Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin - Love Devotion Surrender (Translucent Gold vinyl)
John McLaughlin - guitar, piano [click here to see more vinyl featuring John McLaughlin]
Carlos Santana - guitar [click here to see more vinyl featuring Carlos Santana]
Larry Young (org); Doug Rauch (b); Armando Peraza (cga); Billy Cobham, Don Alias, Jan Hammer, Mike Shrieve (dr)
Written by John McLaughlin (A3, B2) and John Coltrane (A1-2)
B1 is a traditional song.
1 LP, Gatefold sleeve
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : Translucent gold & red swirl
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Pallas
Label : Friday Music
Original Label : Columbia
Recording: 1973 by Glen Kolotkin
Production: John McLaughlin & Carlos Santana
Originally released in 1973
Reissued in 2015
Tracks :
Side A :
- A Love Supreme
- Naima
- The Life Divine
Side B :
1. Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord
2. Meditation
Reviews:
« A hopelessly misunderstood record in its time by Santana fans -- they were still reeling from the radical direction shift toward jazz on Caravanserai and praying it was an aberration -- it was greeted by Santana devotees with hostility, contrasted with kindness from major-league critics like Robert Palmer. To hear this recording in the context of not only Carlos Santana's development as a guitarist, but as the logical extension of the music of John Coltrane and Miles Davis influencing rock musicians -- McLaughlin, of course, was a former Davis sideman -- this extension makes perfect sense in the post-Sonic Youth, post-rock era. With the exception of Coltrane's "Naima" and McLaughlin's "Meditation," this album consists of merely three extended guitar jams played on the spiritual ecstasy tip -- both men were devotees of guru Shri Chinmoy at the time. The assembled band included members of Santana's band and the Mahavishnu Orchestra in Michael Shrieve, Billy Cobham, Doug Rauch, Armando Peraza, Jan Hammer (playing drums!), and Don Alias. But it is the presence of the revolutionary jazz organist Larry Young -- a colleague of McLaughlin's in Tony Williams' Lifetime band -- that makes the entire project gel. He stands as the great communicator harmonically between the two very different guitarists whose ideas contrasted enough to complement one another in the context of Young's aggressive approach to keep the entire proceeding in the air. In the acknowledgement section of Coltrane's "A Love Supreme," which opens the album, Young creates a channel between Santana's riotous, transcendent, melodic runs and McLaughlin's rapid-fire machine-gun riffing. Young' double-handed striated chord voicings offered enough for both men to chew on, leaving free-ranging territory for percussive effects to drive the tracks from underneath. Check "Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord," which was musically inspired by Bobby Womack's "Breezing" and dynamically foreshadowed by Pharoah Sanders' read of it, or the insanely knotty yet intervallically transcendent "The Life Divine," for the manner in which Young's organ actually speaks both languages simultaneously. Young is the person who makes the room for the deep spirituality inherent in these sessions to be grasped for what it is: the interplay of two men who were not merely paying tribute to Coltrane, but trying to take his ideas about going beyond the realm of Western music to communicate with the language of the heart as it united with the cosmos. After three decades, Love Devotion Surrender still sounds completely radical and stunningly, movingly beautiful. » AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek
For some, "Love Devotion Surrender" is an album where, exceptionally, John McLaughlin plays the piano and organist Jan Hammer plays the drums. For others, it is the most spiritual album ever by Carlos Santana. And though both disciples were shown the way and inspired by the same guru (Sri Chinmoy) at one and the same time, this album is filled with the spirit of John Coltrane. In order to communicate their differing understanding and interpretation of Trane's music, the two musicians formed a 'project band' made up of members of Santana's ensemble and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. In their performance of "Love Supreme", Santana's somewhat dragging melody-maker role amalgamates with McLaughlin's high-speed staccato to a viscous drive. This approach functions just as well in slow motion: Coltrane's miniature, slow composition "Naima" is performed in a flowing and inspired manner by the duo on their acoustic guitars.
The arrangements carry Santana's hallmark: the occasionally somewhat intellectual but certainly not long-pondered-over sound is enhanced by the sound of agitated congo beats and the chanted vocals are heard as if from afar. By the time fans of Santana's major albums have got to the expansive gospel song "Let Us Go Into The House", they will have rediscovered their Carlos and his timeless solos once again. It is apparent that love and devotion are by no means just memorials of a time gone by but a surrender to oneself in its most perfect form.
Ratings :
Allmusic : 4.5 / 5 , Discogs :