25 Aug 2023 9:26 am
Santana was born in Autlán de Navarro in Jalisco, Mexico on July 20, 1947. He learned to play the violin at age five and the guitar at age eight, under the tutelage of his father, who was a mariachi musician.[6] His younger brother, Jorge, also became a professional guitarist.
The family moved from Autlán to Tijuana, on the border with the United States. Carlos' rock and roll career started in the city park: Parque Teniente Guerrero, his mother took him to see the Tj's, the pioneer rock and roll band from the city. Tj's (tee jays) is a nickname for Tijuana. They were formed by Javier Bátiz. At the age of 12 Carlos became a roadie and eventually he would be join them as a bass player, bass because Bátiz was playing guitar. He later left so he could play guitar in another bar band.[7] The Tj's and Bátiz turned Carlos into Blues. Specially into T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, and James Brown.
The Santanas then moved to San Franciscowhere his father had steady work.[6][8][9][10]In October 1966, Santana started the Santana Blues Band. By 1968, the band had begun to incorporate different types of influences into their electric blues. Santana later said, "If I would go to some cat's room, he'd be listening to Sly [Stone] and Jimi Hendrix; another guy to the Stones and the Beatles. Another guy'd be listening to Tito Puente and Mongo Santamaría. Another guy'd be listening to Miles [Davis] and [John] Coltrane... to me, it was like being at a university."[11]
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