Santana/Sweden 11.17.1972 Soundboard Edition

The West Coast collection of Santana’s relics, which has repeatedly unearthed shocking new discoveries and redefined the very concept of Santana’s live performances, now adds another superb soundboard recording from their 1972 European tour. This recording captures the “Gothenburg performance on November 17, 1972,” in stereo soundboard format. The source of this series is a private archive of a West Coast core collector who passed away a few years ago, digitizing his collection and entrusting it to trusted acquaintances. The renowned discovery label “JEMS” then meticulously examines each recording before releasing them to the public. The Santana collection alone includes legendary masterpieces such as “AMSTERDAM 1972 EARLY SHOW SOUNDBOARD,” “AMSTERDAM 1972 LATE SHOW SOUNDBOARD,” and “PARIS 1972 SOUNDBOARD.” This latest release joins that lineage. What is the position of this recording within such a collection? Let’s start by taking an overview of the activities at that time. 1972 – January 1st + 28th: ​​North America #1 (2 shows) – September 4th – October 30th: North America #2 (16 shows) 《October 11th ‘CARAVANSERAI’ released》 – November 4th – December 5th: Europe #1 (25 shows) ←★HERE★ – December 9th – 17th: North America #3 (5 shows) 1973 – January 18th – April 8th / June 21st: North America #4 (48 shows) ←※SALT LAKE CITY 1973 – June 27th – July 19th: Asia (16 shows) ←※Official LOTUS 《July 20th ‘LOVE DEVOTION SURRENDER’ released》 – July 23rd – August 8th: Oceania (12 shows) – August 12th – September 14th: North America #5 (24 shows) ←※HARTFORD 1973 and others: September 21st – October 21st: Central and South America (21 performances) ← *SAO PAULO 1973 (November 9th release of ‘WELCOME’) November 13th – December 12th: Europe #2 (27 performances) December 31st: San Francisco performance This is Santana in 1972/1973. After the completion of ‘CARAVANSERAI’, Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie left to form JOURNEY, and the band began touring the world with a new lineup including Tom Coster. There are still about eight months until the Osaka performance in July 1973, which produced the masterpiece ‘LOTUS’, but the Gothenburg performance on this album was in the middle of “Europe #1”, which they set out with their new album released just over a month earlier. So let’s narrow down the dates even further. Details of “Europe #1” – November 4th to 16th (10 performances) *November 17th: Gothenburg performance ←★This work★ – November 18th to December 1st (9 performances) *December 3rd ‘AMSTERDAM 1972 EARLY SHOW’ *December 3rd ‘AMSTERDAM 1972 LATE SHOW’ *December 4th ‘PARIS 1972 (Early Show)’ – December 4th + 5th (2 performances) Sound directly connected to the mixing console with freshness that surpasses the previous three works…and so on. Four soundboard recordings have been unearthed from “Europe #1”, but the previously released ‘AMSTERDAM 1972 EARLY SHOW/LATE SHOW’ and ‘PARIS 1972’ are stages that took place in December, and this work is more than half a month earlier than them. It is also the closest record to ‘CARAVANSERAI’. This album, having emerged from the same archive, shares the same sonic lineage as the previous three, directly connected to the mixing console. It sounds as if you’ve snipped the raw, nascent band sound from the side, before it disperses through the PA system and into the venue, without a single layer of audience atmosphere in between. The cheers recede into the distance like mist, replaced by Carlos’s guitar and percussion roaring directly in front of you. Unadorned by the hall’s acoustics, the raw dynamism hits you right in the chest. However, this album is one step higher. It’s significantly clearer than the previous three. The contours of each note stand out sharply, the congas and timbales don’t muddle but stand out, and Carlos’s long tones maintain their core while decaying to the very last drop. Although the generation number isn’t revealed, the exhilarating freshness of this master proves that it’s a remarkably young recording. A Scandinavian night reflecting the journey to Lotus The clear soundboard captures a 1972 performance centered around tracks from the recently released ‘CARAVANSERAI’. Let’s break down the setlist while comparing it to the legendary ‘LOTUS’. Caravanserai – (Going Home/A-1 Funk) Every Step Of The Way/Look Up (To See What’s Coming Down) (★)/Just In Time To See The Sun (★)/Stone Flower (twice) Others – Guardian of Heaven: Samba Pa Ti/Incident At Nashabur/Se A Cabo – Legend of Lotus: Batukada/Xibaba (She-Ba-Ba) – Others: Bambele (★)/Earth (People Make The World Go Round) (★)/Savor/Touissain L’Overture *Note: Tracks marked with “★” were not on the traditional ‘LOTUS’ album. …and so on. The show opens with a medley that flows seamlessly from “Going Home/A-1 Funk” to “Every Step Of The Way.” This opening format, which would be carried over to later sets, is already established here. The following tracks, “Look Up (To See What’s Coming Down)” and “Just In Time To See The Sun,” and “Bambele” in the middle, are numbers not found on the traditional album “LOTUS,” making them selections unique to this period when they were working on “CARAVANSERAI.” The inclusion of a percussion extravaganza with “Batukada” and “Xibaba (She-Ba-Ba)” in “Stone Flower” is also interesting (although it fades out after the reprise). And towards the end, the natural flow from “Earth” into “People Make The World Go Round” is one of the highlights of the day. In 1972, Santana was accelerating its progress towards the peak of “LOTUS” while setting course towards jazz-rock. The sounds that were undeniably heard along the way are now delivered in the freshest possible state from a night in Scandinavia. Among the masterpieces accumulated by the遺品コレクション (relics collection), this is one of the finest in terms of clarity and detail. A stereo soundboard recording of the “Gothenburg performance on November 17, 1972.” This is the latest release from the relics collection, which has produced a string of masterpieces, and while it uses the same direct mixing console connection as ‘PARIS 1972 SOUNDBOARD’ and ‘AMSTERDAM 1972 EARLY / LATE SHOW’, the freshness is a step above. With a clarity that makes it seem as if a veil has been peeled away from the sound image, each note stands out crisply. This is a Scandinavian live album from the eve of Lotus, featuring “Look Up,” “Just In Time To See The Sun,” and “Bambele,” which were not heard on ‘LOTUS’. Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden 17th November 1972 (78:48) 1. Going Home-A1 Funk-Every Step of the Way 2. Samba Pa Ti 3. Look Up (To See What’s Coming Down) 4. Just In Time to See the Sun 5. Incident at Neshabur 6. Bambele 7. Stone Flower 8. Batukada 9. Xibaba (She-Ba-Ba) 10. Stone Flower 11. Earth – People Make The World Go Round 12. Se A Cabo 13. Savor 14. Toussaint L’Overture Carlos Santana – Guitar Leon Thomas – Vocal Tom Coster – Keyboards Richard Kermode – Keyboards Doug Rauch – Bass Michael Shrieve – Drums Chepito Areas – Timbales, Percussion Armando Peraza – Congas, Percussion Jose STEREO SOUNDBOARD RECORDING