This song takes me way back to my first real boyfriend. I was 15, in the 9th grade, and these three boys started getting on my school bus. They moved down the street with their dad. The oldest boy, who was in the 11th grade, was soooo cute; I had an immediate crush. Turns out he liked me too. We started hanging out together, going to football games, roller skating, the movies, etc.
One day he asked me to come to his house after school. I was a good girl back then, and really a bit shy to go to his house. He assured me I didn’t need to be scared, he wanted to show me something. I thought it was their mini bike, which he talked about all the time. Nope, it was his guitar! I didn’t know he played guitar.
He got out one of his dad’s albums and told me I probably wouldn’t like the music but he wanted to show me what he could play. It was Samba Pa Ti. It was the most awesome 4+ minutes ever! I was star struck….the boy could play! He played this song many times for me over our 6 month courtship, along with other stuff, but nothing impressed me as much as the first song he played for me. To this very day, I can still see him playing and smiling whenever I hear Samba Pa Ti.
It was many years later when I added Abraxas to my album collection. I will often play this song on repeat, because it does bring back memories of a happy and innocent time in my life.
Once I started fooling around in music forums, I learned that the beautiful organ parts on Abraxas are played by Gregg Rolie. Who later went on to be in my second all time favorite band…Journey.
Left to right: Carlos Santana, Jose Areas, Mike Carabello, David Brown, Gregg Rolie and Michael Shrieve.
I just love this song! What are your thoughts and opinions?