In August of 1988 Santana released an album celebrating his first 20 years as a recording artist containing greatest hits, live material, and other oddities. Before hitting the road with the original Santana band in support of this release, he sat down with Scott Muni to co-host a World of Rock radio show. Their casual chat covers the entirety of Santana’s illustrious career including his earliest musical influences, his recollections of Woodstock, and his plans to become a musical ambassador of good will.
As part of his duties as DJ, Santana also introduces some of the tracks from Viva Santana, mentioning that Bill Graham was responsible for some of his biggest hits. Check the time stamps below if you’d like to hear a particular song introduction, or celebrate the past 20 years of Santana by immersing yourself in his positive attitutde for a whole half hour.
00:00 – Intro by Scott Muni 00:18 – New album (Viva Santana, 20 years celebration) 00:58 – Doesn’t seem like it’s been 20 years 01:55 – Line-up for new tour – same as the original band 02:28 – How the original band ended up getting back together / still having the chemistry 03:58 – Happy to have the group back together / Jacques Cousteau 05:14 – First interest in music / moving to Tijuana / first instrument / rock influences 06:59 – “Johnny B. Goode” 08:19 – “Brotherhood” / Miles Davis 10:04 – A good will ambassador tour with Miles Davis 11:52 – Covering an old big band song 13:27 – Viva Santana – capturing the music when it’s more than music 14:25 – “Aqua Marine” 15:00 – “Everybody’s Everything” / “Karate” by The Emperors 16:11 – Tour supporting the new album 16:37 – Performing in Mexico 18:25 – American tour / a typical show to expect 19:30 – “She’s Not There” / Bill Graham 20:56 – Working with other musicians / doing different styles / learning from water
Woodstock 22:31 – What it meant / means to Santana 23:19 – Disaster area / accidentally playing while on psychedelic drugs 24:17 – The sound of Woodstock 24:51 – Changing America forever 25:20 – Lack of violence 26:35 – Finally getting tickets 27:02 – The merging of the music / bringing it all back home
28:38 – “Oye Come Va” / Tito Puente 31:18 – “Evil Ways” / Willie Bobo, Bill Graham 32:08 – Outro