If Van Morrison can play "Astral Weeks" at the Hollywood Bowl can’t the original Santana get together there and perform "Abraxas"?<\/p>\n
Hey, it doesn’t even have to be the original players.\u00c2\u00a0 Just as long they only perform music from that era.\u00c2\u00a0 Not the bogus "Supernatural" crap from the Clive Davis period.\u00c2\u00a0 Create new stuff like the old stuff and I’m interested.\u00c2\u00a0 Sell out by playing the modern game and you’re no different from that bozo Rod Stewart performing classics his audience hated during his original reign, JT covering tracks you never need to hear again.\u00c2\u00a0 We want Carlos’ sustain, played to some Latin-infused rock with Rob Thomas nowhere in sight.<\/p>\n
Why do I care?<\/p>\n
BECAUSE BLACK MAGIC WOMAN IS MY FAVORITE SONG ON GUITAR HERO!<\/p>\n
If you’d asked me a year ago what my favorite cut on "Abraxas" was, I’d have said "Mother’s Daughter".\u00c2\u00a0 It’s pure sex.\u00c2\u00a0 With that organ intro giving you the power to make your entrance, that distorted guitar representing your erection and then the song goes off into WILD PASSION!<\/p>\n
My second favorite was always "Hope You’re Feeling Better".\u00c2\u00a0 I love the ATTITUDE!<\/p>\n
Still, about a year ago, I became enraptured by "Incident At Neshabur".\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what it sounds like, a scurrying about after an incident in the agora.\u00c2\u00a0 This isn’t calculated, the band is locked in without thinking about it.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s the glory of seeing great musicians in action.\u00c2\u00a0 They can do what we can’t.\u00c2\u00a0 We admire their ability to transcend the present, to levitate the whole room.<\/p>\n
And of course there’s a great take of "Oye Como Va".<\/p>\n
But all these years later, when I hear "Black Magic Woman", the hit that I pushed the button on in the seventies, really a Fleetwood Mac track, my blood starts to pulse, I stand up and pay attention, I wait for my turn, to hit those notes and bend that whammy bar!<\/p>\n
I’ve switched allegiance to Guitar Hero.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s got better songs than Rock Band.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s all about the songs.\u00c2\u00a0 The ones you remember, the ones in your DNA, playing them brings you right back to how you felt when they were hits.\u00c2\u00a0 But there’s no sense of nostalgia, playing "Sunshine Of Your Love" on Guitar Hero is BETTER than seeing the reunited Cream’s dash for cash.\u00c2\u00a0 Because tapping your plastic guitar you’re involved!\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not like going to a museum, rather the song truly comes alive, it breathes.<\/p>\n
Still, that’s not as much fun as playing "Black Magic Woman".\u00c2\u00a0 Because of Carlos’ SUSTAIN!\u00c2\u00a0 You’re not only hitting the notes, you’re HOLDING THEM!\u00c2\u00a0 Wringing all the power, all the sensuousness out of each.<\/p>\n
You crank the music to the max, maybe even bump the play level up a notch, you can’t think about anything else, it’s like skiing, it demands all of your attention, and it delivers an incredible rush.<\/p>\n
Then there’s the big finish.\u00c2\u00a0 3:45 in.\u00c2\u00a0 This is the test.\u00c2\u00a0 Can you match Carlos note for note?\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve held your own this long.\u00c2\u00a0 Ah, the SATISFACTION when you nail it!<\/p>\n
You don’t want to play alone.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s best with an assembled multitude.\u00c2\u00a0 Egging you on, maybe playing along.<\/p>\n
And when the song ends and the crowd cheers, you laugh hysterically, through your sweat.<\/p>\n
Since "Abraxas" fit no niche in its heyday, it’s still fresh today.<\/p>\n
Some people don’t need new hits.\u00c2\u00a0 They hit the peaks once, you want to see them reach them again.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s best with those focused on playing more than songwriting.\u00c2\u00a0 Those who can stretch out and improvise, who can make the songs come alive in a new way today.<\/p>\n
I don’t need an exact replication, I just need the volume so loud I can’t talk to the person next to me.\u00c2\u00a0 Better yet, let me come with my plastic Gibson and let me play along to the notes on the giant screen!<\/p>\n
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