Carlos Santana's Guitar Heaven | The Greatest Guitar Classics Of All Time

Have you ever wondered what Carlos Santana would sound like if he had to go back to playing covers in clubs, taking requests written in a smudgy scrawl on the back of a bar napkin, or humoring the punter in the back yelling out for Smoke On The Water for the fifth time that night?

Folks, wonder no more. 

Santana's latest release Guitar Heaven:  The Greatest Guitar Classics Of All Time features our favorite guitar hero playing through a selection of tunes as they might appear on aforesaid proverbial napkin. 

Granted, each tune is given enough of a twist to not be a mere carbon copy, but you've got to wonder if the punter in question in this case might be producer/record mogul Clive Davis.  Using the same winning formula that brought sales of 27 million copies for 1999's Supernatural, Davis teams Carlos up with some of the more current names in the business to provide the foil on Guitar Heaven's 12 tracks (14 on the Deluxe Edition) -- Chris Daughtry, Scott Weiland, Chester Benington, Rob Thomas, Gavin Rossdale, India Arie, Scott Stapp, Chris Cornell and Joe Cocker make guest vocal appearances.

For me, some of the material works, some of it doesn't quite fly.  But that's what you get when attempting an entire album's worth of classic tunes.  But Carlos gives it his all on each cut -- I especially dig his take on Jimmy Page's guitar fills on the solo breakdown of Whole Lotta Love!

And you've got to admit, few guitar heroes out there today are able to weave such tasty guitar fills around a vocal line with such elegance and spontaneity, without getting in the way.

Check out Carlos's heartfelt version of Little Wing with Joe Cocker on vocals in this clip!



Remember Guitar Heaven the next time someone yells out for Smoke On The Water at your local weekly gig.  Smile, play it your own way and remember that no one really finishes paying their dues.  Not even Carlos Santana.

For more song previews go to: http://www.santana.com/guitarheaven/

What Six Real Guitar Heroes Have To Say About Guitar Hero The Game

With the debate going on about the educational merits, or lack thereof, of Guitar Hero, here's what six of our real guitar heroes have to say:

Jimmy Page:

"Obviously, there have been overtures made to Led Zeppelin, but if you start with the first track on the first album, Good Times Bad Times, and you think of the drum part that John Bonham did there -- how many drummers in the world can actually play that, let alone dabble on a Christmas morning?  There could be a lot of alcohol consumed over Christmas, and you still aren't going to get it."

Yngwie Malmsteen:
"I actually think it's a good thing. I do. I think because it introduces kids to music. I was sitting in the airport in Miami, I don't know, a couple of months ago. We were flying somewhere, and me and my drummer and my bass player or somebody, probably my singer too, we were sitting at this restaurant waiting and this little kid, he couldn't have been more than eight or nine years old, and he looks up at us and goes, 'Hey, are you guys in a band?, We go, 'yeah.' 'I want to be in a band!' And this was so cool because a few years ago that wouldn't be happening. Plus, I see in the audience when I play now, every night there's very, very young kids. This is a great thing."

Carlos Santana:
"If you're going to spend that much time and energy, get yourself a real guitar.  I'm not into virtual anything, if it's not the real thing."

Steve Vai:

"Now I can jam with people in the comfort of their own plastic!"

Joe Satriani:
"I've stood at the end of the aisle at Best Buy and watched eight-year-old kids completely dominate the game, but I haven't played. A couple of my songs are featured on the games, so they've sent me the console. But I've never opened the box. I don't think it would be any fun for me -- there are only three or four buttons. Plus I seriously thought I'd mess up my head. One night onstage, I'd be looking for the green and yellow buttons and it would just be strings and frets and I'd be confused."

Jeff Beck:
"Who wants to be in a kid’s game, like a toy shop?  There’s just this mad avalanche of material that’s available, so it’s so hard for aspiring young players to find where they should go (and) not be enslaved to yet another tool or device."



Thanks to Stratoblogster's Jeff Beck article for inspiring this one!

Orianthi Plays Eddie Van Halen's Beat It Solo

Here's a vid of Orianthi Panagaris playing Eddie Van Halen's iconic solo from Beat It.

Following in the footsteps of Michael Jackson's previous touring guitar veteran Jennifer Batten, Orianthi was all set to embark on Jackson's This Is It comeback tour before the singer's untimely demise.





A PRS Guitars endorser since 2004, Australian-born Orianthi has drawn accolades from no less than Steve Vai and Carlos Santana.

On the PRS website, Carlos is quoted as saying, "It's not cute anymore. It's seriously ass-whupping. If I was going to pass the baton to somebody, she would be my first choice."


www.myspace.com/orianthi

Buddy Guy And Carlos Santana at Experience PRS 2009

Carlos Santana and Buddy Guy got together onstage for a surprise jam at the annual Experience PRS event in September.

Carlos was introducing his new 25th Anniversary Santana model as seen in this clip, while Buddy played an all-white, maple-neck PRS 305. The 305, as I mentioned in an earlier article, is a 25 1/2" scale instrument that is the nearest thing in the PRS line to a traditional Strat.

Buddy, a die-hard Stratocaster player, appears a little thrown off when he starts his solo. You can tell that he is playing licks that he would normally play on his Fender -- licks that would simply sing when executed with glassy Strat tones.

The 305 is obviously a lot more meaty sounding with a thick mid-range which he appears to be unaccustomed to. But he soon finds his footing by unleashing a few Santana-esque lines of his own. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

But I must say the Santana 25th Anniversary sounds pretty good. Carlos' mildly-overdriven-and-magically-on-the-verge-of-feedback tones are simply unctuous.

Also making its debut at Experience PRS was the Carlos Santana Abraxas SE model. A limited edition model, the Abraxas SE is a take on the Les Paul Junior-style, with a single soapbar pickup and a wrap-around bridge. The instrument is adorned with a graphic from the Abraxas album art and a peace-symbol inlay at the twelfth fret.

Beautiful.

As a side note, Buddy Guy's pic from this very same concert now appears on the PRS website on the model 305 page.

Could this be a sign of a burgeoning new relationship?

(Picture Source: http://www.prsguitars.com/)

Great Prices On PRS Guitars Here!

8 Guitar Solos That Changed My Life

I decided to commemorate this, my 100th blog post with this list of my favorite guitar solos.

They are the reason I got started, the reason I stayed, and the reason I carry on.

All Along The Watchtower -- Jimi Hendrix (Electric Ladyland)
This tune never fails to give me goosebumps. Hendrix apparently agonized over the various sections of this song for weeks, laying down a multitude of parts before paring them down. The result -- amazingly melodic electric solos that grab you from the outset, a mysterious delay-enhanced 'slide' section and wah solo and a scratchy rhythm thang culminating in double bends. The studio version is a work of art, and still sounds relevant today despite being recorded more than 40 years ago.

Does anybody know what he used for the slide section? Til this day I can't figure out if he was using a conventional slide. Or could it have been a mic stand, or as some have postulated, a large ring he wore on his right hand?

Sunny - Pat Martino (from Pat Martino Live!)
I first heard this one when I was about 16. It was my first introduction to Martino and I was an instant convert. At 10 minutes 25 seconds this song filled the entire B side of the record. Martino really cooks and the sheer raw emotion he projects is startling.

Cause We've Ended As Lovers -- Jeff Beck (Blow By Blow)
What more can I say about this tune? Turn off the lights, the TV and the computer and just listen to it. Jeff gives us a timeless lesson in exactly what a Fender Stratocaster is capable of. Just as Jimi owned Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower, Jeff Beck certainly owns this song by Stevie Wonder.

Devil Take The Hindmost -- Allan Holdsworth (Metal Fatigue)
I first heard this as a Guitar Player magazine Soundpage. I was familiar with Holdsworth's earlier body of work but this track from Metal Fatigue was to me a defining moment -- his 'new' sound if you will. His already great playing seemed to have taken a quantum leap on Metal Fatigue with a newfound clarity of expression and articulation.

Push Comes To Shove -- Eddie Van Halen (Fair Warning)
Eddie has said that he had Holdsworth in mind when he cut this track, but the end result is unmistakeably Van Halen. I consider Fair Warning to be one of the darker Van Halen albums and to me it still stands above everything the band has ever produced. And Ed's tone has never been more 'brown'.

The Days of Wine and Roses -- Wes Montgomery (Boss Guitar)
Stating the melody in a very pianistic chord-melody style, Wes absolutely slays with his solo on this Henry Mancini classic, balancing jazz sophistication with a soulful bluesy edge. Wes is the Boss and every guitar player worth his salt knows it.

Stairway to Heaven -- Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin IV)
This solo needs no introduction. After many years of my thinking Pagey played this solo on a Les Paul into a Marshall stack (hey, these were pre-internet days!), it turned out that this landmark was played on a '58 Telecaster into a little Supro amp!

Blues For Salvador -- Carlos Santana (Blues For Salvador)
Recorded at a soundcheck for a Top of the Pops TV show, this duet between Santana and his longtime keyboard player Chester Thompson oozes with soul. Carlos's PRS guitar plugged into a Marshall stack simply cries with the most glorious of tones and might have just been the tipping point that put Paul Reed Smith on the map.

Paul Reed Smith Guitars | A Question of Scale Lengths

There are two basic guitar scale lengths in general use -- the 25 1/2" 'Fender' scale and the 24 3/4" 'Gibson' scale.

Just to clarify, a guitar's scale length is determined by measuring the string's length immediately after the nut to the exact point that it goes over the bridge. The scale length determines the tension of the strings when they're tuned to pitch, affecting how the instrument feels in general. Shorter scale lengths give the strings a more pliable feel and vice versa.

PRS based their earlier guitars exclusively on a unique 25" scale -- somewhere between the traditional Fender and Gibson scales.

And they have always set out to make the most versatile guitar possible. Primarily humbucker-equipped, PRS's were also capable of sparkly Fender-type tones by putting the pickups in series or out of phase with the selector switch.

And by using a 25" scale, PRS originally hoped to create an instrument that was capable of being the best of both worlds.

PRS now uses several scale lengths on its various models -- 24 1/2", 25", 25 1/4" and 25 1/2". Note that with a 24 1/2" scale, the tension of the strings when tuned to pitch would be identical to a 25 1/2" scale guitar tuned down a half-step -- commonly referred to as Eb tuning. This is the scale featured on the PRS Santana model.

For some time now the company has seemed to resist going with the full 'Fender' 25 1/2" scale.

Until now.

The recent release of their 305 model marks the first instrument they've produced with a 25 1/2" scale. Featuring a host of other decidedly Stratocaster-like accoutrements -- three single-coil pickups, 5-way pickup selector switch, tremelo system, a maple neck and an alder body -- the 305 falls squarely in the 'super strat' category.

(Picture Source: www.prsguitars.com)



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The Spiritual Sayings Of Carlos Santana -- Part II

My first article on The Spiritual Sayings Of Carlos Santana proved somewhat popular. I guess Carlos' nuggets of wisdom struck a chord in quite a few people.

In light of that, here are some more.

This time I've divided them into two sections. The first are from a 1974 interview he did around the time of the release of Love, Devotion, Surrender with John McLaughlin. The rest are from a 1999 interview he did after recording his multi-award winning record, Supernatural. It's interesting to see how Santana's perspectives have evolved over 25 years.

1974

"A lot of times, what I hear and what the Supreme hears are two different things."

"Sometimes I find myself living in the illusion that I've got to do it the way I hear it. But when I do that, it doesn't come out right, it sounds too thought out."

"The most natural thing on earth is your heart, your soul, because it rarely goes out of tune with God. What goes out of tune is your mind and your body."

"I am the string and the Supreme is the musician. And that's all I am, because I go out of tune just like a string goes out of tune."

"I've got a long way to go before I can be in any kind of environment and still keep that oneness with the Supreme, so I don't start swearing and trying to be stupidly proud."

"Sometimes I'm not aware I can do some of these things on my guitar, because in reality I'm not doing them, they are being done through me, which is one of the highest places anyone can reach."

"For Leonardo daVinci to reflect all his artwork, he had to get his chops out before he could try to reflect all that perfection the Supreme gave him."

"There's only one king, man, and that's the Supreme. And when he plays through you, according to your capacity, it's like music from beyond, and that's what I'm hungry for."

"If I'm not practicing my guitar and my technique, I'm reading certain types of books which make me constantly aware of how much conviction, surrender, devotion I have to have so that I don't go out of tune. So when I play, all those doubts and wrong notes don't come into the picture."

"Some music just goes right over you, and you start yawning. John Coltrane's music used to do that to me. It's so heavy it's like eating a big meal. But after a while I got hungry for it."


1999

"I had only one concern when making my new record (Supernatural). Would Jimi Hendrix like it if he were here?"

"It's important for me to appease Jimi and Wes Montgomery because I play for them too."

"We are multi-dimensional spirits dwelling in the flesh, solely for the purpose of evolution."

"I don't see myself playing black music or white music. I play rainbow music -- all the colors are there."

"Like Miles -- you know when you hit that note, you don't want to breathe until you finish with it. Miles, Peter Green -- there are very few people who can make you hold your breath until that note is ended. You get goosebumps."

I love musicians who make you want to laugh and cry at the same time. When they go for it, you go with them, and you don't come back until they come back. There are not many players who can consistently do that. Potentially, we should all be doing it."

"From Miles you get the alchemy of making 50,000 notes into five. But with those five, you shake the world."

"You don't have to be Jimi Hendrix or Charlie Parker -- you can get it done your own way. God made the world round so we can all have centerstage."

"The secret of life is that I have validated my existence. I know that I'm worth more than my house, my bank account, or any physical thing."

"Once you validate your existence, you have the wind in your sails -- where do you want to go?"

"When I hit that note -- if I hit it correctly -- I'm just as important as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, or anybody. Because when I hit that note, I hit the umbilical cord of anybody who's listening."

"When you hit a note like that people say, "What kind of guitar is that? What kind of speaker are you using? What kind of strings?" No, man. It's not all that -- it's the note."

"These are the ingredients for being a complete communicator: Soul, heart, mind, body, cojones. One note."

"Late at night, if I want to check in with my internal Internet, I load the tape recorder, get some nice tones, and play."

"The only thing that I have is my tone. That's like my face. Your tone is your fingerprint and your personality. I learned by listening to T-Bone Walker and Peter Green, so I have a tone."

"Attitude is as important as notes. You learn not to be intimidated. You learn to respect and find your place -- to complement."

"There's cursing and praying, and all that language is part of music. A lot of my best solos remind me of when my mom used to scold me, 'Dit-doo-dup-dat-doo-doo-bah!"

"When you get older you either get senile or become gracious. There's no in-between. You become senile when you think the world short-changed you, or everybody wakes up to screw you. You become gracious when you realize that you have something the world needs, and people are happy to see you when you come into the room."

"Whether you've got a green mohawk or a suit and tie, it's still the same. Are you saying something valid. Are you contributing, bringing new flowers that we haven't seen in the garden?"

"When you think, 'I should hang up my guitar and be a dishwasher,' listen to your other side: 'No, you too have something they need'."

Buy Carlos Santana CDs and DVDs Here!

The Spiritual Sayings of Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana is one of my guitar heroes.

I spent a good part of my teenage years listening to him, and it became a ritual of sorts -- I had to have my daily one-hour fix of Santana. While his music played, I pored over his interviews, re-reading them over and over again in magazines like Guitar Player, Musician and Guitar World.

The idea for this column came from a music journal I used to keep as a kid. And as a true Carlos fan, I devoted several pages to his quotes which I entitled 'The Spiritual Sayings of Carlos Santana'. These are just some of them.

I dedicate this column to Carlos.


"When music starts playing you, you don't play music anymore. Music starts playing itself through you instead of you trying to make it happen."

"The most beautiful music goes beyond the musicians who played it. Certain people, like Jimi Hendrix or John Coltrane, don't play just for themselves or their immediate families. They play for a whole generation."

"The main thing is the cry. That's what I'm trying to do with the tone."

"The tone is more important to me than anything else because it will disarm the listener to let go of whatever is in their mind. That's what people try to do when they go to church."

"The tone, first of all, is your face. So why do you want to look like somebody else?"

"Unless you have a good engineer, the first thing they take from you is the ghost sound, the spirit sound -- so they leave you really dry. Without the ghost tones, I may as well be doing gardening or something else."

"I would say about 25% (of the tone) is in my hands. The other 75% comes from my legs, my guts. After I play a solo my throat and my calves hurt. This is projecting."

"I can just about get (my tone) from any guitar. But I really go out and jam with a lot of people, and a lot of times, as soon as I put my finger on a guitar, the guitar will say to me, "Who are you and why are you playing me this way."

"With my guitar, it's like, "Where do you want to go?"

"If you put your whole being on that note, man, your hair stands, your spine tingles."

"B.B. King hit the note and it changed everything for me."

"I'll take sincerity over soulfulness anytime. Whether you play fast or slow, if you're sincere, the people will pick it up."

"Deception, ego. Those are the things that block pure creativity. Ego to me is like a dog or a horse. Make him work for you. Don't you work for him."

"You can tell what people have in their eyes -- malice, expectations, the beauty of things."

On guitarist Bola Sete: "Mortal music deals with my baby left me, I can't pay the rent, or whatever. Bola's music tells you that inside, we have roaring cosmic lions."

"A lot of times, I can't stand my playing. Other times, I can't believe that it's coming out of my fingers."

"A note is like a rose. It can be closed, or halfway open, or all the way in bloom. Choose how each note is going to be. You want to present the best possible bouquet."

"Play like you don't know how to play. Take chances and make new mistakes. Go for what you don't know and make it brutally honest."

"A good way to develop (your sound) is to get a tape recorder and for half an hour, turn out the lights and then just play with a rhythm machine."

"Universal language (of music) is deeper than the surface. That way, when you play cowboy music, even the Japanese will be doing a hillbilly dance."

"I needed to know about discipline. Now I know that out of discipline comes freedom."

"When Tony Williams plays the ride cymbal, there's a lot of melodies in there. Listen to those melodies. A lot of times it's not the pianist who states the theme. It's the drummer."

"Actually, if you don't read music, that doesn't make you ignorant. Birds don't read. Birds can go out there and they'll still have a song in the morning."

"Whatever happens between the 23 hours that you're not onstage is going to affect you when you come onstage."

"When things get too crazy with the world, you can click a switch and go into your own sanctuary and play music that is stronger than the news."

"Whether you are doing it in the bar, the church, the strip joint, or the Himalayas, the first duty of music is to complement and enhance life."