The Legacy Of The Band By Paul Reed Smith Guitar Hall Of Fame

On July 20th, 1947 a man was born that would single handedly change American Popular music with the strum of his Paul Reed Smith guitar. To this day, at age 67 he is still credited with being the first to create music in which â€Å"uniquely blends Latin-infused rock, jazz, blues, salsa and African rhythms.† (Biography, 1) With a net worth of over 40 million dollars he can be described with many professional titles including singer, songwriter, but most widely known as a guitarist for his band Santana. Santana, described as a Latin Rock band was formed in 1966 in San Francisco, California. The band s success would be obvious to music lovers all throughout America after their psychedelic performance of â€Å"Soul Sacrifice† at the 1969 Woodstock in†¦show more content†¦The musical talent was embedded into Mr. Santana from a very young age. He was born in Autlà ¡n de Navarro, Mexico, in 1947 to Jose Santana and Josefina Barrangan. His musical ability stemmed fro m his overwhelming exposure to mariachi, also known as folk music from Mexico. Because of his father, whom happened to be a professional violinist, he had the violin mastered by age five and by the age of eight, fully embraced the guitar. As he would continue gaining skills, his family would continue moving from place to place to find work for his father. In one location known as Tijuana, Santana used inspirations such as B.B. King, Ray Charles, and Little Richard while playing American rock and roll with a blues flare for local strip clubs. Finally, the move to San Francisco brought work to not only his father but teenage Carlos. Great opportunities sprung up in San Francisco for the ambitious teen. As his musical ability flourished he was quick to become recognised by colleges such as California State University and Humboldt State University but as most musicians do, he opted out of college to focus on his music. With the inspiration of finally being able to witness his idol, B. B King, Carlos Santana decided to work jobs bussing in restaurants, save of every penny, and spark the journey to becoming a full time musician. Interestingly enough, his debut moment was brought upon this world completely by accident. â€Å"Santana was a frequent spectator at Bill Graham s Fillmore