Moving on to the third installment of our recent Santana coverage, we look at 1982’s ‘Shango’ album.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Santana
ALBUM: Shango
LABEL: CBS
SERIAL: FC 38122
YEAR: 1982
CD REISSUE: Reissue list
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Alex Ligertwood – vocals, rhythm guitar * Carlos Santana – guitar, vocals * Richard Baker – keyboards * Gregg Rolie – organ (5), vocals * David Margen – bass * Graham Lear – drums * Armando Peraza – congas, bongos, vocals * Raul Rekow – congas, vocals * Orestes Vilato – timbales, vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 The Nile * 02 Hold On * 03 Night Hunting Time * 04 Nowhere To Run * 05 Nueva York * 06 Oxun (Oshn) * 07 Body Surfing * 08 What Does It Take (To Win Your Love) * 09 Let Me Inside * 10 Warrior * 11 Shango
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
Moving on to the third installment of our recent Santana coverage, we look at 1982’s ‘Shango’ album. I was compelled to buy this album on vinyl at the time, and like some of the other Santana releases, it sat in the back part of my record collection for many years. Remembering of course that 1982 was a pretty vivid year for our favourite genre of rock, so there were lots of good albums competing against this one.
The Songs
From the outset, it seems that Santana were looking at African themes for this album. The cover art for one, plus the lead off song ‘The Nile’ being another obvious reference point.
The band had a huge hit with the song ‘Hold On’, it’s one of my favourites of their back catalogue going back years. I enjoyed the song ‘Night Hunting Time’, as it reminded me of the Little River Band during their late 70’s phase. So too the song ‘Nowhere To Run’ which sounds like a doppelganger of the Little River Band hit ‘Night Owls’.
‘Body Surfing’ takes a jangly direction, in the same manner that made the band Novo Combo a popular draw. ‘What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)’, was one of four singles from the album. I do remember playing this one often.
‘Let Me Inside’ has a reggae style to it, this one features ex Journey keyboardist Gregg Rolie on lead vocals. As per Santana’s previous albums, this one includes a couple of instrumentals. In this case, ‘Nueva York’, ‘Warriors’ and the African flavoured title track ‘Shango’.
In Summary
There were a couple of minor adjustments to the personnel and production staff for this album. Keith Olsen, who produced the last two records was replaced by Bill Szymcyzk, the guy who turned the Eagles into 70’s superstars.
Gregg Rolie took over the keyboard seat from Alan Pasqua. As mentioned, four singles came from the LP, ‘Hold On’ being the best of the bunch, making it to number 15 on the Billboard charts, while the album itself made it to number 22. Santana took time out in 1983 and 1984, returning in 1985 with the hi-tech and very different sounding ‘Beyond Appearances’.
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