Soul Sacrifice

This instrumental piece is the closing track on Santana's debut album. It's powered by the two-conga attack of Michael Carabello and Jose Areas, with Carlos Santana cutting in at various intervals with blistering guitar licks. This African-Latin-rock hybrid was new and different and exciting, and it became a signature sound for the group. "Soul Sacrifice" wasn't hit material (instrumental tracks running 6:37 rarely are), but it quickly became a fan favorite and endured as a staple of their live shows.

The first place most listeners heard this was at Woodstock, where it was one of the more memorable performances of the iconic festival. Santana was a popular live draw in the San Francisco area, but they had yet to release their first album; they got an invite to Woodstock only at the behest of their manager, a heavy hitter named Bill Graham. The band took the stage as the third act on Day 2, going on around 2 p.m. Carlos Santana thought they were going on much later, so he took some mescaline supplied by his friend Jerry Garcia, and was peaking when the performance started. The entire band seemed to be on another level of musical consciousness through the set; by the time they played "Soul Sacrifice" (their seventh number), they were locked in with each other and with the crowd. It captured the spirit of the festival, with everyone sharing a positive energy and putting any differences aside. Santana's self-titled debut album was released two weeks later in the halo of their Woodstock performance. It sold 2 million copies in America and put the band on a path to stardom.

The 8-minute Woodstock performance was included on the official soundtrack from the festival. Leading into the track was the "no rain" chant from the crowd, which actually took place the next day after Joe Cocker's set, but segued nicely into the opening groove of "Soul Sacrifice."