Easy To Be Hard

Sole Sacrifice

Carlos Santana practically invented "Latin Rock" in the 1960's. He had started out as a blues and jazz influenced musician, but in San Francisco he met Latino and African drummers who beat different rhythms. Hanging around the developing hippie scene in San Francisco, he and his band noticed that girls would spontaneously dance in new and interesting ways to the exotic sounding rhythms--usually with much more hip gyration. He and the band liked this from a stage's eye view, and so the fusion stuck.

The band Santana made its national stage debut at Woodstock in 1969. Three successful albums later, the band had begun to fray, with Carlos wanting to move more towards jazz. Caravanserai (1972) was the last Santana album that I liked. Half the band left him afterwards and later formed the core of the band Journey.

A favorite track from Caravanserai, called Waves Within:

First New Day In The House Of The Rising Sun

The days are getting longer now--can you feel it or is it too soon? Temperature is a lagging indicator so it may be a while before the frigid days pass us by.

The Internet In 1969

50 Years Of MyTunes: 1969 Long Time No Play LP!

By 1969, pop music singles were uncool. Albums were hip.  To recognize this I decided to nominate best album for the next couple decades or so through the 1980s. MTV had the effect of reinventing the single and so did internet music exchange (Napster) and the iPod/iTunes revolution reinforced it.  The trend was countered beginning in the 80s by the introduction of the CD format. When this series gets up to the 90's (I only have 4 more months to finish the whole thing)  I'll probably switch back to singles format.

The nominees for best album of 1969 in no particular order are:

The Allman Brothers Band ~ The Allman Brothers*
I & II ~ Led Zeppelin*

Abbey Road ~ The Beatles

Bayou Country ~ Creedence Clearwater Revival
Green River ~ Creedence Clearwater Revival

Let it Bleed ~ The Rolling Stones  <-- my pick!

Chicago Transit Authority ~ Chicago*

Tommy ~ The Who

Santana ~ Santana*
Stand! ~ Sly & The Family Stone
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere ~ Neil Young & Crazyhorse
In The Court Of The Crimson King ~ King Crimson*
The Stooges ~ The Stooges*
__________
*Debutantes

Also released as singles that year:

Honky Tonk Women ~ The Rolling Stones

My Way ~ Frank Sinatra

Suspicious Minds ~ Elvis Presley

Venus ~ Shocking Blue

Someday We'll Be Together ~ Diana Ross & the Supremes

Lay Lady Lay ~ Bob Dylan

Aquarius / Let The Sun Shine In ~ The 5th Dimension

Sugar, Sugar ~ The Archies

Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town ~ Kenny Rogers & the First Edition

Leaving On A Jet Plane ~ Peter, Paul & Mary
Both Sides Now ~ Joni Mitchell
House of the Rising Sun ~ Frijid Pink

One Nation Rally (1969 Edition)

Woodstock Nation

Click to enlarge

The iconic photo used on the album cover (top) seems to have cropped out a lot of the trash and litter. Hippies weren't exactly proto-Tea Partiers.  

I'm in a fowl mood tonight.