Carlos Santana

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Santana's Seminal Second Album 'Abraxas' Turns 50 | For The Record

Relive the magic of Santana's 1970 sophomore album containing some of the band's most recognizable songs such as "Black Magic Woman" and "Oye Como Va"

Nate Hertweck

GRAMMYs

Sep 16, 2020 - 12:48 pm

Half a century ago, and almost three decades before Carlos Santana and company went Supernatural, psychedelic Latin rockers Santana released their legendary second studio album, Abraxas, on Sept. 23, 1970.

For The Record: Santana's 'Abraxas'

The band borrowed the album's aptly dazzing title from a book called Demian credited to Emil Sinclair, a pen name of author Hermann Hesse, who also wrote Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, and The Glass Bead Game. Watch the latest edition of For The Record in the video above to find out where the band got the colorful artwork on the album cover.

The music of Abraxas yielded some of Santana's biggest hits: "Black Magic Woman," "Oye Como Va" and "Hope You Feel Better." The band went on to win eight GRAMMY Awards and rock music has never been the same since Abraxas.

In 1999, the album was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame. Learn more about the classic status of Abraxas by watching the episode above.

Grammys Newsletter

Carlos Santana

Photo: Kevin Winter/WireImage

News

Santana, 'Abraxas': For The Record

Revisit the album that proved rock music's emerging ability to experiment could integrate diverse traditions and intoxicate young audiences

Philip Merrill

GRAMMYs

Sep 28, 2018 - 5:42 pm

After their success at the summer rock festival Woodstock in Aug. 1969 and the contemporary release of their debut self-titled album, guitarist Carlos Santana and his band Santana put out their follow-up, Abraxas, in Sept. 1970. His lead guitar and the album's eclectic combination of rock, Latin rhythms and experimental creativity captured the spirit of the times, filled with a sense of potential new experiences.

For The Record: Santana's 'Abraxas'

By Oct. 1970, Abraxas reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200. On the Hot 100 in early 1971, its single "Black Magic Woman" peaked at No. 4, and "Oye Como Va" reached No. 13 a few months later — reinterpreting the Tito Puente cha-cha as rock and helping to prove the flourishing genre's ability to bring new relevance to compositions from other musical traditions.

A San Francisco Bay local, Carlos Santana got his break from Fillmore promoter Bill Graham. An origin myth Santana doesn't remember the same way has Graham discovering the youngster after he snuck into the venue's office. "I was a kid right out of high school and nobody else was putting on shows like Bill did then," he remembered, explaining why he was always around.

As locals, they could fill in for missing bands on the schedule in a flash. Graham wrote in his autobiography, "To this day, Santana is still the only band ever to headline the Fillmore without having made a record."

Thanks to their excellence and reflecting the cultural moment, happenstance became legend. The band's second album was added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2016. Shortly before the close of the millennium, Abraxas was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame, in 1999 — the year Carlos Santana's album Supernatural was released, taking him to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for the third time, from a career-total of four times so far. At the 42nd GRAMMY Awards, he won in eight categories, including Album Of The Year and Best Rock Album.

Marvin Gaye 'Let's Get It On' | For The Record

Angela Aguilar

Photo: David Crotty/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images

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Angela Aguilar's Amazing Journey To GRAMMY-Nominated Artist | For The Record

Trace Aguilar's soaring success all the way back to her musical roots in the latest edition of For The Record

Nate Hertweck

GRAMMYs

Aug 19, 2020 - 4:03 pm

From the very beginning, GRAMMY- and Latin GRAMMY-nominated artist Ángela Aguilar had music in her heart. Aguilar's father is GRAMMY-winning mariachi singer/songwriter Pepe Aguilar, her grandfather was the late GRAMMY-nominated master mariachi singer and Mexican Cinema Golden Era actor Antonio Aguilar and her grandmother is the prolific Mexican singer and actress Flor Silvestre. But even with such musically auspicious beginnings, Ángela has carved out a style and an audience all her own.

Angela Aguilar's Amazing Journey | For The Record

In the latest edition of GRAMMY.com's For The Record, we take a look back at Aguilar's rise from being born in 2003 into "La Dinastía Aguilar" to garnering global superstar status.

Ángela's musical start came at age 9, when she released Nueva Tradición with her older brother Leonardo in 2012. Her debut solo album arrived in 2018, Primera Soy Mexicana, and earned the singer her first career GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY nominations.

In 2019, Aguilar performed alongside Aida Cuevas and Natalia Lafourcade perform an unforgettable rendition of "La Llorona" at the 61st GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony.

Also in 2019, she showed even more of her range, delivering her first recorded performance in English when she covered Lady Gaga's "Shallow" for the Recording Academy's ReImagined series

Angela Aguilar Covers Lady Gaga's "Shallow"

Earlier this year, on Jan. 31, she released Baila Esta Cumbia, a very special tribute album to late GRAMMY-winning legend Selena. In June, she released "Que No Se Apague la Música," an at-home concert video to benefit MusiCares. The dynamic performance was filmed at her home in Zacatecas, Mexico, and dedicated to the music community, the doctors and nurses fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and her loyal fans.

Aguilar has accomplished so much in her career already, her fans everywhere eagerly await her next project. Watch the full video above to find out more about Aguilar in the latest edition of For The Record.

Meet The First-Time GRAMMY Nominee: Angela Aguilar On Her Culture And Family Legacy

David Bowie

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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David Bowie's '…Ziggy Stardust…' | For The Record

Return to the time when one of a generation's greatest artists introduced one of his most memorable characters

Nate Hertweck

GRAMMYs

Aug 14, 2018 - 5:02 pm

"Ziggy played guitar…"

Three years after he created the character of Major Tom in his breakout hit, "Space Oddity," and four years before the Thin White Duke arrived on Station To Station, art-rock icon David Bowie introduced the world to a new alter-ego that would immortalize both the character and its creator.

David Bowie's '…Ziggy Stardust…' | For The Record

The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars was released June 16, 1972, Bowie's fifth studio album and perhaps the most widely recognizable and identifiable project of his career. Visually, the character of Ziggy Stardust would become emblazoned in the memory of pop culture history. Musically, he had the rock and roll universe singing along to something entirely new.

Recorded in London's Trident Studios in late 1971 and early 1972, the album was produced by Ken Scott. Even today, over 45 years after its release, …Ziggy Stardust… seems to careen through the universe as something entirely new, encapsulating a spaceman's journey through the cosmos as told by an androgynous storyteller. In an era where concept albums began to take over the art-rock cannon, Bowie and Scott achieved a special blend of conceptual cohesion and sonic and artistic experimentation.

From the album's orchestral space take-off opening track, "Five Years," and the psychedelic trip of "Moonage Daydream" though well-known Bowie classics such as "Starman" and "Ziggy Stardust" to raucous rock anthems such as the "Star" and "Suffragette City," …Ziggy Stardust… dances, soars, rambles, and rocks.

Bowie's vocal range from fragile croon to rebel roar is on full display, and the Mick Ronson-led Spiders From Mars build an adventurous musical backdrop to the album's concepts, making for one of the greatest of many great projects Bowie gave us during his career.

In 1999, The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame. In 2017, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or artistically significant" by the Library of Congress.

Just two days after his 69th birthday and the release of what would be his final masterpiece, Blackstar, Bowie died on Jan. 10, 2016. The lasting legacy of …Ziggy Stardust… lives on as a compelling time capsule to be dug up, appreciated and enjoyed by generations of music fans to come.

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Guns N' Roses

Photo: Jack Lue/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

News

Guns N' Roses 'Appetite For Destruction' | For The Record

Revisit the album that delivered fun and games and changed rock and roll forever

Nate Hertweck

GRAMMYs

May 24, 2018 - 2:04 pm

Guns N' Roses erupted out of Hollywood's Sunset Strip like a perfect storm of raw punk energy, rock and roll swagger, and enough post-glam aggression to blow any house down. Their debut album, Appetite For Destruction, perfectly captured the chaos and debauchery — along with a touch of tenderness — on its way to becoming the best-selling debut album in U.S. history with over 18 million copies sold.

Guns N' Roses: 'Appetite ...' | For The Record

Released July 21, 1987, Appetite … arrived at the peak of glam metal's heyday, and while they drafted off the popular genre's aesthetic, there was something much more unpredictable and volatile about GN'R, and that intangible magnetism comes through on their debut. Produced by Mike Clink, the album introduced the world to frontman Axl Rose's masterful whisper-to-a-shriek vocals and lead guitarist Slash's tasteful-sustain-to-blues-on-speed guitar playing.

From the opening delay-soaked guitar notes of "Welcome To The Jungle" to the epic album closer, "Rocket Queen," there's no coming up for air on Appetite For Destruction. Even the album's implied ballad, "Sweet Child 'O Mine" managed to surprise, introducing one of the most enduring opening guitar riffs ever written, showing a sensitive side of Rose, and building into one of Slash's most iconic guitar solos that explodes into a flurry of notes before breaking all the way down to a soft-spoken chant. It seemed like Guns N' Roses could go anywhere they wanted to go on their debut album.

This same invincibility could be felt on the album's more anthemic singles "Paradise City" and "Nightrain" which featured Rose's angst-heavy verses set against melodic choruses that would have stadium audiences singing along. The album also covered edgier ground in the unhinged "Out Ta Get Me" and "You're Crazy," and showcased the group's versatility and ambition in songs such as "My Michelle" and "Think About You"— territory that would be explored further in the G N'R Lies EP and Use Your Illusion albums that would follow.

GN'R released five singles from the album, "It's So Easy," "Welcome To The Jungle," "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Nightrain," and "Paradise City." Appetite… mounted a slow climb up the charts, finally reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in August of 1988, almost a full year after it entered the chart at No. 182. Rolling Stone ranked the album No. 62 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Three decades later, Appetite For Destruction remains one of the most popular and influential rock albums ever recorded. Guns N' Roses reunited in 2016 for the Not In This Lifetime… Tour in 2017 and will commemorate their debut album with Locked N' Loaded, a massive 73-track box-set full of rarities and a remastered two-LP 180-gram vinyl version of Appetite…, due out on June 29.

Santana's Seminal Second Album 'Abraxas' Turns 50 | For The Record

GRAMMYs Newsletter

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For The Record: Carlos Santana

Guns N' Roses 'Appetite For Destruction' | For The Record

Nirvana's 'Nevermind': For The Record

David Bowie's '…Ziggy Stardust…' | For The Record

Revisit The Beatles' 'Revolver'

For The Record: N.W.A's 'Straight Outta Compton'

Revisit Janet Jackson's 'Rhythm Nation 1814'

Bob Marley & The Wailers' 'Exodus': For The Record

Metallica: "One" | For The Record

Pearl Jam: 'Ten' | For The Record

For The Record: John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme'

Madonna: 'Ray Of Light' | For The Record

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For The Record: Linda Ronstadt’s 'Canciones ...'

Alanis Morissette: 'Jagged Little Pill'

For The Record: 'The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill'

For The Record: Amy Winehouse's 'Back To Black'

For The Record: 'From A Room: Volume 1'

For The Record: CeCe Winans, 'Let Them Fall … '

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Kendrick Lamar, 'DAMN.': For The Record

For The Record: Bruno Mars' '24K Magic'

For The Record: Adele, '25'

For The Record: Taylor Swift's '1989'

For The Record: Beck's 'Morning Phase'

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For The Record: B.B. King's "Auld Lang Syne"

For The Record: Cole's "The Christmas Song"

For The Record: 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'

For The Record: 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?'

For The Record: Harrison's 'All Things Must Pass'

For The Record: Pink Floyd's 'The Wall'

For The Record: Bee Gees' 'Saturday Night Fever'

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