This album was recorded on January 1, 1972, at the Sunshine '72 Festival, inside Diamond Head, Honolulu Hawaii. Ahh the 70's, where there were so many festivals. The Sunshine Festival, also known as Diamond Head Crater Festival ran from 1970-1978. The festival by the end of the decade got too commercial and was in essence shut down by the state. Plans to revive the festival in 2006 fell through. 'Live!' is simply that, a Live record featuring two great performers together. The record clock in a 46 minutes, with the B side being a 25 minute long jam. There are really only 2 singles here that are showcased, "Evil Ways" and "Them Changes", the rest of the record is pretty much a jam.
I got a chance to see Santana last year at my job. Yes I do work in an entertainment venue and I do get to see some pretty good stuff on occasion. It's one of the perks. Of course some of my co workers really didn't have a clue on who Santana was. Recalling the famous Woodstock performance of "Soul Sacrifice" only seemed fitting to describe Santana. For those unfamiliar with the story, during the bands Woodstock performance Carlos was a little out of it, so out of it he swore his guitar he was playing was a giant snake trying to kill him. The rest of the band was about on the same level. Seriously look it up on YouTube, it's a hell of a performance, one of the many that defined Woodstock. I was introduced to Santana at a pretty young age. Growing up and hearing the classics from the band and having a few albums that got played loudly on occasion. I didn't know to much about Buddy Miles until I got into Hendrix and the history of his lineups. Over the years I've grown to appreciate both musicians and their contributions to music.
This LP has maybe been played a handful of times since I came into it. Not sure how I acquired this album really, glad I did though. The rip is split into Side A and Side B. It's a clean record, so real skips or what not. Released on Columbia records in June of 72.
