Caravanserai marked a major turning point in Carlos Santana's career as it was a departure from his critically acclaimed first three albums. In contrast with the earlier trademark sound fusion of salsa, rock, and jazz, the album concentrated mostly on jazz-like instrumental passages. All but three tracks were instrumentals. The album is the first in a series of Santana albums that were known for their increasing musical complexity, marking a move away from the popular rock format of the early Santana albums toward a more contemplative and experimental jazz sound. There was much change in personnel in the group. Original bass guitaristDavid Brown had left the group in 1971 and was replaced by Doug Rauch. In addition Tom Rutley played acoustic bass on some tracks, in some cases in tandem with electric bass. Similarly although José "Chepito" Areas continued on percussion, original percussionist Michael Carabello had departed, and Armando Peraza and James Mingo Lewis played on the album. Several other musicians made contributions. While Santana himself and most of the other musicians were in their early 20s, some were older; for instance Lewis was 32, Hadley Caliman 40, and Peraza 47. During this period, Santana's relationship with longtime keyboardist/vocalist Gregg Rolie rapidly deteriorated. It was also the last Santana album to feature guitarist Neal Schon, who went on to co-found Journey the following year.
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 Kōsei Nenkin Kaikan in Osaka, Japan, were released as the triple vinylLPLotus. The inner cover carried a quote by Paramahansa Yogananda: In 2000 SME records in Japan, part of Sony Music, also released the remastered version as an SACD. This disc is stereo only, and furthermore, it is a single layer SACD, which means that ordinary CD players will not play it. The album was remastered in 2003 for re-release on Legacy/Columbia/SME.
Reception
President Clive Davis, upon first hearing the finished album, told Carlos he was committing "career suicide". The album reached number eight in the Billboard 200 chart and number six in the R&B Albums chart in 1972. Caravanserai was voted number 609 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. It is 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. A 1976 review in Rolling Stone magazine said the album affirmed, and "speaks directly to the universality of man, both in the sound of the music and in the vocals."
Track listing
On the Q8 quad version, "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.
