Santana-Abraxas

Santana-Abraxas

Cover has normal wear and tear due to age. Cover is graded VG. Record is graded VG. INCLUDES POSTER  

Abraxas is the second studio album by Latin rock band Santana. It was released on September 23, 1970 by Columbia Records and became the band’s first album to reach number one in the United States.

The album cover features the 1961 painting Annunciation by German-French painter Mati Klarwein. According to the artist, it was one of the first paintings he did after relocating to New York City. Carlos Santana reportedly noticed it in a magazine and asked that it be on the cover of the band’s upcoming album. On the back of the record sleeve the cover art is just credited to ‘MATI’. It is now considered a classic of rock album covers. Klarwein went on to design album artwork for many notable artists, including Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Gregg Allman.

The art, which shows a naked, black Virgin Mary speaking with an angel riding a conga, among numerous other psychedelic visuals, was controversial from the start. Was it art? Was it pornography? In spite of the squabbling over the album art at the time, it’s now considered one of the most majestic album covers of the 20th century.