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Six young musicians posed together in a black-and-white 1969 press photograph
Santana in 1969, the Columbia press photograph of the band that played Woodstock. Distributed by Columbia Records · Public domain

Autlán · Tijuana · the Mission · Bethel · Las Vegas · 1947 to 2026

Santana

No pedal makes that long note. Carlos Santana walks the stage until he finds the spot where it holds. Every stage has one.

Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco · Tijuana, Baja California · 1947 to the early 1960s

A violin at five.
Fifty cents a song.

A small Mexican town of low roofs and a church spread across a green valley
Autlán de Navarro from the hill chapel, December 2025. Mayacel74 · CC0

Autlán de Navarro · Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico

Carlos Santana was born in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, on 20 July 1947.

His father was a mariachi musician, who taught him the violin at five and the guitar at eight.

He lived in Autlán, a very small town as he describes it, until about 1955, when his mother took the family to Tijuana.

In 2011 the Guadalajara Reporter wrote that a statue of him stands in the town’s main plaza, and that his parents’ former home is a shrine and museum.

A market town in the Costa Sur of Jalisco. The statue stands in the main plaza; no source read names the plaza, so the town is not pinned. The photograph is the town from the hill chapel.

Where this comes from
A busy Tijuana street lined with shop signs and balconies
Avenida Revolución, Tijuana, in 2006. Johntex · CC BY 2.5

Avenida Revolución, Tijuana · Avenida Revolución, Zona Centro, Tijuana

On Revolución he played the violin for American tourists, the songs they asked for, at fifty cents a song.

In Tijuana he saw Los TJ’s at Parque Teniente Guerrero, became a roadie at twelve, and played bass, then guitar, in local bands.

B.B. King, Javier Bátiz and John Lee Hooker were early influences.

His father, a mariachi violinist, was not pleased by the blues, but let him follow it.

Tijuana’s main tourist street, a short walk from the San Ysidro crossing. The street is public; the clubs of the 1950s are not named in any source read.

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On Revolución he played the violin for American tourists, the songs they asked for, at fifty cents a song.

3750 18th Street · 1805 Geary Boulevard · 1965 to 1967

A stand-in at a Sunday matinee.
Sacked for being late for the Who.

  1. 1965He left Mission High School in 1965. He became a naturalised American citizen the same year.
  2. 1966In 1966 Santana was chosen to stand in for Paul Butterfield, who was in no state to play, at a Sunday matinee at Bill Graham’s Fillmore Auditorium.
  3. Jan 1967In January 1967 the band auditioned for Graham here and named themselves the Santana Blues Band; by the end of the year it was just Santana.
  4. Jun 1967In June 1967 Graham dropped them from the Fillmore after some of the band turned up late for a show supporting the Who.
A white Spanish-style school building with a tall domed tower above a park
Mission High School from Dolores Park, January 2026. 4300streetcar · CC BY 4.0

Mission High School · 3750 18th Street, San Francisco

He was accepted by Cal State Northridge and Humboldt State, but went to neither.

A working public high school, not open to visitors; its white tower is best seen from Dolores Park across the road.

Where this comes from
The corner front of the Fillmore with its vertical sign
The Fillmore at Geary and Fillmore, March 2010. total13 · CC BY 2.0

The Fillmore · 1805 Geary Boulevard, San Francisco

Built in 1912 as the Majestic Hall, it was named the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954.

A tub of free apples stands by the door, and at some sold-out shows fans are handed the night’s poster on the way out.

A working concert hall run by Live Nation; inside on show nights only. Fillmore Street buses stop at the corner.

Where this comes from

The Fillmore · Woodstock · the Albert Hall · the Fillmore West · Las Vegas · 1966 to 2016

No pedal. Just the floor.
Find the spot.

Carlos Santana told Premier Guitar in 2022 that, instead of pedals, he walks the stage and marks the floor where the sound links him to his guitar. Walk each of five real stages square by square. Far from the spot the line from guitar to amp breaks up; close in, it steadies; on it, one beam.

Where this comes from

Stage plan · The Fillmore Auditorium

The Fillmore Auditorium, 1966. The amp is at the back. Step onto a square.

The spot on this stage opens The Fillmore Auditorium, 1966.

A huge crowd on a sloping field running down to a festival stage
The crowd fills the natural bowl at Woodstock, with the stage at the bottom, August 1969. Derek Redmond and Paul Campbell · CC BY-SA 3.0

Max Yasgur’s farm, Bethel, New York · Saturday 16 August 1969

Forty-five minutes, $2,500.
And no record out yet.

  • 2pm on stage, Saturday
  • 45 min the set
  • $2,500 the fee
  • 11 min Soul Sacrifice
  • 460,000+ Wikipedia’s crowd figure
Where this comes from
An empty grassy hillside bowl with autumn trees
The Woodstock field at Bethel in October 2021. Seanbarnett · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Woodstock field, Bethel Woods · 200 Hurd Road, Bethel, New York

Santana played on Saturday 16 August, from 2pm to 2.45pm; Country Joe McDonald played an unscheduled solo set before them, while they got ready.

Their first album came out within days: on 22 August by one Wikipedia account, on 30 August by another. It reached number four.

The 1999 reissue of the album added Savor, Soul Sacrifice and Fried Neckbones from the Woodstock set.

The field and stage area are kept as part of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, whose museum opened in June 2008.

The museum is open daily from 1 April to 31 December, 10am to 5pm; adults $22.69 on the day. The field is seen on a guided cart tour or a self-guided iPad tour, not on show days.

Where this comes from
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

The Museum at Bethel Woods

200 Hurd Road, Bethel, New York · Daily 1 April–31 December, 10am–5pm · adults $22.69 on the day

The museum on the Woodstock site, with guided cart tours and a self-guided iPad tour of the field, not on show days.

Plan a visit
Six young musicians posed together in a black-and-white 1969 press photograph
The six who played that afternoon, in Columbia’s 1969 press photograph. Distributed by Columbia Records · Public domain

245 Hyde Street · 10 South Van Ness · 1970

Two borrowed songs.
One number one.

The band in a black-and-white photograph from Billboard, 1970
Santana in Billboard, 14 November 1970, with Abraxas at the top. Billboard Magazine · Public domain
  1. Black Magic WomanCarlos Santana took up Black Magic Woman after seeing its writer, Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac, play at the Fillmore West.
  2. Oye Como VaOye Como Va was Tito Puente’s song, a hit for him in the early 1960s; the band played it because audiences liked to dance to it. Living on Potrero Hill, he heard Tito Puente on a San Francisco radio show.
  3. AbraxasAbraxas was recorded from 17 April to 2 May 1970 here and at Pacific Recorders in San Mateo, produced by Fred Catero and Carlos Santana. Abraxas came out on 23 September 1970, the band’s first number one album in America, and spent six weeks there at the end of the year.
Where this comes from
A wood-panelled recording room with microphones and a mixing desk
Studio A at Hyde Street Studios, the former Wally Heider studio, in 2009. Justin Davis · CC BY-SA 2.0

Wally Heider Studios, now Hyde Street Studios · 245 Hyde Street, San Francisco

Wally Heider’s San Francisco studio, at 245 Hyde Street between Turk and Eddy, opened in March 1969.

The band came back for Amigos in 1976. The studio was renamed Hyde Street Studios in 1980.

A working recording studio, open to clients only; the front is seen from Hyde Street, between Turk and Eddy. Civic Center BART is a few blocks away.

Where this comes from
The band posed outdoors in a black-and-white 1971 advertisement photograph
December 1971: Columbia’s advertisement for Santana III. Columbia Records · Public domain

1111 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles · 23 February 2000

Thirty years after Woodstock.
Eight in a night.

  1. 1—
  2. 2—
  3. 3—
  4. 4—
  5. 5—
  6. 6—
  7. 7—
  8. 8—

Eight times that night the winner was Santana. Read the first.

Where this comes from
Carlos Santana playing guitar on stage in 2000
Munich, 21 January 2000, a month before the Grammys. Jaud · CC BY-SA 3.0
The arena forecourt dressed for the Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards at Staples Center, February 2016. David Jones · CC BY 2.0

Staples Center, now Crypto.com Arena · 1111 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles

Supernatural debuted at number 19 and reached number one after eighteen weeks.

It shipped more than 15 million copies in America; Smooth spent twelve weeks at number one, the last number one single of the 1990s.

The arena is now called Crypto.com Arena.

A working arena downtown, open for games and concerts; the Pico station on the A and E lines is beside it.

Where this comes from

Santana won eight that night, tying Michael Jackson’s record for the most won in a single night.

Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas · 2016 to 2026

Still finding the spot.
The beam goes out.

A red House of Blues sign inside the Mandalay Bay resort
The House of Blues sign at Mandalay Bay, July 2009. Michael Gray · CC BY-SA 2.0

On 21 March 2016 the reunited early band played here; the concert came out as a live album on 21 October 2016.

Santana’s own history describes a multi-year residency at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

The show is called An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live; the November 2026 dates are 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14 and 15 November.

Inside the Mandalay Bay resort at the south end of the Strip. The November 2026 run is on 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14 and 15 November.

Where this comes from
MGM Resorts

Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino

Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas

The resort at the south end of the Strip that holds the House of Blues, where the residency plays. Pictured: the House of Blues sign inside Mandalay Bay.

See rooms

Where it is now

9 places you can visit, in Mexico, the United States and London. No source read names the plaza in Autlán where his statue stands, so Autlán is named but not pinned. Mission High, the Fillmore West building and Hyde Street Studios are seen from the street.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

  • Site reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Tijuana’s main tourist street, a short walk from the San Ysidro crossing. The street is public; the clubs of the 1950s are not named in any source read.

  1. A busy Tijuana street lined with shop signs and balconies
    Avenida Revolución, Tijuana, in 2006. Johntex · CC BY 2.5

    Avenida Revolución, Zona Centro, Tijuana

    Avenida Revolución, Tijuana

    On Revolución he played the violin for American tourists, the songs they asked for, at fifty cents a song.

    Tijuana’s main tourist street, a short walk from the San Ysidro crossing. The street is public; the clubs of the 1950s are not named in any source read.

    Where this comes from

Stay

Sleep by the room.

The resort that holds the House of Blues.

MGM Resorts

Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino

Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas

The resort at the south end of the Strip that holds the House of Blues, where the residency plays. Pictured: the House of Blues sign inside Mandalay Bay.

See rooms

Go there

Walk the field.

The Woodstock museum at Bethel, San Francisco music tours, and day trips to Tijuana.

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

The Museum at Bethel Woods

200 Hurd Road, Bethel, New York · Daily 1 April–31 December, 10am–5pm · adults $22.69 on the day

The museum on the Woodstock site, with guided cart tours and a self-guided iPad tour of the field, not on show days.

Plan a visit
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San Francisco music history tours

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Live marketplace results for music walks and drives in San Francisco. Check each itinerary for the Fillmore and the Mission.

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What’s on

Greatest Hits Live.

The residency’s November 2026 run at the House of Blues.

Checking current event dates…

Take it home

Three records, a book and four posters.

The 1969 album, Abraxas and Supernatural, his own story, and original posters naming Santana from our store.

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Santana

Santana · LP, Columbia, 1969

The first album, in the shops days after Woodstock.

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Abraxas

Santana · LP, Columbia KC 30130, 1970

Made on Hyde Street and in San Mateo; their first number one.

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Supernatural

Santana · 2 × LP, Arista, 1999

The album of the eight-Grammy night.

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Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate

The Universal Tone: Bringing My Story to Light

Carlos Santana

His own account, from Autlán to the stage.

Find the book
Printed Originals · Our poster store

Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, The Beatles & More (1974)

An original 1974 poster naming Carlos Santana alongside Hendrix and the Beatles. 31.5 x 47.2 in, rolled; very good condition.

In stock

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Bob Dylan & Santana (1993)

An original 1993 poster for Bob Dylan and Santana. 11 x 17 in, rolled; near mint.

In stock

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Printed Originals · Our poster store

Santana and Earth, Wind & Fire (1975)

A 1975 poster by Randy Tuten. 23.6 x 31.5 in.

Sold out · archive reference

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Printed Originals · Our poster store

Santana – Leeds University (1976)

A 1976 poster for a Santana concert at Leeds University. 20 x 29.5 in.

Sold out · archive reference

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Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

Where this comes from

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

10 of 10 places · 15 of 15 Moments

  • Autlán de Navarro

    Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico

    • Born in Autlán

      Carlos Santana is born in a small town in Jalisco.

    • Violin at five

      His father, a mariachi musician, teaches him the violin, then the guitar at eight.

  • Avenida Revolución, Tijuana

    Avenida Revolución, Zona Centro, Tijuana

    • Fifty cents a song

      On Revolución he plays the violin for tourists, by request.

  • Mission High School

    3750 18th Street, San Francisco

    • Mission High

      He leaves school and becomes an American citizen.

  • The Fillmore

    1805 Geary Boulevard, San Francisco

    • A Sunday matinee

      Chosen to stand in for Paul Butterfield at the Fillmore Auditorium.

    • The Santana Blues Band

      The band audition for Bill Graham and take a name.

    • Late for the Who

      Graham drops them from the Fillmore for turning up late.

  • Fillmore West, now SVN West

    10 South Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco

    • Peter Green’s song

      Seeing Fleetwood Mac at the Fillmore West, Carlos Santana takes up Black Magic Woman.

    • The last nights at the Fillmore West

      Santana among the bands closing the ballroom.

  • Wally Heider Studios, now Hyde Street Studios

    245 Hyde Street, San Francisco

    • Abraxas

      Recorded on Hyde Street and in San Mateo; it goes to number one.

  • The Woodstock field, Bethel Woods

    200 Hurd Road, Bethel, New York

    • Saturday afternoon at Woodstock

      Forty-five minutes, $2,500 and an eleven-minute Soul Sacrifice, before their first album is in the shops.

  • Royal Albert Hall

    Kensington Gore, London

    • The Albert Hall

      A London concert, first issued in 1999.

  • Staples Center, now Crypto.com Arena

    1111 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles

    • Eight in a night

      Supernatural and its singles win eight Grammys, equalling Michael Jackson’s record.

  • House of Blues, Mandalay Bay

    Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas

    • The early band again

      A reunion concert, filmed and released.

    • Greatest Hits Live

      The Las Vegas residency runs into November 2026.

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