OCTOBER 24 | TODAY IN ROCK HISTORY: Santana, Cream, Bill Wyman
Santana Scores Their First No. 1 Album With Abraxas
On this day in 1970, Santana scored their first No. 1 album in America with Abraxas, a record that transformed the band from Woodstock breakthrough act into one of the defining forces in early-1970s rock. Released just a year after their self-titled debut, the album demonstrated that the group’s combination of rock, Latin rhythms, blues, and jazz was more than a festival novelty—it was a distinctive musical language capable of reaching a massive audience.
Abraxas featured several of Santana’s most enduring recordings, including “Oye Como Va,” the Tito Puente composition that Carlos Santana transformed into a psychedelic Latin-rock classic. The album also contained the band’s celebrated version of Fleetwood Mac‘s “Black Magic Woman,” which became closely associated with Santana and introduced millions of listeners to the band’s fluid, percussion-driven approach to rock.
The record’s appeal went far beyond its best-known singles. Santana’s musicians created a dense but remarkably organic sound in which electric guitar, Hammond organ, percussion, bass, and drums moved together as a single rhythmic force. Carlos Santana’s guitar playing was central to that identity, favoring sustained notes, melodic phrasing, and expressive bends rather than the speed and flash that increasingly defined some of the era’s rock guitar heroes.
The title Abraxas came from Hermann Hesse’s novel Demian, reflecting the band’s interest in spirituality, mysticism, and ideas that extended beyond conventional rock culture. Its striking cover art, based on a painting by Mati Klarwein, reinforced that atmosphere and helped make the album an object as much as a collection of songs. The combination of music and visual identity perfectly captured the countercultural spirit surrounding Santana at the beginning of the 1970s.
Reaching No. 1 established Abraxas as a landmark achievement and confirmed that Santana’s genre-blurring approach had enormous commercial potential. The album remains one of the essential recordings of Latin rock and one of the strongest statements from the band’s classic era. More than five decades later, Carlos Santana’s guitar work and the album’s fusion of cultures and musical traditions continue to make Abraxas a defining record in rock history.
Cream Reunites for Madison Square Garden Shows
In 2005, Cream reunited for a series of concerts after decades apart, beginning with four celebrated shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall in May. Later that year, the legendary power trio brought the reunion to America, kicking off a sold-out, three-night stand at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The performances marked Cream’s first major U.S. shows since the band’s original era in the late 1960s and gave American fans a rare opportunity to see Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Jack Bruce together again.
Cream had originally changed the possibilities of what a rock band could accomplish with only three musicians. Clapton’s guitar, Bruce’s powerful bass and distinctive voice, and Baker’s explosive drumming created a sound that was far larger than the lineup suggested. Their performances in the 1960s were renowned for extended improvisation, allowing individual musicians to stretch songs into lengthy explorations of blues, rock, and psychedelia.
The Madison Square Garden concerts offered a glimpse of that chemistry more than three decades after the band’s original breakup. The musicians revisited classics including “Badge,” “White Room,” “Sunshine of Your Love,” and “Cross Road Blues,” demonstrating that Cream’s music could still fill one of the world’s most famous arenas.
The reunion was especially significant because Cream had always been defined by the volatile chemistry between its three members. Baker and Bruce had a famously complicated relationship, while Clapton had moved through an extraordinary career with The Yardbirds, John Mayall, Blind Faith, and his solo work. Bringing the three musicians back together therefore represented far more than a nostalgia tour; it was a rare opportunity to hear the original trio recreate music that had helped establish the blueprint for hard rock.
The Madison Square Garden performances became an important final chapter in Cream’s story. Their reunion demonstrated that the band’s influence had survived decades of musical change, while reminding audiences just how revolutionary the trio had been when they first emerged. Cream’s fusion of blues, psychedelic rock, improvisation, and sheer instrumental power continues to influence generations of musicians, making their 2005 return to New York one of the most remarkable reunions in rock history.
Bill Wyman at 88: The Quiet Foundation Behind the Rolling Stones’ Greatest Era
And a very happy 88th birthday to Bill Wyman, the bassist who anchored The Rolling Stones from 1962 until his departure from the band in 1993. As a member of the Stones’ classic lineup, Wyman played a pivotal role in shaping the foundation of the band’s sound, providing the steady, understated bass work that allowed the group’s guitars, vocals, and rhythm section to explode around him.
Wyman’s playing can be heard throughout some of the most important recordings in rock history, including “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Paint It Black,” and “Gimme Shelter.” His approach was rarely flashy, but that was precisely the point. Wyman understood how to lock into Charlie Watts‘ drumming and create a rhythmic foundation that gave Keith Richards and Brian Jones room to build the band’s distinctive guitar-driven sound.
As The Rolling Stones evolved, Wyman remained a remarkably consistent presence. He played alongside Richards and Jones before Jones’ departure, and later worked with guitarists including Mick Taylor and Ronnie Wood. While Mick Jagger commanded the microphone and the band’s public image became increasingly larger than life, Wyman provided an essential musical counterweight behind the scenes.
Wyman’s tenure covered an extraordinary stretch of the Stones’ career. He performed on the band’s first 19 studio albums, contributing to records that helped define the development of blues-based rock, hard rock, and the broader language of modern popular music. His playing may have been deliberately restrained, but its impact was anything but small.
When Wyman officially left The Rolling Stones in 1993, he closed the book on more than three decades with one of rock’s most important bands. His contribution, however, remains embedded in the recordings that made the Stones legends. On his 88th birthday, Bill Wyman deserves recognition not simply as the band’s longtime bassist, but as one of the musicians who helped build the rhythmic foundation of the Rolling Stones sound.
OCTOBER 24TH IN ROCK HISTORY
1969: Led Zeppelin released their second album, ‘Led Zeppelin II,’ in the U.K. This album became a massive success, featuring some of their most famous tracks, including “Whole Lotta Love” and “Ramble On.” It is widely considered one of the greatest rock albums of all time.
1980: John Lennon released “(Just Like) Starting Over,” his first single in five years, marking his return to music after a long hiatus. The song became a huge hit and was one of the standout tracks from his final album, ‘Double Fantasy,’ released just weeks before his tragic death.
2001: U2 performed their hit song “Walk On” at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Frankfurt, Germany, delivering an emotional performance in the wake of the September 11 attacks. The song, which became an anthem of hope and resilience, further solidified U2’s status as one of the most important bands in the world.
3 Weird Rock Factoids — September 28
Janis Joplin Quit Big Brother at the Height of Their Success
On September 28, 1968, Janis Joplin announced that she was leaving Big Brother and the Holding Company to pursue a solo career. The timing was almost surreal. The band’s Cheap Thrills album was sitting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and Joplin had become the undeniable star of the group. Big Brother was scheduled to perform a sold-out show in San Diego that same day, making the announcement even more dramatic. Joplin would continue performing with the band for several more months before officially moving on. Her decision ultimately launched the next phase of a career that would make her one of rock’s most recognizable voices.
George Harrison Got Sued Over a Late Album
On September 28, 1976, George Harrison discovered that even being a former Beatle didn’t exempt him from record-company lawsuits. A&M Records sued Harrison for $6 million over the delayed delivery of his album Thirty Three & 1/3. Harrison had missed the contractual deadline by two months, with illness reportedly contributing to the delay. The dispute was eventually resolved, and the album was released later that year. It’s one of those strange reminders that behind the mythology of rock superstardom were still very ordinary battles over contracts, deadlines, and record-company obligations.
A Mick Jagger Impersonator Fooled a New York Club
On September 28, 2005, a man posing as Mick Jagger managed to spend more than an hour enjoying free drinks and VIP treatment at a New York nightclub before anyone realized he wasn’t actually the Rolling Stones frontman. Club employees eventually became suspicious after comparing the impersonator with photographs of Jagger and noticing that the man was younger and heavier than the real thing. Jagger wasn’t even in New York at the time. The incident is a wonderfully bizarre example of how far a convincing resemblance—and a little nerve—could take someone in the rock-and-roll world.
