music Contributions

Some of the significant contributions of Carlos Santana to music entail his biggest hit "Oye Como Va" and the "Black Magic Woman" albums (Wallenfeldt 2). These two created a massive impact in the music industry as they gave rise to a contract involving the Columbia records managed by Clive Davis. Additionally, these albums led to early success of Carlos as they enabled him to start performing in big shows such as the Woodstock as well as in the club scenes. It did not only boosted San Francisco's economy at that time but also gave the music industry a more defined description which was respected specially. The great achievement also led to many clubs opening up and using musicians to market themselves and hence led to a rise in their sales volumes which in the end benefited the artists as well as the profits for the clubs.

Secondly, Carlos made significant contributions to the music industry through reflecting a rise in the economic level of America as compared to other countries. It was majorly through the event where Carlos realized the sale of over four million copies of his top ten singles produced in the "Santana" album. It also improved the marketing position of San Francisco as many advertising agents printed the information concerning the "Evil Ways" album in their billboard charts which lasted up to two years (Wallenfeldt 3). This contribution was hence vast as many people learned more about Carlos' music and even got interested in purchasing it, therefore, promoting the music industry at large. During this period also, many people started appreciating the art of music through the achievements of Carlos that were quite visible from different regions of the world.

Carlos also contributed to the music industry by gaining a chance to perform with some of the highly successful musicians at that time that included guitarist John McLaughlin, pianist Herbie Hancock and drummer Buddy Miles. These were successful musicians who were talented in different ways, and therefore it was thoughtful of them to share their skills and knowledge about music with Carlos who also received a chance to improve his music (Wallenfeldt 4). This contribution was a significant one as more artists gained the motive to interact with other upcoming artists and mentor them to become better and grow the industry at large.

Analysis of Santana's Legacy

Carlos Santana's legacy in music created such a significant influence throughout the world. Many people believed in his talent, and hence many were inspired even to start their passion for music and excel just like him. Amongst the significant music influencers of Carlos included the members of the Blues Band such as B.B King, Gabor Szabo, John Lee Hooker and Javier Batiz (Santana 5). For instance, the "Gypsy Queen" album greatly inspired so many people around the world and this kind of influence drove Carlos to produce the "Black Magic Woman" album which received so much gratitude from so many people. It enabled him to maintain his legacy in music as he continued to appreciate his mentors while he encouraged other upcoming artists within the industry.

His friends in the Blues Band influenced his music, and this grew so much fame for him as he was able to attract their fans to his music because he merely sang in the flow of their styles and techniques and as a result, many people were impressed. For example, in his "Shape Shifter" album, he sang using the instrumental method of Gabor Szabo and this surprised many as they realized his potential in the art of music (Santana 3). He performed so well in that album that his direct mentor, Bloomfield, congratulated him and appreciated the musical legacy that he had created during the history in 2000.

His music was also a significant influence on other artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Sly, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Davis Miles and John Coltrane. All these are great artists around the world who appreciated Santana's music and embraced it. It, therefore, shows that his musical legacy had encouraged so many artists from all around the globe and hence it is confirmed that he was successful both as an individual as well as an artist.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Carlos Santana was such a successful artist who made many considerable contributions to the music industry. Amongst these was the production of his many albums such as "Black Magic," "Shape Shifter," "Gypsy Queen," "Evil Ways," and the "Abraxas" amongst so many others. All these albums enabled him to gain more popularity from the world and this geared his success within the industry. As he was growing, he also had the chance to perform at one of the most popular concerts in San Francisco during the 1960s known as the Woodstock. His performance opened doors for other incredible opportunities such as working with other well-established artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Sly, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Davis Miles and John Coltrane.

Through his interactions, he learned other techniques of playing the guitar and a piano in other different styles. Therefore, his music career was successful as he was able to reach out to so many people from around the globe who appreciated his music and gained inspiration to follow their musical passion as well.

Works Cited

Ruhlmann, William. "Carlos Santana." All Music. 2018.

Santana, Carlos. "Carlos Santana." The Famous People. 2018.

Wallenfeldt, Jeff. "Carlos Santana: American Musician." Britannica. 2018.