10. SantanaAbraxas
While the Beach Boys and The Hollies may have had the beautiful vocals, Carlos Santana was doing a similar thing for melody with the genius of his guitar playing. Not for him soloing for its own sake – the endless repetition of blues licks that some other late 60s guitar gods were indulging in – no, Santana was searching for something more beautiful and spiritual in his excursions around the fretboard. While Carlos certainly gets the credit he deserves, this is still very much a band album – they’re all top players and absolutely killed it at Woodstock. But the studio boffins must also take a bow for a superb stereo mix which has the band, and specifically the phenomenal Latin percussion section, spread right across the soundscape. I can recall one of my schoolmates’ parents having a posh radiogram, we’d re-organise their living room furniture to enable laying down with heads between speakers while listening to Abraxas. As with my Brian Auger choice there is some neat interplay here between guitar and Hammond organ, two ear-pleasing sounds that it would be nice to hear together again in this day and age… if any young musicians out there are reading this!
