Carlos Santana – guitars, background vocals, percussion, congas, güiro [click here to see more vinyl featuring Carlos Santana] Greg Walker – vocals Tom Coster – acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hammond organ, Moog synthesizer, ARP Pro Soloist, ARP Odyssey, ARP String Ensemble, Hohner Clavinet D6, background vocals David Brown – bass guitar Leon "Ndugu" Chancler – drums, timbales, Remo Rototoms, percussion, congas, background vocals Armando Peraza – congas, bongos, background vocals, vocal on "Gitano" Ivory Stone – background vocals Julia Tillman Waters – background vocals Maxine Willard Waters – background vocals Written by David Rubinson (A1), Leon Ndugu Chancler (A1, A2, B2), Tom Coster (A1, A2, A3, B2, B3), Carlos Santana (A3, B3), Armando Peraza (B1), David Brown (B4), Ray Gardner (B4) 1 LP, Gatefold Cover Original analog Master tape : YES Heavy Press : 180g Record color : black Speed : 33RPM Size : 12” Stereo Studio Record Press : RTI Label : Friday Music Original Label : Columbia Recorded at Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco Engineered & mixed by David Rubinson, Fred Catero Produced by David Rubinson & Friends, Inc. Remastered by Joe Reagoso Originally released in 1976 Reissued in 2013 Tracks: Side A : 1 Dance Sister Dance 2 Take Me with You 3 Let Me Side B : 1 Gitano 2 Tell Me Are You Tired 3 Europa (Earth’s Cry Heaven’s Smile) 4 Let It Shine Reviews: "By the release of Amigos, the Santana band's seventh album, only Carlos Santana and David Brown remained from the band that conquered Woodstock, and only Carlos had been in the band continuously since. Meanwhile, the group had made some effort to arrest its commercial slide, hiring an outside producer, David Rubinson, and taking a tighter, more up-tempo, and more vocal approach to its music. The overt jazz influences were replaced by strains of R&B/funk and Mexican folk music. The result was an album more dynamic than any since Santana III in 1971. "Let It Shine" (number 77), an R&B-tinged tune, became the group's first chart single in four years, and the album returned Santana to Top Ten status." AllMusic Review by William Ruhlmann Santana’s music is like the game of Mikado – a tight bundle of pieces in various styles that is difficult to handle, even for experienced musicians. No whether the sticks are labelled funk, jazz, rock, R & B, or folk: when you try to pick out just one of these, the whole lot vibrates alongside. It seems relatively simple (and is often attempted) to try and sort out track lists according to more or less commercially oriented compilations. And having fastidiously set up the ranking and astutely discussed it in your circle of friends, you can sit back and enjoy the brilliant guitar sound of such blockbusters as "Caravanserai" (Columbia KC 31610) or "Welcome" (Columbia PC 32455) – quality rules the day! In his seventh album the guitar guru is once again surrounded by numerous freshly recruited supporting musicians and the star producer David Rubinson. The latter watches carefully over the development of this project, which is highly reminiscent of the early Santana sound. A perceptible infatuation with the vocals, or the wealth of buzzing, pulsating, clattering, clicking rhythms, or yet again the inimitable bubbling, frothy guitar solos: a Santana LP is simply unthinkable without all this. Why then should one try to pick out the various styles, genres or consumer groups when this record belongs to his best and most important six, seven – or maybe even eight? At the end of the day, we all remain amigos with Santana. Ratings : Allmusic : 4 / 5 , Discogs : 3,91 / 5 , Rate Your Music : 3,37 / 5
