Bsbloom Customs – Update: 9/26/20 Soul Sacrifice
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It’s Saturday, so another S band custom.
For this week,
Abraxas was the second album from Santana, and Samba Pa Ti, or Samba for you, was the only song actually written by Carlos. Another sweet, lyrical instrumental, this one has become a real classic.
The song was not released as a single when Abraxas appeared, but was released a few years later, to help promote their Greatest Hits album. Rather surprisingly, that single marked the first time a Santana song broke into the UK charts. As the band gained fame and popularity, this song also grew in fame and popularity, and became a staple at their concerts for years to come.
This one was requested, and, like I said last week, request, and I’ll try to oblige.
Download: http://customscreators.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/samba-pa-ti-r26592
It’s Saturday, and time for a Steppenwolf custom. It is also the Fourth of July. Happy Fourth, everyone. And, for Independence Day, there can only be one Steppenwolf song, no choice here at all.
America, where are you now?
Don’t you care about your sons and daughters?
Don’t you know, we need you now.
We can’t fight alone against the monster.Yes, their incredible three-part Rock Opera, Monster, Suicide, America:
The song seems timeless, seems like it was written yesterday, not half a century ago. Verses like
We don’t know how to mind our own business
‘Cause the whole world’s got to be just like us.
Now we are fighting a war over there.
No matter who’s the winner we can’t pay the cost.aren’t about Afghanistan, but they could be.
Verses like
The cities have turned into jungles.
And corruption is stranglin’ the land.
The police force is watching the people.
And the people just can’t understand.refer to Chicago and Los Angeles, but they could be about Atlanta and Minneapolis.
The Monster is really any politician, from any party, from any era.
When I started this, I checked out some live concert footage, then settled on the Studio cut. One video I found seemed to be from a concert in February, 2017. The video footage playing behind the stage had pictures of our newly inaugurated president. That was really cool – the band had reunited and gave a protest concert in 2017! Turns out that was all bullshit. A closer look at the video revealed that the footage was from an old concert, and the poster had simply replaced some of the video with pictures of Donald Trump.
Drums by AJFOne23, and the drums are great. Thanks.
Download: http://customscreators.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/monster-suicide-america-r26713
Video Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk3sURDS4IA
Again, have a great holiday.
Good stuff
” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif” />Keeping the content Canadian since 2017!
SomeOldGuys: https://db.c3universe.com/songs/all/__user/someoldguys
MrPrezident: https://db.c3universe.com/songs/all/__user/MrPrezidentPer request, for this week:
In 1999, Santana went off in a new direction, aiming at a wider audience, aiming for more pop, and less jazz. They released Supernatural, which was mostly collaboration works with other artists. The album was a massive success, with six major singles smashing the charts. Almost every track “featured” somebody famous. The first single released was Smooth, featuring Rob Thomas, from Matchbox Twenty.
Smooth, by the way, is one of two Santana song charts put out by Harmonix. Great, great chart. If you don’t have it, buy it! The other Harmonix song is Black Magic Woman. If you don’t have that, SKIP IT! That one is a travesty – they took the most iconic Santana song, chopped it off at the half-way point, released just that, and said “let it be enough.” It isn’t. That butchery still pisses me off.
Put Your Lights On was another hit single, written by Everlast, a dark tune, composed after he had a heart attack, with lyrics like:
Hey now all you children
Leave your lights on
You better leave your lights on
Because there’s a monster
Living under my bed
Whispering in my earJudging from this week, and last, I seem to be stuck on monsters. Oh well.
The drum chart is by AJFOne23.
Video Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCBS5EtszYI
Download: http://customscreators.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/put-your-lights-on-feat-r26881
A classic Santana cover this week:
This song was a Beatles hit, written by George Harrison. Santana covered this on their Guitar Heaven double album, from 2010. The song features stunning vocals, by India Arie, moving backing by the incomparable Yo Yo Ma on cello (which I charted to keys), and Carlos on two guitars, acoustic for the first half, then driving electric. A beautiful rendition. Enjoy.
Preview Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-5M1_DKvb0
Download:
http://customscreators.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/while-my-guitar-gently-weep-r26948
For this week:
This is a very old love ballad, and no one seems to know who wrote the song. The song was first recorded by Bo Carter and Papa Charlie McCoy, in 1928. Later, it would become a rock staple, with versions recorded by Big Joe Turner (1956), Bill Haley (1959), Ray Peterson (1960), Dean Martin (1963), and Bob Dylan (1963).
To me, Steppenwolf and love ballads … they don’t exactly go together. Of, if they are going to make a love ballad, it will sound more like Sookie, Sookie, not Corina, Corina. I think they knew this didn’t fit their image, and they never released a studio version of Corina.
Still, I think it is a great song, and I am happy to include it in my Steppenwolf list. Plus, I can never resist a love ballad.
Download:
http://customscreators.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/corina-corina-r27030
Preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PW8LaRU2i4
See you next Saturday.
Back to Santana. My last two offerings were Put Your Lights On and While My Guitar Gently Weeps, both from the modern Santana, when the group moved from jazz and Latin to more popular, chart-friendly songs. This shift really dates back to 1978, and the Inner Secrets album. I am going to pull charts from that album for the next few weeks.
First up:
Many of the songs on Inner Secrets were covers of famous pieces, but Open Invitation was a Santana original, written by several members of the group. The tune is also much more pop-friendly than previous Santana hits. Well, pop until near the end when Carlos unleashes a killer solo.
Download: http://customscreators.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/open-invitation-r27087
Next up, from the Inner Secrets album,
Stormy was a huge hit from 1968, by the Classics IV. The song was written by Buddy Buie, writer and producer for the Classics IV, and by James Cobb, their guitarist. The song reached #5 on the US charts. I’ve always liked that tune, but Santana’s version has, well, Santana, and is just better. I think you will agree. Have a Stormy day.
Download: http://customscreators.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/stormy-r27150
Video Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTGuTkbY7As
My third release from the Inner Secrets album is
Well All Right was a Buddy Holly hit, released in 1958. It has been covered dozens of times, by many artists. Blind Faith, in 1969, did a version which placed much more emphasis on guitar work. Santana’s arrangement follows Blind Faith, rather than Buddy Holly.
Well All Right, like most songs from this album, was a successful single release. Oddly enough, it had its best success in the Netherlands, where it cracked the top 40.
The song fits well on our platform, with a little bit of fun for every instrument. The glory, of course, goes to the guitarist.
Hope you like.
Download: http://customscreators.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/well-all-right-r27224
Only two of the tracks from Inner Secrets were not released as singles. The album was quite a success, but it did contain the usual debris, two songs that were, well, duds, and not worth pushing as singles. One of these was Dealer/Spanish Rose:
This is a pretty strange evaluation, because, to me, this is the best song on the album. The work combines two songs, Dealer, a minor Traffic hit from 1967, and Spanish Rose, an instrumental written by Carlos. At one point, in Spanish Rose, Carlos Santana, with his guitar, and Chris Rhyne, on keys, duel each other. That back-and-forth is brilliant. I also love the way the two songs are melded together. Musical genius. If you are even a casual Santana fan, you have to try this song out.
AJFOne23 did the drum chart.
I put a little pressure on AJ for this one – told him I wanted to release it in three weeks. He got it to me the next morning!
Download: http://customscreators.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/dealer-spanish-rose-r27274
Time for my last song from Inner Secrets.
As I mentioned before, most songs off the album were released as singles. The two biggest hits were Open Invitation, and One Chain (Don’t Make No Prison)
One Chain is much more disco than typical Santana, and the album version has a long percussion/bass section in the middle, with a real dance feel.
The song is a People song, released in 1970. It was covered, quite successfully, by the Four Tops, a few years later, and then by Santana.
I found the lyrics strange, at least as an author. I rely, quite heavily, on the various lyric sites on the Web when I chart vocals. They are usually quite accurate – much better than my ear. But here, what I thought I heard, and what they claimed I should be hearing, were very different. Frustrating!
Finally, I looked up the lyrics to the Four Tops version, and found, exactly, what I was hearing Santana sing. So, I used those lyrics. It is very puzzling.
The drums, like last week, are by AJFOne23.
Download: http://customscreators.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/one-chain-dont-make-n-r27337
Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gC24OoIwwg
Next week, maybe a little Sookie?
For this Saturday, another Steppenwolf release:
Sookie Sookie is the first song off their first album, and one of the three singles released off that debut.
This is a fun song, and fun to play, and a song that most of you have probably heard. Not their best song, or even the best song on their first album, but I like it, and I like it in game mode.
One interesting point about the song: The song changes key mid-way through. This seems to be a Steppenwolf trick. I first noticed it charting Monster, but ascribed that to the fact that Monster was really three smaller songs put together into one long set. But Sookie is one simple song, yet changes speed and key. It reminded me of the Beach Boys – raise the tempo, raise the pitch, and finish big. Steppenwolf, even with their very first song, played fascinating music.
Download: http://customscreators.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/sookie-sookie-r27392
Starting this week, I am going to turn to Santana’s very early days, taking songs off their first album. First up, the wonderful classic, Jingo (or Jin-Go-Lo-Ba).
Jingo was written by Babatunde Olatunji, in 1959, and released on his first album, Drums of Passion. If you are curious, you can listen to this first version here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYhFyF8dvU4
Olatunji has commented that he made royalty moneys from only one song off that album, Jingo, of course. A big thanks to Santana.
When I listen to Santana’s take on that song, my body wants to dance. I can’t help it. The song is dance. A great, great song. There are lyrics, of course, but they simply repeat jingo, and jingo-lo-ba, or, in Olatunji’s native tongue, “Don’t worry.”
Check out this YouTube version of Santana playing the song,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xji_zbNtHIA
and watch all the dancers. It is magic.
Hope you like some early Santana – more to come next Saturday.
Download: http://customscreators.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/jingo-r27447
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