Maps of Music

Freedom (1987)

Where the lyrics of Freedom take you, and where it was really made.

Freedom returned to the band's original Latin rock sound, yet it reached only number 95 on the album chart.

Key places

Recorded at The Plant Studios, Sausalito (1987)

Recording site Plant Recording (Sausalito) — The source lists The Plant Studios in Sausalito, California as the recording place. The map point sits at the city center, not on the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Freedom is the fifteenth studio album by Santana
• Released in 1987 by Columbia Records
• Ten tracks split across two sides of the record
• Nine members were in the band for this recording
• Some of the nine had returned after earlier lineups
• The album moved away from the more poppy sound of Beyond Appearances
• It returned to the band's original Latin rock sound

Background

• The previous album, Beyond Appearances, had a more pop-oriented sound
• Freedom went back to Latin rock, the band's original style
• Its commercial fortunes were not revived by this return

Recording

• The recording is listed as made at The Plant Studios, Sausalito, California
• Carlos Santana played guitar and sang
• Buddy Miles and Raul Rekow also sang
• Keyboards by Tom Coster, Chester D. Thompson, Gregg Rolie and Sterling Crew
• Bass by Alphonso Johnson, drums by Graham Lear
• Percussion by Armando Peraza, Orestes Vilató and Raul Rekow

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · es.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in San Francisco, California, in 1966 by Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana.
• Named the Santana Blues Band at a January 1967 Fillmore audition; shortened to Santana by the end of 1967.
• Signed with Columbia Records in late 1968.
• The "classic" line-up stabilised in May 1969: Carlos Santana, Gregg Rolie, Michael Carabello, David Brown, Michael Shrieve and Jose "Chepito" Areas.

Members

• Carlos Santana is the only consistent member across the band's history.
• Classic line-up: Santana, Gregg Rolie (organ, lead vocals), Michael Carabello and Jose "Chepito" Areas (percussion), Michael Shrieve (drums), David Brown (bass).
• Brown died in 2000; Areas was not invited to the 2014 reunion.
• Classic line-up members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Career

• Breakthrough at the 1969 Woodstock Festival; the debut album Santana peaked at No. 4 on the US Billboard 200.
• Abraxas (1970) and Santana III (1971) both reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200.
• Early 1970s experiments with jazz fusion on Caravanserai (1972), Welcome (1973) and Borboletta (1974).
• Amigos (1976) returned the band to commercial success; Moonflower (1977) was its most successful album since Santana III.
• Commercial decline in the 1980s, followed by a seven-year recording hiatus.
• Supernatural (1999) won eight Grammy Awards and sold an estimated 30 million copies worldwide.
• Santana IV (2016) reunited the classic line-up, the first recording together in 45 years.
• Estimated 100 million records sold worldwide.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The album has ten tracks, five per side
• Side one opens with Veracruz and ends with Songs of Freedom
• Side two opens with Deeper, Dig Deeper and ends with Victim of Circumstance
• Mandela is credited as an instrumental to Armando Peraza alone
• Love Is You is an instrumental credited to Santana and Chester D. Thompson
• Before We Go is credited to Jim Capaldi and Santana

Records

• The album reached number 95 on the album chart
• It failed to revive Santana's commercial fortunes
• No critic reviews are cited on the source page

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Mandela is listed as an instrumental credited only to Armando Peraza.
• Love Is You is an instrumental credited to Santana and Chester D. Thompson.
• Sterling Crew, Buddy Miles and Raul Rekow are among the credited contributors.
• Victim of Circumstance is the closing track and credits Gary Rashid.
• Nine members played on the recording, some of them returning from earlier lineups.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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