Amigos | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 26, 1976 | |||
Studio | Wally Heider Studios San Francisco | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 41:14 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | David Rubinson | |||
Santana chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Amigos | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Christgau's Record Guide | B [2] |
Rolling Stone | (not rated) [3] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Amigos is the seventh studio album by Santana released in 1976. It generated a minor U.S. hit single in "Let It Shine" and was the band's first album to hit the top ten on the Billboard charts since Caravanserai in 1972 (it ultimately reached gold record status). In Europe, the song "Europa" was released as a single and became a top ten hit in several countries.
New vocalist Greg Walker joined the group. It would be the last Santana album to include original bassist David Brown.
This album has been mixed and released in stereo and quadraphonic.
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [25] | Gold | 50,000^ |
France (SNEP) [26] | 2× Gold | 200,000* |
Germany | — | 150,000 [27] |
Italy | — | 160,000 [27] |
Netherlands (NVPI) [28] | Gold | 35,000 [28] |
United Kingdom (BPI) [29] | Silver | 60,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [30] | Gold | 500,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
The album Amigos (1976) was designed by Japanese artist Tadanori Yokoo [31] . The cover features a psychedelic-style Mayan man and woman standing on a jungle cliff, surrounded by vintage advertising imagery of drumming “natives,” wild animals, and a looming black void. The interior artwork includes images of Jesus, Buddha, and Kali set against cosmic backdrops, full-bleed gold printing, an Archigram-like diagram of a pyramid concert, and live photographs from a Santana performance.
Yokoo had previously designed the cover for Lotus (1974), which holds the record for the most facings on a gatefold vinyl LP (22). The elaborate packaging, created for Santana’s Tour of Japan recording, was produced by CBS/Sony and cost approximately £30,000 to manufacture. [32]