Caravanserai (album)

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Caravanserai
Caravanserai album cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 11, 1972 (1972-10-11)
RecordedFebruary 21 – May 5, 1972
StudioColumbia Studios, San Francisco, California
Genre
Length51:33
Label
Producer
Santana chronology
Santana
(1971)
Caravanserai
(1972)
Welcome
(1973)
Carlos Santana chronology
Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live!
(1972)
Caravanserai
(1972)
Love Devotion Surrender
(1973)

Caravanserai is the fourth studio album by American rock band Santana, released on October 11, 1972. The album marked a period of transition for Santana as it was the band's last to feature several key early members, while shifting in a more instrumental, progressive jazz fusion direction. It sold in fewer quantities than the band's previous chart-topping albums, stalling at No. 8 on the Billboard LPs chart, but has been critically acclaimed.

Contents

Release and promotion

The album was mixed and released in both stereo and quadraphonic. It was released on October 11, 1972. The album was supported with a tour, which spanned the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Oceania and lasted from September 1972 to December 1973. The shows on July 3 and 4, 1973 at the Osaka Kosei Nenkin Kaikan in Osaka, Japan, were released as the triple vinyl LP Lotus .

The inner cover carried a quote by Paramahansa Yogananda:

The body melts into the universe.
The universe melts into the soundless voice.
The sound melts into the all-shining light.
And the light enters the bosom of infinite joy.

[1] [2]

In 2000 SME records in Japan, part of Sony Music, released the remastered version as an SACD, in stereo only. [3] In 2022 SME records released the remastered version as an SACD in both stereo and quadraphonic. [4]

The album was remastered in 2003 for re-release on Legacy/Columbia/SME.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [5]
Christgau's Record Guide B− [6]
Rolling Stone (not rated) [7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [9]

The album reached number eight in the Billboard 200 chart and number six in the R&B Albums chart in 1972. [10]

The album was regarded as an artistic success, but the musical changes that began on its release in 1972 marked the start of a fall in Santana's commercial popularity. In a 2013 interview, drummer and album co-producer Michael Shrieve recalled that Columbia Records president Clive Davis, upon first hearing the finished album, told Santana he was committing "career suicide."

A 1976 review in Rolling Stone by Ralph Gleason said the album affirmed and "speaks directly to the universality of man, both in the sound of the music and in the vocals." [11] Caravanserai was also voted number 609 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). [12]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation" (instrumental)Tom Rutley, Neal Schon, Michael Shrieve 4:28
2."Waves Within" (instrumental) Doug Rauch, Gregg Rolie, Carlos Santana 3:54
3."Look Up (To See What's Coming Down)" (instrumental)Rauch, Rolie, Santana3:00
4."Just in Time to See the Sun"Rolie, Santana, Shrieve2:18
5."Song of the Wind" (instrumental)Rolie, Santana, Schon6:04
6."All the Love of the Universe"Santana, Schon7:40
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Future Primitive" (instrumental) José Areas, Mingo Lewis4:12
8."Stone Flower" Antônio Carlos Jobim (music)
Santana, Shrieve (lyrics)
6:15
9."La Fuente del Ritmo" (instrumental)Lewis4:34
10."Every Step of the Way" (instrumental)Shrieve9:05
Total length:51:33

On the Q8 quad version, [13] "Song of the Wind" and "La Fuente del Ritmo"—the next to last tracks on each side of the LP—were traded to even the timing for the tape.

Personnel

Production

April 6, recorded All the Love of the Universe

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [24] Gold50,000^
France (SNEP) [25] Gold100,000*
United States (RIAA) [26] Platinum1,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

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