NEWS: Santana, Hendrix, Dead Top Q4 Discs

Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles: Live!

by abel, Psychedelic Sight: http://psychedelicsight.com/record-roundup-q4-13/

Re-releases and originals from Santana, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Strawberry Alarm Clock, the Grateful Dead and the Velvet Underground light up the year’s final quarter.

Santana devotees can cheer the return of “Lotus,” a three-LP live set recorded in Japan in 1973.

The music is mostly instrumental, keyed by a legendary 16-minute “Incident at Neshabur.” “Lotus” long was a sought-after import, initially released as a triple-LP set out of Japan (1974).

Friday Music, which has been rereleasing Santana albums on audiophile vinyl, seeks to re-create “Lotus’” ambitious multilevel foldout cover, with psychedelic iconography inspired by Carlos Santana’s spiritual pursuits.

The original on-site recording was done by the Japanese audio wizards from Sony, with mastering for the new LPs done by Joe Reagoso. They’re pressed onto 180 gram vinyl. The set, due Nov. 19, goes for about $50 and is limited (read more about the Santana “Lotus” vinyl re-release).

Also from Friday are “Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles Live” (Nov. 5) recorded in a volcano in Hawaii in 1972, and a re-do of the old “Santana Greatest Hits,” which cherry-picked the first two albums (Oct. 29).

Columbia, the original Santana label, has a 180 gram version of the band’s seventh album, “Amigos,” on Oct. 29.

The Grateful Dead’s 2013 Dave’s Picks series wraps with “Volume 8: Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Ga., 11/30/80.” The show, which comes early in the Brent Mydland era, kicks off with nine-plus minutes of “Feel Like a Stranger,” from that year’s “Go the Heaven” album.

The fan favorite seems to be the set 2 openers: “Scarlet Begonias” fading into “Fire on the Mountain” for a total 23 minutes. Other peaks are “Loser,” an electric “Cassidy” and “Bird Song,” an unusual “Deal,” and “The Wheel”/”China Doll” combo with a unifying jam.

The three hours of “11/30/80″ are spread across three compact discs with the release limited to 13,000 numbered sets. Shipping date is set for Nov. 1.

Archivist David Lemieux calls “11/30/80″ “a really magical” concert that was “one of the best shows of 1980, and that’s saying a lot.”

He says it’s a maxtrix tape, with the soundboard recording synched with an ace audience tape - “just enough to bring the board tape to life” with audience reactions (the taper was Bob Wagner; you can read more about the Fox recordings in an excellent 2012 Dead piece in the New Yorker).

The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s two-set gig at the Miami Pop Festival of 1968 finally sees official release, in various audio formats from Sony Legacy. There is a 200 gram vinyl version that comes numbered and limited. Bernie Grundman did the analog mastering for the double LP version.

Longtime Hendrix engineer Eddie Kramer handled the on-site recording at Gulfstream Park for the May 18, 1968, shows. The Experience delivered its first recorded performances of “Hear My Train A Comin’” and “Tax Free,” along with the usual Experience favorites.

Clips from the Miami appearances will be featured in the new video documentary “Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin’” to be shown Nov. 5 on PBS’s “American Masters” day and date with a Blu-ray/DVD release and CD soundtrack. Read more about the two Hendrix projects, which wrap his 70th year celebration.

The Strawberry Alarm Clock is rewound by Sundazed for a trio of 180 gram vinyl releases on Oct. 22: “Wake Up … It’s Tomorrow” was the L.A. band’s second LP (1968), with self-penned songs including “Sit With the Guru” and “Pretty Song from Psych-Out.”

The third SAC album, “The World in a Shell” (1968), was the swan song for the classic SAC lineup, with “Wooden Woman” and “Barefoot in Baltimore” among the favorites.

Outside writers worked most of side 1; the band did its thing on side 2 (the Strawberry Alarm Clock re-formed years later and thrives to this day).

Sundazed also has the 1970 “Best of Strawberry Alarm Clock” kicked off by “Incense and Peppermints” and “Tomorrow.” The reissue specialists say the three SAC vinyl albums were mastered from Universal Records’ stereo reels.

The Velvet Underground’s “White Light/White Heat” comes screaming back in a 45th anniversary CD and vinyl edition Dec. 3. The proto-punk band’s second album was recorded in the summer of 1967 and released the following year.

It’s presented in stereo and mono versions. Lou Reed and John Cale were aboard for development of Universal Records’ $100 box set, which includes 30 tracks. Check Sonic Youth’s DNA for traces of the epic “Sister Ray,” an early descent into drone and noise-rock.

Along with the alternate takes and such, there’s a disc dedicated to the Velvets’ complete show at The Gymnasium in New York recorded in April 1967, “which includes five previously unreleased performances culled from John Cale’s personal copy.” Universal also plans a Blu-ray Audio version of “The Velvet Underground & Nico” (TBA).

Jethro Tull’s 1970 “Benefit” returns in a three-digital disc “Collector’s Edition” with new 5.1 (DVD Audio) and stereo mixes of the album. Disc 2 has “rare tracks and singles recorded around the same time as ‘Benefit.’”

The DVD (audio only) includes the album in its U.S. and U.K. versions as well as the bonus tracks, all in 5.1 lossless. No fewer than eight takes of “Teacher.” New mixes by Steven Wilson were “approved by Ian Anderson.” Oct. 29 via WEA.

King Crimson’s “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic” is due Oct. 22 on 200 gram vinyl, from Discipline Global Mobile. The fifth studio album by the U.K. prog outfit introduced former Yes man Bill Bruford on drums. King Crimson plans to tour again in 2014, leader Robert Fripp says.

There’s conflicting information, but King Crimson’s massive “Road to Red” box set - 16 concerts from 1974 across 21 CDs plus the remastered “Red” album - boasts a release date of Oct. 22.

Several Blu-ray and DVD audio discs in there somewhere. Panegyric also lists an Oct. 14/Oct. 22 re-release of the band’s 1975 “USA” album in a CD/DVD Audio combo pack.

Yes’ “Close to the Edge” gets separate Blu-ray and DVD Audio rereleases Oct. 29. Two discs, from Panegyric. Additional tracks and new stereo/surround mixes.

Emerson Lake & Palmer served up “Brain Salad Surgery” as the fourth studio LP in 1973. Trip out to the H. R. Giger cover whilst listening to the sidelong “Karn Evil 9.” Includes “Still … You Turn Me On.” On vinyl Nov. 11 from Razor & Tie.

Todd Rundgren stirred up a potent brew of prog, psychedelic rock and pop on the double-album “Todd” from 1974.

It was a worthy successor to “A Wizard a True Star,” strange and synth-heavy, but with several straight-ahead Rundgren favorites, including “A Dream Goes on Forever” and “The Last Ride.” Friday Music rekindles the sparks Oct. 29 on 180 gram vinyl.

Deep Purple’s post-psychedelic success is recounted on the “Audio Fidelity Collection” of 24k gold CDs, due Nov. 15. Head-banging a plenty on complete versions of “In Rock,” “Machine Head,” “Fireball” and “Who Do We Think We Are.”

Steppenwolf’s elusive debut album on hybrid SACD has yet another release date, Oct. 22, from Analogue Productions. The vinyl is already out.

Captain Beefheart’s “Safe as Milk” returns Oct. 9, also via Sundazed, in a mono version on CD and vinyl. The reheated “Milk” comes with the original Richard Perry mono mix, not the botched version created by the Captain’s label.

“Authoritative new liner notes” by Rolling Stone old-weird record specialist David Fricke, who writes: “‘Safe As Milk’ was so far in it was out.”

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s sensational series of blues-rock albums is boiled down on “Golden Butter: The Best Of” with two 180 gram LPs from Friday Music. Tracks include the raga-rock mindblower “East-West” and stoner’s delight “In My Own Dream” (compilation originally on Elektra).

Van Morrison isn’t thrilled, of course, but Warner has a five-disc retelling of “Moondance” set for Oct. 22. The set contains four CDs and a Blu-ray version of the album with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio.

Much of the Warner Music box set is dedicated to multiple studio takes of songs from the 1970 album. For those not in need of six takes of “Caravan” or “Brand New Day,” Warner is offering an “expanded edition” with two CDs (read more about the new “Moondance” set and Morrison’s reaction).

For Halloween, we have Franz Waxman’s “The Bride Of Frankenstein Soundtrack” on colored vinyl (Music On Vinyl, Oct. 22).

Also of interest: Nick Drake’s “Five Leaves Left” on a single LP (Oct. 29); Leslie West’s “Still Climbing” on vinyl (Oct. 29); Ten Years After “Recorded Live” and Robin Trower’s “State to State: Live Across America,” both on two CDs (Oct. 22); and the Association’s “Greatest Hits” on 180 gram (Oct. 29).

And, Paul McCartney’s “New” (Oct. 22); the Beatles “Live at the BBC” and “Volume 2″ (Nov. 11); Yoko Ono’s “Take Me to the Land of Hell” (Oct. 15); the Stones’ “Sweet Summer Sun: Hyde Park Live” (Blu-ray, etc., Nov. 11).

From the trippy side of jazz we have John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension’s “Now Hear This” (Oct. 15) and Herbie Hancock’s “Headhunters” (numbered, limited, Oct. 18).

To be announced: Signals from the mysterious planet of TBA presage the eventual arrival of Donovan’s “Barabajagal” (Music on Vinyl); the first two Chicago albums on hybrid SACD (Mobile Fidelity); and Mike Oldfield’s “Five Miles Out” on colored vinyl (Mercury).

Also TBA on 180 gram vinyl: The Grateful Dead’s “From the Mars Hotel” (Mobile Fidelity); the Rolling Stones’ “Exile on Main Street” (Universal); Stephen Stills’ “Carry On” box set (Music on Vinyl); and the Alan Parsons Project’s “I Robot” (Music on Vinyl).

And TBA’s greatest hit, “Amused to Death” by Roger Waters on vinyl and SACD (Analogue Productions).

Read about the psychedelic music albums released in the third quarter.

‘Lotus’ Flowers Again: Santana Live Classic

by abel, Psychedelic Sight: http://psychedelicsight.com/9490-santana-lotus/

Santana fans’ loyalties are rewarded in October and November with a quartet of 180 gram vinyl releases - paced by a 40th anniversary edition of the live adventure “Lotus.”

That triple-disc recording made in the summer of 1973 captures the “Welcome”/”Caravanserai” band (“the New Santana”) in its jazz-rock-fusion glory, performing in Osaka, Japan.

Some critics consider “Lotus” among the best live recordings made in the rock era. Of the dozens of Santana albums, Rolling Stone gives five stars to only two - “Lotus” and “Abraxas.”

“Lotus” long was a sought-after import, initially released as a triple-LP set out of Japan (1974). It featured superb art direction with a multilevel fold-out cover of psychedelic bent, reflecting Carlos Santana’s immersion in spirituality (the set eventually saw release as a double CD in the States, in 1991).

The two recorded shows were mostly instrumental, keyed by a legendary 16-minute take on “Incident at Neshabur.”

The studio album “Abraxas” provides the most songs on “Lotus,” including “Neshabur,” Peter Green’s “Black Magic Woman” and “Samba Pa Ti.”

From “Caravanserai” comes a funkified flirtation with Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Stone Flower” and almost 12 minutes of Michael Shrieve’s “Every Step of the Way.”

Band members are drummer Shrieve, percussionists José “Chepito” and Armando Perez, keyboardist Tom Coster, bassist Doug Rauch and singer Leon Thomas.

The original on-site recording was done by the Japanese audio wizards from Sony, with mastering for the new LPs done by Joe Reagoso. The discs were pressed at Record Technology Inc.

Friday Music says its re-creation of the vinyl “Lotus” includes “the original trifold cover art and the special psychedelic insert artwork … now restored to their full glory.” The set retails for about $50 and bows Nov. 19.

Also due from Carlos Santana’s back pages is his live collaboration with drummer-vocalist Buddy Miles, recorded at a Hawaiian rock festival in early 1972.

“Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles Live” features guitarist Neal Schon and gets an unusual flavor from trumpet and flute. Songs include “Evil Ways,” “Them Changes” and a 25-minute jam. Friday’s single-disc album comes out Nov. 5.

Fusion in the rear view, Santana’s seventh album, “Amigos,” found the bandleader aiming toward a radio-friendly sound, via producer David Rubinson.

“Amigos” yielded a minor hit, “Let it Shine.” Rolling Stone called the album “safe” and “consistent.” Greg Walker and Leon “Ndugu” Chancler are among the players. Columbia’s Speaker’s Corner revives the album on a 180 gram slab Oct. 29.

“Santana’s Greatest Hits” is a misnomer these days - it’s an outdated label packaging job with songs from the first two albums. Friday recycles it nonetheless, Oct. 29.

Other Santana albums already re-released to vinyl via Friday Music are “Moonflower” and “Love Devotion Surrender” with fellow white-suited devotee John McLaughlin (both 180 gram audiophile records). Columbia has a 180 gram version of the Santana-Buddy Miles album as well.

VIDEO: Santana - Soul Sacrifice 1969 "Woodstock"

by NEA ZIXNH

Santana - Soul Sacrifice (Album 1969) Woodstock Music Festival 1969, New York USA
Carlos Santana - Guitar
Gregg Rolie - Keyboards, Organ
David Brown - Bass
Michael Shrieve - Drums
Michael Carabello - Percussion, Congas
Jose Areas - Percussion, Congas

Q3 on Record: Love, Hendrix, Blind Faith

by abel, Psychedelic Sight: http://psychedelicsight.com/record-roundup-q3-13/

Love, Jimi Hendrix, Blind Faith and Yes are among the psychedelic-era artists with albums ready for resurrection in the third quarter of 2013.

The vinyl revivalists will continue to pack the shelves of your favorite indie record store with psychedelic classics. Other formats in this record roundup include hybrid SACDs, CDs and MP3s.

Love’s “Da Capo” makes its debut on hybrid SACD on July 30, via Mobile Fidelity. It’s billed as direct from the original master tapes, as was Sundazed’s vinyl release. “Da Capo” has many fans, despite its split personality:

Side 1 is the run-up to the band’s classic “Forever Changes,” with six breathtaking psychedelic classics that incorporate rock, Latin rhythms, jazz and classical.

Side 2, notoriously, is surrendered to a 19-minute jam, one that has done a good bit of damage to the otherwise brilliant album’s rep (for many Love fans, “Da Capo” is more or less an EP).

The “hit” is the fast and furious “Seven & Seven Is,” quite possibly the most explosive 2 1/2 minutes in ’60s rock, its speed rush ended by an atomic blast. “Da Capo” ranks No. 37 on Psychedelic Sight’s list of the top 50 psychedelic albums.

The release raises hopes of an SACD release of “Forever Changes,” which has seen seemingly endless reissues on CD and vinyl. (Warner Music Japan has just rereleased the album on CD with “2013 digital remastering.”)

Love frontman Arthur Lee’s “Black Beauty” recently resurfaced on 180 gram vinyl, also in a numbered limited edition. The album, credited to a 1973 version of Love, was produced by Paul Rothchild, who also oversaw “Da Capo.”

The “official bootleg” of Hendrix’s “Live in Cologne” debuts July 9 on CD. It chronicles the Experience’s January 1969 performance at the Sporthalle center in Germany.

“The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live In Cologne” was sourced from a mono audience recording, and long has been available as a bootleg.

“This recording is not without various technical flaws and sonic limitations,” warns Dagger Records, which is owned by the Hendrix family.

The vinyl version debuted in November via Dagger as the 12th in its series of live and bootlegged recordings.

The Experience featured Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, the classic lineup that would last only another six months.

In addition to the regular Experience set - “Fire,” “Foxey Lady,” “Hey Joe” and so on - the show included the New Orleans rocker “Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)” and a cover of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love.”

Blind Faith’s debut album, in fact its only album, is back on vinyl in a double-disc import edition released July 2.

The set features the original U.K. cover - the artsy-strange one with a naked pre-teen girl. In the U.S., the blah LP cover had Eric Clapton, Stevie Winwood and the rest of the band posing.

The second Blind Faith disc offers five bonus tracks, including an electric take on “Can’t Find My Way Home” and two versions of the unreleased “Sleeping in the Ground.” There’s also an “acoustic jam.”

Most of those tracks can be found on Universal’s Deluxe Edition CD of 2001, but apparently this marks their debut on vinyl.

Steppenwolf’s debut album finally made it to market on 200 gram vinyl after numerous delays; the hybrid SACD version reportedly comes out Aug. 6 from Analogue Productions.

For all its ubiquity in the late 1960s, “Steppenwolf” has been scarce in recent years, with the last domestic CD version released 23 years ago.

Cohearent Audio did the new “Steppenwolf” mastering, always good news. The LP’s psychedelic classics include “Magic Carpet Ride” and “The Pusher.”

On the space jazz front, Weather Report’s “Mysterious Traveller” streaks back to Earth via 180 gram vinyl on July 24. It’s the closest thing to a psychedelic album made by the pioneering jazz fusion outfit, opening with Josef Zawinul’s stunning “Nubian Sundance.”

The long-awaited hybrid SACD of Vangelis’ “Blade Runner,” the electronic music soundtrack - simultaneously creepy and chill - comes out July 10 from Audio Fidelity.

An hour’s worth of music with classic dialog mixed in. Cohearent Audio did the remastering (a red vinyl version just came out).

Also from the astral plane comes “In a Silent Way,” the 1969 Miles Davis record with John McLaughlin that paved the way for “Bitches Brew.” It was Davis’ initial response to the electronic psychedelic music of the day.

“Silent Way” is due on 180 gram vinyl (numbered, limited) July 10 via Mobile Fidelity (if the new 180 gram “Milestones” is an indicator, expect stunning sonics).

Yes revisits “Yesterdays,” the compilation album mined from the prog rockers’ first two albums and led off by the band’s brilliant take on “America.” It’s set for July 30 as part of Friday Music’s 180 gram vinyl series of Yes albums.

Yes man Rick Wakefield went solo in 1973 with the ambitious “The Six Wives of Henry VIII,” the concept album not surprisingly finding its biggest success in the U.K. Plastic Head brings the double-album set back to vinyl Aug. 6.

King Crimson’s “Red” is due July 16 on 200 gram vinyl, from Discipline Global Mobile. The 1974 album includes the 12-minute debut of “Starless.”

“Higher!” the Sly and the Family Stone box set from Sony Legacy, rolls in Aug. 27 in various formats, including 180 gram LPs.

“Nearly one-fourth of the contents will be previously unissued material,” Legacy says. Stone’s psych-funk classic “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” has shipped on hybrid SACD from ORG Music.

“Blood, Sweat & Tears” was the first - and by far best - BS&T album, with Al Kooper at the controls. The album, a longtime audiophile favorite, has another go with a “gold CD” just out from Impex.

The adventurous album is in stark contrast to the radio-friendly BS&T material to come. Kooper, meanwhile, has the two-fer “Black Coffee/White Chocolate” set for Sept. 17.

Other psychedelically tinged releases of note:

Dead Meadow’s first album returns remixed/remastered on vinyl (Xemu Records, Sterling Sound), Aug. 6; Todd Rundgren’s “Hermit of Mink Hollow” on 180 gram (Friday Music), Aug. 20; “Fleetwood Mac: 1969-1972″ box set on vinyl (Rhino), Aug. 20; Nick Drake’s psych-folker “Five Leaves Left” in a new single LP version, Aug. 27; and the Beach Boys’ box set “Made in California” (many unreleased tracks), Aug. 27.

And the new albums: The Arctic Monkeys “AM” on Sept. 10; MGMT’s “MGMT” on Sept. 17; Yoko Ono’s “Take Me to the Land of Hell,” Sept. 17 (check the trippy advance track); Moby’s “Innocents” with guests including Wayne Coyne, Oct. 1 (all in multiple formats including vinyl).

Just out: John Mayall’s concept album “Bare Wires” with Mick Taylor, on 180-gram LP from Music on Vinyl. The 1968 album includes the trippy tracks “Fire,” “Look in the Mirror” and “Bare Wires.”
From the mysterious land of TBA we have:

• Roger Waters’ “Amused to Death” on a hybrid stereo SACD and 200 gram vinyl record (apparently delayed again).
• The Grateful Dead’s “From the Mars Hotel” with a 180-gram vinyl release (Mobile Fidelity). Numbered, limited and half-speed mastered.
• “Santana III” on vinyl from Mobile Fidelity.
• The first two Chicago Transit Authority albums, numbered and limited on hybrid stereo SACD, from Mobile Fidelity.
• “Highway 61 Revisited” on audiophile 45rpm discs, from Mobile Fidelity.

Note: Release dates for vinyl and SACD titles remain fluid until they actually ship. This record roundup will be updated as needed through the quarter. SACDs are all hybrids unless specified otherwise; they work on a CD player but not in advanced resolution.

NEWS: Carlos Santana Writing His Memoir for Release in 2014

Carlos Santana Biography

by RetroKimmer.com: http://www.retrokimmer.com/2012/09/carlos-santana-writing-his-memoir-for.html

Carlos Santana is releasing his memoir in 2014, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A statement from publisher Little, Brown obtained by the newspaper says Santana's goal for the as-yet-untitled book, which will be released in both English and Spanish, is "to help readers discover the sanctity, grace, and divinity in themselves."

Santana will share his memories of music legends such as Miles Davis, Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton, as well as those who've influenced him, including the late activist Cesar Chavez and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Delivered with a level of passion and soul equal to the legendary sonic charge of his guitar, the sound of Carlos Santana is one of the world's best-known musical signatures.

For more than four decades - from Santana's earliest days as a groundbreaking Afro-Latin-blues-rock fusion outfit in San Francisco - Carlos has been the visionary force behind artistry that transcends musical genres and generational, cultural and geographical boundaries.

Long before the category now known as “world music” was named, Santana's ever-evolving sound was always ahead of its time in its universal appeal, and today registers as ideally in sync with the 21st century’s pan-cultural landscape.

And, with a dedication to humanitarian outreach and social activism that parallels his lifelong relationship with music, Carlos Santana is as much an exemplary world citizen as a global music icon.

Santana's star arrived in the era-defining late 1960s San Francisco Bay Area music scene with historic shows at the Fillmore and other storied venues. The group emerged onto the global stage with an epic set at the Woodstock festival in 1969, the same year that its self-titled debut LP Santana came out.

Introducing Santana's first Top 10 hit, “Evil Ways,” the disc stayed on Billboard’s album chart for two years and was soon followed by two more classics - and Billboard #1 albums - Abraxas and Santana III.

Ever since, for more than forty years and almost as many albums later, Santana has sold more than 100 million records and reached more than 100 million fans at concerts worldwide.

To date, Santana has won 10 GRAMMY® Awards, including a record-tying nine for a single project, 1999’s Supernatural (including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for “Smooth”).

In 1998, the group was ushered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, whose website notes, “Guitarist Carlos Santana is one of rock’s true virtuosos and guiding lights.”

VIDEO: Santana - Song Of The Wind from the Album "Caravanserai" (1972)

Hi all,

Here is a great track from outside of the 1960s to celebrate the birthday of Carlos Santana!

By the way, if you haven't heard it, "Caravanserai" may possibly rate as Santana's best album (along with Lotus - Live in Japan, of course).