Santana returning to Woodstock festival site
John W. Barry
July 15, 2010
Carlos Santana was talking about love.
"What happens when you're in love," the famous guitarist said, during
a telephone interview with the Journal this week, "the first thing
that happens is, gravity disappears and time disappears. The illusion
of gravity and time steps aside and all you see are bright eyes and
this incredible smile; like a surfer you catch the perfect wave each time."
Santana is in love. He proposed on stage Friday in Illinois, to his
girlfriend, drummer Cindy Blackman.
She said yes, and they sealed it with a kiss, which was met with
cheers from the crowd.
On Saturday, Santana Carlos Santana's band is scheduled to
perform on a piece of property associated with love and peace, and
music for nearly 41 years. That would be Bethel Woods Center for
the Arts in Bethel, Sullivan County, which sits on the site of the
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, held in Aug. 1969.
Vocalist, keyboard player and guitarist Steve Winwood, of Traffic
fame, will open this show.
Santana came to fame in the 1960s, but he has continued to grow in
40-plus years of performing and recording. Signature songs such as
"Jingo," "Evil Ways" and "Black Magic Woman" put him and his band on the map.
He has experienced a resurgence in recent years with crossover hits
such as "Smooth," with Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty.
"This is a very special day for us at Bethel Woods," said Darlene
Fedun, chief operating officer at the venue. "We have wanted to have
Santana come back to play on our stage since opening in 2006. We are
thrilled that he's made it back, and look forward to a fantastic show."
Santana said his first return trip to Bethel since playing Woodstock
his performance was legendary "means a lot."
"That was the first, humongous door I walked through," Santana said.
"It seemed I was right out of high school, then on stage with Jimi
(Hendrix) and Janis Joplin and The Who. I mean, it was a revelation.
What I remember from Woodstock was what happened before I took
mescaline, taking the helicopter and watching it was kind of like a
surreal, science-fiction movie. All the freeways were parking lots."
Beyond the logistics, he continued, "there were so many souls with
long hair that believed that peace is possible, the same thing John
Lennon believes, and a lot of people made it possible for Vietnam to
stop. They protested and protested and they got beat up."
Along with the peace and the love long associated with Woodstock, is the music.
"Playing music, to me, is … like being at a sunrise or sunset and
knowing that there will never be one like that again," Santana said.
"They are all different forever fresh."
--
Reach John W. Barry at jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com or 845-438-4822.
--------
Santana Plays Woodstock for First Time Since '69
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/17386/182566
Guitarist covers the Doors, Hendrix and Cream in show with Steve Winwood
By Patrick Doyle
Jul 19, 2010
Halfway through his show Saturday night in Bethel, New York, Carlos
Santana paused to reminisce in front of 15,000 fans. "Jimi Hendrix,
Janis Joplin, Sly Stone," he said. "All of us who were here remember
the magic. Only love can conquer hate. This is Woodstock. This is the
place where miracles can happen."
This weekend's show marked the first time the guitarist had returned
to the festival's grounds since his band was its breakout act 41
years ago. The Bay Area group hadn't even released an album when they
played the festival manager Bill Graham had talked organizer
Michael Lang into including them for an hour-long slot on Saturday
night of the festival. The day of the show, the 22-year-old guitarist
took a massive dose of mescaline early in the day, and was then asked
to play earlier than expected. "I just prayed that the Lord would
keep me in tune and in time," he later said.
The band's legendary 1969 set culminated with a searing "Soul
Sacrifice," featuring a three-and-a-half minute drum solo from
19-year-old Michael Shrieve. The gig introduced thousands to the
band's Afro-Cuban rhythms and biting Latin blues. They were soon
featured in the Woodstock film and soundtrack. Their self-titled
debut album was released on Columbia, and in September 1969 debuted
at Number Four in the U.S. Graham said later, "Woodstock made Santana."
Now, Woodstock is home to the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, which
includes an interactive Woodstock museum. Before his set, Santana
surprised fans by touring the entire complex. He visited monument
where the festival stage once stood, and a crowd mobbed him in the
gift shop before he made his way into the museum, which has a replica
of the hippie bus and 16 different films about the festival. Santana
was impressed by a large mural of himself onstage in a brown vest.
For a few minutes, he also watched his band's legendary performance
in a massive screening room.
Opener Steve Winwood played a stripped-down set that featured mostly
hits from his 45-year career. He never made it to Woodstock, he told
the crowd, because Traffic had briefly broken up. He played epic
guitar on soulful blues rocker "Dirty City," and busted out the
Spencer Davis Group classic "Gimme Some Lovin," which he recorded
with the when he was still a teenager. He rounded out his set
psychedelic blues classics such as "Dear Mr. Fantasy" and "Can't Find
My Way Home."
Santana took the stage in a Woodstock T-shirt and his trademark hat
alongside a massive 11-piece band featuring three percussionists. As
footage of his Woodstock performance ran behind him, he tore through
early highlight "Soul Sacrifice," hunched over his guitar and wincing
while masterfully plucking screeching, often dissonant notes. While
Santana played Spanish licks on "Maria Maria," the group's two
vocalists, Andy Vargas and Tony Lindsay, hyped up the crowd while
singing in unison.
Early classic "Jingo" built wah-wah guitar and amped-up horns over
eight minutes while Santana glided into slick guitar ecstasy. The sly
groove of "Oye Como Va" was followed by an epic "Black Magic
Woman/Gypsy Queen." Santana also played his new cover of Van Halen's
"Dance the Night Away," which appears on his new disc Guitar Heaven,
out September 21st.
Santana revived the Sixties spirit with a take on the Doors' "Riders
on the Storm," adding bluesy flourishes and a dash of Jimi Hendrix's
"Voodoo Chile" as Lindsay sang alone, perfectly replicating Jim
Morrison's haunting vocals. The band also played a hard-rocking take
on Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" backed by trippy visuals.
Wrapped up in the Woodstock mindset, Santana soaked in the
significance of the night's venue. He told the crowd they are made of
"light and love, light and love" and took a moment to remember the
event that had brought him to the same spot 41 years earlier: "This
is ground zero of peace and love."
.
0 comments:
Post a Comment