The first album the band produced was the self-titled "Santana," which yielded the Lowrider anthem "Evil Ways," which sounds as fresh today as it did on the album's release date of January 10, 1969. The album went double platinum, and also featured the studio version of the Woodstock jam, "Soul Sacrifice." The next album the band released was "Abraxas," which also featured a classic Lowrider hit, "Black Magic Woman", as well as the standouts, "Oye Como Va," and "Samba Para Ti." The success of this trio of timeless classics pushed "Abraxas" to sell an unprecedented five million copies worldwide, sending Carlos into the stratosphere of world renown musicians, while making "world music" an entirely new genre of music. The success of these first two albums left a 23-year-old Carlos searching for something to ground him as a person. The stress of going from an unheralded musician from Jalisco, to a worldwide superstar left him reeling, and searching to find himself among a superficial world of critics and adoring fans. Spiritually, he turned to musician John McLaughlin, with whom he collaborated on the free-jazz project "Love, Devotion, and Surrender," which went Gold in 1973. McLaughlin introduced Santana and his wife Deborah into the world of meditation, through their personal guru, Sri Chinmoy. This spiritual awakening would forever ground Santana, and allow him to be grateful for his musical gifts. Santana became a born-again Christian later on in life because of this spiritual awareness, prompting him to say, "I carry the dreams and the aspirations of my people...so I take a lot of pride in presenting myself as a man first, and then if you want. Chicano, Latin, Mexican. But I'm a person and a spirit first." This awareness and humbleness has led Santana to become sincere and grateful for his ability to play the guitar and write a song, and has ultimately led him to connect with many people through his music, shattering the boundaries of race, culture, religion, and ignorance.
Santana held saxophonist John Coltrane among his greatest influences, and credits John for teaching him how to turn his instrument into a voice, through his classic album "A Love Supreme." This led Carlos to collaborate with John's widow, Alice, on the album, "Illuminations." The album was a free-jazz album, which furthered Carlos' ability in the minds of the critics, while giving him invaluable musical confidence and intuition. This experience shaped Carlos, as he spent the rest of the '70s getting in touch with his funky side, and experiencing more pop and American success within his music. The '80s saw Santana continuing his funk and soul success, despite the emergence of synthesizers and decidedly "less funky" instruments and technologies. He performed at Live Aid in 1985 and also scored the film "La Bamba," in this decade. Throughout the '80s, Santana continued his infatuation with Jazz, collaborating with the legendary Weather Report, and artists like Herbie Hancock, and Patrice Rushen. The early '90s left Carlos' commercial success reeling, although he maintained his critical following. It would be through an idea with Arista mogul Clive Davis, the man who originally signed Santana, that he would ultimately see his biggest commercial success.