Both men were recent disciples of the guru Sri Chinmoy, together with the championship of the album echoes basic concepts of Chinmoy's philosophy, which focused on "love, devotion together with surrender." Sri Chinmoy spoke most the album together with the concept of surrender:
Unfortunately, inward the West give upward is misunderstood. We experience that if nosotros give upward to someone, he volition together with thence lord it over us....But from the spiritual betoken of view...when the finite enters inward the Infinite, it becomes the Infinite all at once. When a tiny drib enters into the ocean, nosotros cannot line the drop. It becomes the mighty ocean.
For both men the album came at a transitional minute spiritually together with musically: Love Devotion Surrender was a "very populace pursuit of their spiritual selves." Carlos Santana was moving from stone toward jazz together with fusion, experiencing a "spiritual awakening," piece McLaughlin was most to experience the break-up of the Mahavishnu Orchestra afterwards beingness criticized past times other ring members. Santana had been a fan of McLaughlin, together with McLaughlin had introduced Santana to Sri Chinmoy inward 1971, at which fourth dimension the guru bestowed the holler "Devadip" on him, together with the 2 had started playing together with recording together inward 1972. According to his biographer Marc Shapiro, Santana had much to acquire from McLaughlin: "He would sit down for hours, enthralled at the novel ways to play that McLaughlin was education him," together with his novel spirituality had its number on the music: "the feeling was that Carlos's newfound religious belief was nowadays inward every groove.
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 hopelessly misunderstood tape inward its fourth dimension past times Santana fans -- they were withal reeling from the radical administration shift toward jazz on Caravanserai together with praying it was an aberration -- it was greeted past times Santana devotees alongside hostility, contrasted alongside kindness from major-league critics similar Robert Palmer. To ask heed this recording inward the context of non solely Carlos Santana's evolution equally a guitarist, but equally the logical extension of the music of John Coltrane together with Miles Davis influencing stone musicians -- McLaughlin, of course, was a onetime Davis sideman -- this extension makes perfect sense inward the post-Sonic Youth, post-rock era. With the exception of Coltrane's "Naima" together with McLaughlin's "Meditation," this album consists of only 3 extended guitar jams played on the spiritual ecstasy tip -- both men were devotees of guru Shri Chinmoy at the time. The assembled ring included members of Santana's ring together with the Mahavishnu Orchestra inward Michael Shrieve, Billy Cobham, Doug Rauch, Armando Peraza, Jan Hammer (playing drums!), together with Don Alias. But it is the presence of the revolutionary jazz organist Larry Young -- a colleague of McLaughlin's inward Tony Williams' Lifetime ring -- that makes the entire projection gel. He stands equally the groovy communicator harmonically betwixt the 2 real dissimilar guitarists whose ideas contrasted plenty to complement 1 exactly about other inward the context of Young's aggressive approach to maintain the entire proceeding inward the air. In the acknowledgement department of Coltrane's "A Love Supreme," which opens the album, Young creates a channel betwixt Santana's riotous, transcendent, melodic runs together with McLaughlin's rapid-fire machine-gun riffing. Young' double-handed striated chord voicings offered plenty for both men to chew on, leaving free-ranging territory for percussive effects to motility the tracks from underneath. Check "Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord," which was musically inspired past times Bobby Womack's "Breezing" together with dynamically foreshadowed past times Pharoah Sanders' read of it, or the insanely knotty yet intervallically transcendent "The Life Divine," for the agency inward which Young's organ genuinely speaks both languages simultaneously. Young is the somebody who makes the room for the deep spirituality inherent inward these sessions to live on grasped for what it is: the interplay of 2 men who were non only paying tribute to Coltrane, but trying to cause got his ideas most going beyond the realm of Western music to communicate alongside the linguistic communication of the view equally it united alongside the cosmos. After 3 decades, Love Devotion Surrender withal sounds completely radical together with stunningly, movingly beautiful.
Quick! Name an album on which John McLaughlin plays pianoforte together with January Hammer plays drums. Give up? The answer: the much loved but oftentimes maligned 1973 collaboration betwixt Carlos Santana together with John McLaughlin, Love, Devotion together with Surrender. (At this fourth dimension John was withal MAHAVISHNU together with Carlos was non quite yet DEVADIP.) Now if anyone out at that topographic point inward musicland tin create upward one's heed on which cuts John McLaughlin played the pianoforte together with Hammer played the drums - you lot win a prize!
In 1973, Carlos Santana had snuff it mesmerized past times the music of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. His involvement became thence rigid that he literally followed the ring on tour across America. He together with McLaughlin became friendly. One nighttime John McLaughlin had a dream that the 2 should tape an album together. He took that dream to Clive Davis, the caput of Columbia Records, together with Love, Devotion together with Surrender was born.
LDS delivers exactly about of the hottest playing you lot are always going to hear. John McLaughlin together with Carlos Santana play their respective butts off, specially on the inspirational "Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord". The rapid-fire machine gun bursts together with telephone phone together with responses brand for an electrical guitar Nirvana. Other musicians assembled for the recording included Santana compatriots Armando Peraza, Don Alias, Doug Rauch together with Mike Shrieve. John McLaughlin brought along January Hammer, Billy Cobham together with the legendary organist Larry Young. Imagine a Latin Mahavishnu Orchestra!
At the fourth dimension of this recording’s release, the patience together with reverence afforded gurus was waning. This could aid explicate the relatively misfortunate sales of Love, Devotion together with Surrender relative to expectations. After all a grin Sri Chinmoy, inward all of his first-class grandeur, was pictured on the album cover. It may also aid explicate the many negative reviews. In hindsight, you lot volition in all probability discovery that most of these reviews came from Santana fans that exactly couldn’t figure out what was going on alongside their hero.
Despite all outward appearances, the fact of the affair was that this album pointed much to a greater extent than inward the administration of John Coltrane than it did whatever guru or religious movement. Santana is, similar McLaughlin, a devoted Coltrane admirer. McLaughlin together with Santana fifty-fifty brand the endeavor of trying to draw off “A Love Supreme,” together with it industrial plant real well. (Even the vocals are effective). An acoustic handling of “Naima” does the master copy proud, too. The other players are rigid on all tunes. Cobham, inward particular, is a powerhouse.
In recent years, Love, Devotion together with Surrender has begun receiving the praise it thence richly deserves. (Bill Laswell has fifty-fifty released a well-received remix.) LDS remains a milestone inward the history of fusion music. We tin solely promise that McLaughlin together with Santana volition discovery an chance to tape together over again soon, something both men cause got hinted at.
Tracks Listing
1. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 Love Supreme (7:48)
2. Naima (3:09)
3. The Life Devine (9:30)
4. Let's Go Into The House of the Lord (15:45)
5. Meditation (2:45)
Total fourth dimension - 38:57
Line-up / Musicians
- Carlos Santana / guitars, vocals
- John McLaughlin / Guitar, piano
- Larry Young / organ
- Doug Rauch / bass
- Billy Cobham / drums
- Don Alias / drums
- January Hammer / drums
- Mike Shrieve / drums
- Armando Peraza / Congas, Bongos
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