History is filled with dramatic appearances. To cite just one example: the influx of spices from the mysterious 'East' during the European middle ages that allowed a relatively tasteless, hum-drum cuisine to blossom.
Likewise, as we saw in #15's Django Reinhardt, music is no stranger to the shock of innovation. Along with other guitar greats of the 1930s and '40's, like Charlie Christian, Reinhardt's Romani (gypsy) sound steered music in new directions, among them, transforming the guitar from a rhythm to a lead instrument.
Among the shocks of the 1960s, when television was exposing Americans to new horizons, and large gains in wealth were being felt by a large majority, there appeared on the Rock 'N Roll scene the equivalent of coffee, chili peppers and chocolate: Santana. The swoon was immediate and complete.
The mysterious 'other' with its dreamy, steamy, spicy incantations became a staple of '70s culture and music (the mystical, the flowery, the off-beat, the impressionistic groove).
And yet, the overwhelming success of Santana in its early '70s heyday was in part due to the group's roots in a proto-American sound. As we'll soon discover with Jimi Hendrix, Robbie Robertson (The Band) and Bob Marley's Native American underpinnings, the surprise of much 'other' music is that it's a mix that includes a native pre-mainstream element. In other words, Roots music, with its promise of redemption for a wandering flock who occasionally lose their way.
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Each band or performer is graded on four things:
1. Innovation
2. Influence in my life--as a typical American
3. Integrity: the band's approach to music (just making a buck or honing a craft?)
4. Immortality--am I, a typical American--still eager to hear their music
10/8/7/10 = 35 out of a perfect 40
1. Innovation
2. Influence in my life--as a typical American
3. Integrity: the band's approach to music (just making a buck or honing a craft?)
4. Immortality--am I, a typical American--still eager to hear their music
10/8/7/10 = 35 out of a perfect 40
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Perfect Timing: Santana's #1 album of 1999, Supernatural, bookends one of the longest gaps between #1 albums. In this case, 28 years between it and the original Santana album.
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