Havana Moon is a solo album by Carlos Santana, released in 1983.
It features covers of Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry songs and performances by Booker T Jones, Willie Nelson and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and also Carlos' father José singing "Vereda Tropical", a song Carlos had first heard when his father was serenading his mother following an argument.
Reception
J. D. Considine of Rolling Stone deemed Carlos Santana recording Tex-Mex music to be a natural fit, and felt that the Fabulous Thunderbirds were ideal collaborators for such a project. He particularly praised the renditions of "Who Do you Love" and "Havana Moon" for throwing in inspired Tex-Mex elements while staying true to the appeal of the original recordings. However, he found the album's roaming to other styles on the six cuts recorded without the Fabulous Thunderbirds to be dissatisfying, remarking, "It's not so much that Havana Moon is inconsistent — although it's that, too — as it is confusing, jumping from style to style as if Carlos Santana weren't sure what he wanted to do. It's nice to see that he's eager to expand his horizons, but it's disappointing that he undercuts his efforts by attempting to cover all the bases."
Track listing
Side one "Watch Your Step" (Phil Belmonte, Bobby Parker) – 4:01 "Lightnin'" (Booker T. Jones, Carlos Santana) – 3:51 "Who Do You Love?" (Ellas McDaniel) – 2:55 "Mudbone" (Santana) – 5:51 "One with You" (Jones) – 5:14
Side two "Ecuador" (Santana) – 1:10 "Tales of Kilimanjaro" (Alan Pasqua, Armando Peraza, Raul Rekow, Santana) – 4:50 "Havana Moon" (Chuck Berry) – 4:09 "Daughter of the Night" (Hasse Huss, Mikael Rickfors) – 4:18 "They All Went to Mexico" (Greg Brown) – 4:47 "Vereda Tropical" (Gonzalo Curiel) – 4:57
Personnel Roberto Moreno – vocals Willie Nelson – vocals Greg Walker – vocals Candelario Lopez – vocals Carlos Santana – guitar, percussion, backing vocals José Santana – violin, vocals Chris Solberg – keyboards, guitar, vocals Jimmie Vaughan – guitar Booker T. Jones – keyboards, backing vocals Richard Baker – keyboards Barry Beckett – keyboards Alan Pasqua – keyboards, vocals Flaco Jiménez – accordion Orestes Vilató – flute, percussion, timbales, backing vocals Kim Wilson – harmonica, backing vocals Greg Adams – strings, horn Jose Salcedo – trombone, trumpet Óscar Chávez – trombone, trumpet Mic Gillette – trumpet, horn Lanette Stevens – backing vocals Emilio Castillo – horn, backing vocals Marc Russo – horn Tramaine Hawkins – backing vocals Stephen Kupka – horn Gabriel Arias – violin Francisco Coronado – violin Raymundo Coronado – violin Keith Ferguson – bass Luis Gonsalez – bass David Hood – bass David Margen – bass, percussion Fran Christina – drums Armando Peraza – percussion, bongos, vocals Graham Lear – percussion, drums Raul Rékow – percussion, conga, backing vocals Alex Ligertwood – percussion, vocals Cherline Hall – backing vocals
Charts Chart (1983) Peakposition Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) 32 Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) 7Japanese Albums (Oricon) 33
References
External links
Havana Moon review at UltimateSantana.com Havana Moon review & credits at AllMusic.com