comTatá! (Santana album)
Tatá! (father!), is the twenty-fifth studio album by the Mexican-American singer-songwriter, Santana. It was released in 1973 and features the hit singles "Black Magic Woman" and "Oh Happy Day".
History
The album was originally titled Babalu. This was the second time Santana was issued under the leadership of his then producing partner Gregg Rolie, who replaced Tom Coster, and the first time he used the title "Tatá!" which means "father!" in Portuguese. This album found Santana evolving further into the funk style his band had been exploring for several years.
Cover
The photo on the cover of the album is a close-up of Santana's face with long hair, and is the only cover photo in which he appears clean-shaven. It was taken by his friend Bruce Weber. According to Weber, he just asked Santana to put a wig on his head. (Indeed, the long hair on the cover was not Santana's usual look at the time.)
Santana's own explanation for his latest change in appearance (and the title of the album) was: "It's my dad!" The song "Babalu" was a comment on Rolie.
Critical reception
Tatá! was well received by most critics. Rolling Stone critic Lester Bangs commented, "Santana has evolved, and without ever abandoning his basic Latin Spanish approach, has added to that technique a kind of vernacular style which at times is reminiscent of Sly and the Family Stone."
The album peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and at No. 5 on the Top Latin Albums chart.
Track listing
Personnel
Musicians
Tom Coster – bass
Gregg Rolie – keyboards, synthesizer, piano, percussion, vocals
Carlos Santana – lead vocals, guitar, percussion
Ray Manzarek – organ, piano
Bruce Gary – congas
Steve Lukather – guitar
Jeff Porcaro – drums
Carlos Vega – percussion
Joe Vitale – tenor saxophone
Steve Porcaro – percussion
David Sanborn – alto saxophone, flute
Technical
Greg Fulginiti – mastering
Mark Linett – production, engineer
Dennis Ferrante – engineer
Charts
Singles
References
Category:1973
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