| Caravanserai | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Santana |
| Cover: | Caravanserai album cover.jpg |
| Recorded: | February 21 – May 5, 1972 |
| Studio: | Columbia Studios, San Francisco, California |
| Genre: | |
| Length: | 51:33 |
| Prev Title: | Santana |
| Prev Year: | 1971 |
| Next Title: | Welcome |
| Next Year: | 1973 |
Caravanserai is the fourth studio album by American rock band Santana, released on October 11, 1972. The album marked a period of transition for Santana as it was the band's last to feature several key early members, while shifting in a more instrumental, progressive jazz fusion direction. It sold in fewer quantities than the band's previous chart-topping albums, stalling at No. 8 on the Billboard LPs chart, but has been critically acclaimed.
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 Kosei Nenkin Kaikan in Osaka, Japan, were released as the triple vinyl LP Lotus.
The inner cover carried a quote by Paramahansa Yogananda:
In 2000 SME records in Japan, part of Sony Music, released the remastered version as an SACD, in stereo only.[1] In 2022 SME records released the remastered version as an SACD in both stereo and quadraphonic.[2]
The album was remastered in 2003 for re-release on Legacy/Columbia/SME.
The album reached number eight in the Billboard 200 chart and number six in the R&B Albums chart in 1972.[3]
The album was 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. In a 2013 interview, drummer and album co-producer Michael Shrieve recalled that Columbia Records president Clive Davis, upon first hearing the finished album, told Santana he was committing "career suicide."
A 1976 review in Rolling Stone by Ralph Gleason said the album affirmed and "speaks directly to the universality of man, both in the sound of the music and in the vocals." Caravanserai was also voted number 609 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[4]
On the Q8 quad version,[5] "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.
April 6, recorded All the Love of the Universe
| Chart (1972-1973) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[6] | 16 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[7] | 3 |
| Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)[8] | 3 |