MORRRISON — Born July 20, 1947 in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, Carlos Santana was taught how to play guitar by his mariachi musician father. At the age of 12 his family moved to Tijuana, where Santana was hired as a roadie for the regionally popular band, Los TJs. He became their bass player soon thereafter.

Continuing his guitar playing after immigrating to San Francisco in the early 1960s, eventually Santana formed a band with fellow street musicians. They called it the Santana Blues Band.

When Paul Butterfield was purportedly too intoxicated to take the stage at Fillmore Auditorium, music promoter Bill Graham asked the group Santana to fill in. Impressed by the performance, Graham later arranged for Santana to appear at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August of 1969.

Still feeling the music.

Photo by Dave Gibson

Santana was the only act at Woodstock that hadn’t released a record yet—their already-recorded album titled Santana would come out a few days after the festival.

Friends with many of the San Francisco musicians that were there, and no stranger to the ‘60s drug culture, when Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead offered Santana some LSD, he took it, thinking that he had eight hours before he had to perform.

As he started to peak, the stage manager informed him that if they didn’t take the stage then, they wouldn’t go on at all. Pulling himself together as best he could, Santana later said that the neck of his guitar seemed like a wavering snake during the song “Soul Sacrifice.” Santana drummer Michael Shrieve was also high, tripping on mescaline.

Their performance ended up as one of the highlights of the festival. The resulting film documentary and soundtrack would catapult his career.

Santana’s debut album, titled Santana, spent 108 weeks on the Billboard Top LPs chart, reaching #4. The single “Evil Ways” climbed to #9.

Released in September of 1970, the album Abraxas combined rock, blues, jazz, and salsa. “Oye Cómo Va” and “Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" were hits from that record. Abraxas spent six weeks at #1 on the charts.

In 1971 Santana added a guitar, more percussion, and the horns of Bay area group Tower of Power for a fuller sound on their third album Santana III. It also reached #1. The song “No One to Depend On” stands out.

The 1977 double album Moonflower contains a mixture of studio and live recordings. A blistering rendition of the Zombies’ “She’s Not There” and the lively “Dance, Sister Dance” are highlights.

Santana released Supernatural in 1999. It would take home nine Grammy Awards including Album of the Year. Sung by Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, “Smooth,” the cha-cha single from that record, won Song of the Year and spent 12 consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Now, at the age of 79, on Monday, August 24, guitar great Santana appeared at Red Rocks Amphitheater as part of his Oneness 2026 Tour.

Virtually unknown before performing at Woodstock 57 years ago when he was 22, Santana ended that fateful set with the instrumental “Soul Sacrifice.” Now a living legend, this time around he opened with it.

For those five minutes during the song, it was 1969 again—everything that had transpired in the world since then melted away and we were left with a fresh start, free to pursue the possibilities that lie ahead. At one point while addressing the audience, Santana’s sage advice was to let go of the bad and keep the good.

“Well, let me tell you about the way she looked / The way she acted, the color of her hair / Her voice is soft and cool / Her eyes are clear and bright / But she’s not there.” Whether performed by The Zombies or Santana, the classic rock song “She’s Not There” falls firmly in the “good” category. Ray Greene and Andy Vargas’ powerful vocals sent the number soaring to new heights.

“Oye Cómo Va” translates as “Listen to How it Goes.” And indeed, the appreciative concertgoers did so during the Santana staple written by Tito Puente. The hard-driving “Hope You’re Feeling Better” from the album Abraxia made everyone happy.

Clearly, Carlos Santana had only developed toward "the good" over the many years of his illustrious career.