FREE ESSAY ON CARLOS SANTANA

CARLOS SANTANA

Carlos Santana
Ryan Conroy
All the world knows the special magic of Carlos Santana. Since 1966, he has led the group
that bears his name, selling over 30 million albums and performing before an estimated 13
million people. In every performance, Carlos shares with his audience a personal
communication that crosses all boundaries and differences.
Carlos was introduced to traditional music by his father, Jose. An accomplished mariachi
violinist and experienced musician, he taught Carlos the basics of music theory and gave
him an understanding of the value of a note. Although Carlos' excitement for music would
be sparked by his first experience, he quickly discovered the limits of its traditional
form and wanted more. Carlos wanted to play the kind of music that was filling the radio
waves and making people dance. 
Tijuana, 1955 the drastic change of moving from the small, quiet town of Autlan to the
humming, thriving boom town of Tijuana brought a renewed hope and opportunity for a new
life. Both for Carlos and his family. The eight-year old Carlos quickly left the violin
for the guitar, studying and emulating the sounds of B.B. King, T-Bone Walker and John
Lee Hooker. Soon he was being asked to join local bands like the T.J.'s, where he added a
unique touch and feel to his own renditions of all the great songs of the 1950's. As he
continued to play with different bands along the busy Tijuana Strip, he not 
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only started to perfect his style and sound, but actually started bringing home enough
money to really help his family. His future looked promising. 
In 1960, Carlos' family moved to San Francisco while Carlos stayed in Tijuana for another
year to make extra money until his family was settled. However, he soon found himself
amid the multicultural atmosphere of San Francisco, with all of its diverse musical
styles. It was here that Carlos would find what he had been searching for, as if destiny
had brought him to the right place at the right time. For the next five years, Carlos
continued to evolve his own unique style of music that would later identify him as one of
the most distinctive, innovative musicians of our time. 
In 1966, the music of Carlos Santana exploded on the streets of San Francisco with the
debut performance of the Santana Blues Band. For the next two years, the Santana Blues
Band was overwelmed by a wave of popularity that would take them from San Francisco's
Fillmore West, to that historical performance in 1969 before 500,000 at the Woodstock
Festival in New York. Carlos Santana had arrived, and with him, a new spirit and
dedication to his music. Always changing, always searching, always growing--yet always
consistently and clearly Carlos. Every new album--including 14 gold and 9 platinum
albums--becoming a reflection of Carlos' own personal growth and evolution.
1997 brought Carlos back go his musical recording roots when he signed a recording
contract with ARISTA, whose CEO Clive Davis signed the first Santana Band lineup to
Columbia in 1968. This exciting and creative venture will culminate in the release of 
music of a phenomenal quality and promises that fans and listeners will be able to
experience and enjoy the melodic guitar playing of Carlos Santana for years to come.