Santana - Caravanserai (1973)

Dan:

Following the success of their first three albums (Santana, Abraxas, and Santana - yes, the first and third albums had the same title), the band turned in a new direction. Instead of focusing on creating hit songs, they developed more thematic albums in which songs and longer suites would be programmed together. Caravanserai and its successors (Welcome and Borboletta) retained little of the Latin-rock that fans had come to expect and substituted longer instrumental tracks that appeared to draw upon jazz influences. 

On Caravanserai, the new direction manifested itself by running songs together into suites, although they are not designated as such. Everything flows together starting with "Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation," featuring jazz saxophonist Hadley Caliman. Even the vocal numbers are sequenced as parts of the whole: "Look Up" flows into the wonderful instrumental "Song of the Wind," which flows into the second vocal, "All the Love of the Universe." Neither of the songs became hits but they were not intended to be. 

Side 2 follows a similar development with "Stone Flower" as the only vocal. It's followed by the extraordinary sequence of "La Fuente del Ritmo" and "Every Step of the Way," which consume 13:32 minutes to close the album. These show Santana (both the band and the leader) doing what I like best. The driving rhythm is the key impetus for great solos on electric keyboards, organ and, of course, Carlos' sustained wails on guitar. Hearing the Latin percussion pushing the band in this way is an exhilarating experience. 

I might have had the pleasure of hearing Caravanserai live when Santana played at the university I was attending. Frank Zappa was the opening act. I did not go because I had a young child at home. I've chided Steve many times for being the reason why I couldn't go. As punishment, he was forced to listen to prog music every day. He and his mom later let me go to another campus concert by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. 

Steve:

I didn't know that Santana was also playing at that same concert with Zappa that Dan had to miss on my behalf. Ouch. If it's any consolation, I didn't turn to crime and drugs thanks to his attentive care, so overall I think it was worth the sacrifice.

Caravanserai is one of a handful of albums I remember quite clearly from my early life. At my young age, I tended to study the album covers almost as intently as the music, and the cover art for Caravanserai is the perfect image to accompany the opening "Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation" - that track and that image are both indelible parts of my impression of this album, then and now.

Partly because of my early exposure to this album, it has remained my favorite Santana release. I didn't even bother to listen to the more popular first three albums for many years; most days, Caravanserai is the only Santana I need.