Moonflower
Studio album / Live album by
Santana
ReleasedOctober 1977
RecordedDecember 1976 (live tracks / Europe)
1977 (studio tracks / San Francisco)
Genre
Length86:50
LabelColumbia
ProducerCarlos Santana, Tom Coster
Santana chronology
Festival
(1977) 		Moonflower
(1977) 		Inner Secrets
(1978)
Singles from Moonflower
  1. "She's Not There"
    Released: October 1977
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[2]
Rolling Stone(not rated)[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]

Moonflower is a double album released in 1977 by Santana. The recording features both studio and live tracks, which are interspersed with one another throughout the album. It is perhaps the group's most popular live album, because the 1974 album Lotus did not receive a U.S. domestic release until 1991. It displays a mix between the fusion of Latin and blues rock styles of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the much more experimental and spiritual jazz fusion sound that characterized the band's mid-1970s work. The live material was recorded during the supporting tour for the Amigos album. This is the first of 5 albums with drummer Graham Lear.

A cover version of the Zombies' mid-1960s hit song "She's Not There" was released as a single and peaked at #27. The song was the first Santana recording to hit the Top 40 of the Billboard charts since "No One to Depend On" reached #36 in 1972. The album reached #10 on the Billboard charts and was eventually certified platinum, neither of which occurred again until the star-studded Supernatural in 1999.

Track listing

All tracks written and composed by Tom Coster and Carlos Santana, except where noted;

Side one

  1. "Dawn/Go Within" – 2:44 (Studio)
  2. "Carnaval" – 2:17 (Live)
  3. "Let the Children Play" (Leon Patillo, Santana) – 2:37 (Live)
  4. "Jugando" (José "Chepito" Areas, Santana) – 2:09 (Live)
  5. "I'll Be Waiting" (Santana) – 5:20 (Studio; also issued on single)
  6. "Zulu" – 3:25 (Studio)

Side two

  1. "Bahia" – 1:37 (Studio)
  2. "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" (Peter Green/Gábor Szabó) – 6:32 (Live)
  3. "Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana)" (Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, Coster, David Rubinson) – 7:45 (Live)
  4. "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)" – 6:07 (Live)

Side three

  1. "She's Not There" (Rod Argent) – 4:09 (Studio; also issued on single)
  2. "Flor d'Luna (Moonflower)" (Coster) – 5:01 (Studio)
  3. "Soul Sacrifice/Head, Hands & Feet" (Santana, Gregg Rolie, David Brown, Marcus Malone/Graham Lear) – 14:01 (Live)

Side four

  1. "El Morocco" – 5:05 (Studio)
  2. "Transcendance" (Santana) – 5:13 (Studio)
  3. "Savor/Toussaint L'Overture" (Santana, Rolie, Brown, Michael Carabello, Michael Shrieve, Areas) – 12:56 (Live)

Bonus tracks on 2003 reissue

  1. "Black Magic Woman" (Single edit) (Green) – 2:37 (Live)
  2. "I'll Be Waiting" (Single edit) (Santana) – 3:12 (Studio)
  3. "She's Not There" (Single edit) (Argent) – 3:19 (Studio)

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1977-1978) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[5] 7
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[6] 10
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[7] 8
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[8] 2
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[9] 19
French Albums (SNEP)[10] 6
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 16
Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)[12] 3
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[13] 14
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[14] 12
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[15] 16
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[16] 22
UK Albums (OCC)[17] 7
US Billboard 200[18] 10

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[19] Gold 50,000^
France (SNEP)[20] Platinum 300,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[21] Platinum 100,000^
Germany (BVMI)[22] Gold 250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[23] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[24] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Ruhlmann, William (2011). "Moonflower - Santana | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. ^ Swenson, John (16 December 1981). "Santana: Moonflower : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  4. ^ "Santana: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  5. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  6. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Santana – Moonflower" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5508a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Santana – Moonflower" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  9. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  10. ^ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – S". Infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2012. Select Santana from the menu, then press OK.
  11. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Santana – Moonflower" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  12. ^ "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 27 May 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Santana".
  13. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  14. ^ "Charts.nz – Santana – Moonflower". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  15. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Santana – Moonflower". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  16. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Santana – Moonflower". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  17. ^ "Santana | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Santana Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  19. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Santana – Moonflower". Music Canada.
  20. ^ "French album certifications – Santana – Moonflower" (in French). InfoDisc. Select SANTANA and click OK. 
  21. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Santana – Moonflower" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Moonflower in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  22. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Santana; 'Moonflower')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  23. ^ "British album certifications – Santana – Moonflower". British Phonographic Industry.
  24. ^ "American album certifications – Santana – Moonflower". Recording Industry Association of America.
Categories