Santana Comes Home

It was August of 1973 . . . . and Devadip Carlos Santana was feeling ill at ease. He was on tour with Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, who, like himself, traveled the path of Sri Chinmoy. But lately their jazzy, lofty music — showcased on their Love Devotion Surrender album earlier that year — had not been jelling. He doubted whether drummer Billy Cobham, keyboards player Larry Young and bass player Doug Rauch were into the music; nobody was playing together, and Carlos knew you can't have four sergeants in a platoon.

When the tour reached Seattle, Santana heard that Elvin Bishop was playing at the Aquarius, a cavernous beer club. He went back a long way with Bishop, to 1968 at Fillmore West, in fact, when the Paul Butterfield Blues Band with Bishop and Mike Bloomfleld had "started the whole thing" for him. They were the blues band that was happening — they were so strong, they jelled so well together, they played such human, practical music that Carlos couldn't help but be attracted to it "360 degrees-wise."

Filled with curiosity, Santana dropped in on his old inspiration at the Aquarius after his own show. That night, Bishop was playing a more free-form style of blues, with jazz arpeggios and Indian ragalike riffs. Carlos was entranced, but not only by the music: they were having fun.

When Bishop asked him onstage, Carlos asked himself, why not? The music had put him in a happy frame and his own music hadn't done that recently. So Santana and Bishop jammed. As Carlos became more and more delighted by the sounds they were making, he began to dance.

In the audience, another disciple of Sri Chinmoy watched, confused. Was this the same Devadip Carlos Santana who just the previous year had sworn off "earth music" — music that only moved people's pelvises — and who had committed himself to "universal" music, which moved their souls?

The disciple wanted an explanation. After the set, he walked over to Santana and said he had expected more from his brother. In responding, Carlos found himself uttering words he realized were to comprise a new truth for him: "I think the highest form of spirituality is joy. If you don't have that, man, then I don't care for spirituality."