Santana - Special Edition EP

Amazon.com

While one might be tempted to sum up this DVD as a "for Santana completists only" type of affair, it only seems right to point at that even Santana fanatics should pause before shelling out for this modestly priced collection, which despite its attempts at creative packaging essentially features one multi-artist 1971 concert at Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert itself features noteworthy performances by that era's big names in music, including Taj Mahal, Johnny & Edgar Winter, and It's a Beautiful Day. The fact that the producers of this DVD chose to extract the two performances of "Medley" and "Soul Sacrifice" by Santana as the feature of this disc is ironic because it is during these performances that the concert's video and audio quality are at their worst; one is hard pressed to pick out the members of the band as they bounce in and out of grainy shadows and light. Anyone interested in the aforementioned bands or this period in American rock might find this interesting viewing, but Santana fans would be better advised to stick with the group's legendary performance at Woodstock. --Karl Wachter

Customer Reviews:

Full Track Listing.......2007-01-19

The full track listing for this dvd is:

TAJ MAHAL
01. Riverside
02. Sweet Mama Janisse
03. Oh Susannah
JOHNNY WINTER
04. Johnny Be Good
05. Mama, You've Got A Daughter
06. Tell The Truth
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY
07. Soapstone Mountain
08. White Bird
SANTANA
09. Gumbo
10. Soul Sacrifice

It is well worth the money especially for IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY.

This is a waste of your money.......2004-01-18

I love Santana. I also love the song "White Bird" from It's A Beautiful Day. So when I saw this, I scooped it up. It even says it is in DTS so I was very anxious to watch and listen. Was I in for a let down. The audio is the worst I have ever heard on A DVD. A 78RPM record sounds better. The film footage was most likely shot by drug-induced hippies. Shaky, out of focus, bad lighting, you name it. Unless you are a die-hard fan of the early 70's and want this for historical purposes only, do yourself a favor and pass this one by.

A time capsule worth owning.......2003-07-24

While I can see that Santana fans could feel a little cheated by the packaging of this DVD this is still well worth owning for fans of Seventies music, and for me Johnny Winter in particular who seems to be difficult to find on film ( and gets three numbers here ).
This concert performance of what amounts to a CBS records tour package is great value for the price and although poorly shot and recorded ( it even has some badly overdubbed crowd noise )captures the moment in time quite perfectly.

Is that Santana in the shadows????.......2003-04-05

The DVD's title "Santana" and front cover photo of Carlos are rather deceiving since it only features two performances ("Medley" & "Soul Sacrifice") by the Santana band. The balance of the video features performances by Taj Mahal, Johnny & Edgar Winter, and It's a Beautiful Day. Recorded "Live" in 1971 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the video quality is very, very poor. Want a better idea of the video quality? Take a look of the band photo from the Abraxas album which is dark and grainy. There is nothing worth viewing in this bootleg DVD that isn't already worth watching in higher quality DVD titles such as "Woodstock", "Supernatural", "Sacred Fire-Live in South America", or the VHS video "Viva Santana".

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