As a frequent reviewer of books for The Houston Press—mostly of the musical variety–I’m used to seeing my long-suffering USPS mailman, Joseph, leave the sanctity of his truck to bring bulky padded envelopes and boxes containing tomes to my front doorstep (one reason he always gets a decent Christmas bonus). Same for UPS and FedEx deliverers.
But when I came home recently to find a large, large box on my living room floor from a sender I didn’t recognize, I asked my wife what it was.
“I don’t know,” she said, flipping through one of her food magazines. “But it’s heavy. Really heavy. Must be a bunch of albums.”
But no, it was indeed…a book. More like a brick of a book that, when I put it on our kitchen scale, weighed in at nearly 14 pounds (ironically, just about what I want to lose). It was the massive Carlos Santana: Love, Devotion, Surrender by Jeff Tamarkin (406 pp., $175, Insight Editions). And it is the most lavish book I’ve even seen on a musician or band.
Houston concertgoers were disappointed recently, when the man—and the band that bears his name—had to cancel two Texas shows (Dallas and Houston) due to dehydration last month. No rescheduled date has been announced yet, but readers of this book will get to see the man’s face here, many times, across nearly eight decades.
The book, measuring 11” x 15”, printed on heavy, glossy paper, and comes in a fuzzy purple slipcase (there is also a $400 limited edition with extra stuff). It traces the life and music of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer from a childhood in Mexico where he began to take up playing and enter the family business (his father was a well-respected mariachi violinist), to initial success with his fledgling band at Woodstock (where he famously performed on acid, thinking his guitar strings were snakes he had to contain).
It then follows chronologically his (and the band’s) years of worldwide fame, musical ups and downs, shifting lineup changes, and his eventual emergence as an elder stateman of rock.
Longtime music journalist Jeff Tamarkin’s prose here is lean, but richly detailed, with every single album released under his name (and some collaborations) discussed and dissected. He also writes of Santana’s deep spiritual faith and journey, giving the reader a sense of the cosmic Carlos that he’s long deployed, evident in both his autobiography and the recent interview with the Houston Press.
Visually, the book is simply stunning, with hundreds of photographs of the man, the band, ephemera like album and single covers, eye-popping psychedelic posters, live and studio shots, and promo photos.
Tamarkin seems to have had full access to both Santana and his archives, though his biographical sections are not straight hagiography. One chapter discusses his activist/political/charitable interests.
Dotted throughout are separate “pocket sections” reproducing art and albums from Santana’s career, usually featuring mini-posters and prints inside, handwritten lyrics.
One even has facsimiles of Santana’s passport, a performance permit under “The Aliens Order Act” (which under “Employment” denotes him as “Musician, Member of ‘Santana’”) and the contract for a 1969 performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. For guitar geeks, there’s a fold-out of many guitars he’s used over the years.
But my favorite was the first and simplest of these add-ons: A small booklet called The Santana Family Album. Designed to represent a worn family scrapbook, it reproduces pictures of young Carlos and his family. Finally, appendices include a complete discography and list of live performances over 55 years. The only thing missing is a Pete Frame-style breakdown of all the different band lineups…of which there have been more than 80 and counting!
Carlos Santana: Love, Devotion, Surrender is easily the birthday/holiday (or several combined) gift for the Santana fan in your life. The back cover features a photo of Carlos Santana that seems to sum him up: he’s in concert, wearing his guitar, with head bowed and hands clasped above in prayer.
Perhaps he’s praying that the reader holding it has the physical strength in his or her biceps to pick up this book and put it on the shelf when done!
To find out more about the book, visit Insight Editions.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.
