I saw Doug playing a bass off the shelf at Don Weir's Music City (music store) in San Francisco sometime in 1973. I was about 10 feet away from him just watching him play while sitting down trying out a Mutron phase shifter. I didn't know who he was, being that I'd never seen a picture of him......Welcome hadn't been released yet. I was blown away by his playing but didn't want to bother him. At the end of the year, I saw Santana live at Winterland and there he was on stage ! I could have kicked myself. Doug's been my main bass influence since then. Seeing later Santana shows without him left me feeling a little empty. It was never the same groove without Doug....right to this day.

@@jimdep6542 Hey Jim, good morning to you!! [For anyone else reading this, Jim and I have been chatting in other threads about Doug Rauch and this audio this morning flipped up in my YT.] NOW I get exactly why you hold him in such high regard. Completely understandable, friend: 👏👏👍👍

@RayPaganJr, you are SO correct with the words in your opening sentence. I consider myself to be hugely priviledged to see him play live for Santana on 15th Nov 1973, in London where I live [it is STILL the finest concert out of 300+ I have witnessed - I'm 70 yo], and I think the only way that recognition would have changed is if he had lived longer as towards the end he played in David Bowie's band, I've seen short footage recorded in London I believe. I saw Weather Report some months after that concert above, and Jaco had this huge rep: frankly, Doug was SO MANY LEVELS above him it just wasn't effing funny. The best bass player I have seen, full stop.

@@forearthbelow The bass on All The Love of the Universe still blows me away. It’s fast, funky and complicated. I can’t think of a better bass groove that I enjoy more. I was very young at the time and was not allowed to go to a concert, so I never had the privilege of seeing him perform. My first concert was a Santana concert in 1975. Thereafter, I never missed any of Santana’s performances. Living in NJ, I was able to catch the same concert in the tri-state area, NY, NJ and Pa. I seen him together with John McLaughlin as well.

@erasmus, 👍👍👏👏I'm a London based 70 yo fan of Santana, which started with the Caravanserai album in late '72. In my opinion the only improvement of note for the band of that time would be the inclusion of Larry on keyboards: when I saw Santana live in London on 15th Nov 1973 Richard Kermode was easily the star on keyboards, in fact I considered him to be one of the star performers on the night, so instead of Tom Coster? Harsh comment, I know........

Yes , great touch and tone

SUPERB comment, beats my 'music of and for the gods'.

Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for it. I actually borrowed it from Carlos himself, because I remember him saying it at one of the many Santana concerts I've been to over the decades at Wembley Area, London. At the time he was reminiscing on stage about how someone (of note) used that expression to describe the 'Santana Sound' around 1972. I'd really like to share with you who Carlos was referring to, but the truth is that I just can't remember. For what it's worth I think your comment is excellent and also very apt. Viva Santana!@@forearthbelow

​@@Arthur_Pint Matey, I'm a Londoner myself!! Seen Carlos and his band at least 36 times over the years, I say at least as I'm pretty sure I've lost count recently!!! Whilst I don't recall him saying those words I seem to recall he was referring to The Rolling Stones being in the audience for the 72 gig, checking what his lot were up to now 😂😂. NOW: I'm as sure as I can be that Carlos made some somewhat disparaging comments at later Wembley concert/s which could have been those you posted, written by a journo named Richard Wilson - who was imho a top writer, along with Chris Welch, at Melody Maker - and inferred RW was perhaps more 'relaxed' than a normal person would be after smoking um 'some stuff'. RW was a huge proponent of that Santana band and in around the end of 1975/6 one of his hopes for the following year was Carlos and Shrieve getting back together to make some/loads more of the majestic music he had seen performed that night in '72.

It's great to hear from you. I myself come from Wales - and have done so for most of my 66 young years. Therefore, I've always had to travel across England to see my favourite band especially because, (as far as I know), Santana have never played in Wales. Thinking about it, I've probably seen them about half as often as you have, You'll know that with the passage of time, the concerts start to 'blur' and in this respect it's likely that my recollections are not perfect. However, after reading your wonderful reply, I reflected on my original comment and I think what Carlos said was actually closer to: 'In 1972, [_______] said that listening to Santana is as though the angels had come down from heaven and started to play' In addition, I think that something else Carlos said at the same concert was: 'In 1972 'Melody Maker' ranked Santana as the top band in the world' - which is interesting given your reference to that magazine! I first saw Santana at the Royal Albert Hall in 1981 - (part of their 'Zebop' tour). .However, how I wish I'd started watching Carlos in that golden era when he played so brilliantly with John McLaughlin. All the best.@@forearthbelow

@@Arthur_Pint Arthur!! W O W, just W O W!!! I always considered myself to be a big fan but you have had to travel a minimum of 150miles - let alone go across the border to where those pesky Englishmen reside😂😂- to get to see the band whereas I lived and worked not far from all the venues I saw them at other than the vey first one, in 1970, at Shepton Mallett outside Bath. Like I said previously, W O W, 😲😲👍👍👏👏, hats off to you, my friend. Your first gig, was it the night that Snowy White jammed on a song or two?? I was with my brother Chris who is also a MASSIVE Snowy fan and, tbh, I thought he blew Carlos away, badly, I like him as well but not as much as Chris. Yes, you and our Welsh cousins are not best served with visits by the larger groups, are you? One of my personal British heroes, Robin Trower, doesn't seem to play there any either: I consider him to be the equal of Carlos. Keep an eye out for Aynsley Lister and/or Felix Rabin, they play more off of the beaten track. I've seen one of your 'sons' Andy Fairweather-Low play up in the the smoke here 4 times, bloody good shows. Oh, also look out for Absolute Bowie, a DB tribute act, not personally my cup of tea but pretty amazing as well. My first indoor concert was 15th Nov 1973 as part of the Lotus world tour - I have seen over 300 gigs live by bands large or small and it remains the best show we, Chris and I, have ever witnessed. Totally MINDBLOWING. There are stunning mixing desk quality audio um unofficial releases out in the ether which I am sure you have located and they give a great chance to relive the sonic magnificense of that evening. Been great to mull over so many memories and chatting to you, likewise with JimDep too💥💥. All the best guys, kindest regards, Tony

You're welcome 😊

I've never heard "the sounds of the infinite". Please describe what they are. Also, it seems you really like screaming.

@@steverickenbacher7110 Imagine that...creativity, resource, and awareness, can take you, musically, in this case, where you would like to go...

@@bmuhamad And yet with a claim to possessing all of that, you managed to fail to answer my question, and with a bunch of nonsense no less. Please stop. Some of us here can see through your constant flowery posing.

@@steverickenbacher7110 Like it or not, whether you like my description or not, this it occurs to me. You are entitled to your own opinion. Thank you very much sir.

@@bmuhamad With or without the aid of hallucinogens? And fwiw, "sir", I had no problem with what you said. But since I was taught to be curious and have a natural skepticism, I asked you a simple question, which obviously put you on the defensive since you're so used to people accepting your nonsense. So, as a result, I called you out as being someone who clearly posts all over YT to fill a void in his life. Like it or not, THAT is MY opinion.

You're so welcome!

Thanks for coming, Ken. Stay tuned!

Carlos sound is from the Most High

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