New discussion: Is Alex J. Ligertwood the best singer Santana's ever had????

[Hector Gilberto]

In my opinion, yes.....

[Gerd Schlueter]

Hey Hector,
yes and no. Carlos had always great singer, and for every decade or kind of music he did, there where great singer. Like Greg Walker for the "Inner Secrets - Moonflower" periode, and now Tony and Andy at the moment. But you are right: Alex was and is just great, there is a tune from "moonflower" they performed during a "Rockpalast-Show" in germany I guess in 1980: Just AMAZING!

[Hector Gilberto]

Well, Greg Walker is my 2nd favourite!!! The Rockpalast show was great and I like the way Alex sings Just in time to see the sun! Besides Alex can play mean rhythm guitar and wrote fine songs as well!!!

[Ernesto Angulo]

Yes Alex is a great signer, As well as Greg Walker They are the best so far that Santana has ever had. I've seen them both and they are great performers. Gregg still sounds good, I heard a track with Kieko Matsui (Mover), and I also saw Alex perform in L.A. at the House of Blues 4 yrears ago and he still has it.

[Kevin Crouch]

As the others have stated, all the singers are very talented and have added that certain something to the band. Out of all of them Alex would be my favorite.

[JEFF MAKOR]

Phew, Santana has always had superb musicians in every capacity.
Alex worked very hard and provided Santana with world class singing for a long time.
The styles of music have changed since he held that position though, and as much as I loved his soulful approach, I tend to go for Gregg Rolie.
That may surprise you but I have always loved the earlier, more raw approach to Santana.
The smoothly polished performances since Alex are at odds with my ears as it was instrumental Latin rock and fusion which originally caught my interest.
The high quality of singing in groups is a difficult lover, as they can occupy too much space in an effort to gain wider media acceptance.
Santana is, or at least should be in my humble opinion, primarily about infectious rhythms and intoxicating lead guitar and keyboards.
The vocals seem to pad out the song and this is evident in the later works.
Good topic.

[Hector Gilberto]

Well Jeff, if it comes to raw power I think Alex's best work was done live. In fact the worst songs Santana ever recorded (not including the 21st century) were sang by Alex "How long" "Winning"... (not to mention the Shangó outtakes) but listen to concerts from 1993 or 1994 and you'll notice how great and raw Alex can be.

[Stephen Morris]

I've been thinking about this one since this was posted. I think that Alex, Greg Walker, Tony Lindsay and Andy Vargas are the singers that have the greatest vocal range.

At the risk of sounding hippie-polly-anna again, I really enjoy the vocals of Gregg Rolie in a similar way I enjoy Jimi and Bob Dylan. I just recently discovered a complete recording from the 1988 reunion tour with Gregg Rolie singing. He performed marvellously IMO and I really am chilled by that version of Taboo with the soulful, skillful singing.

One my absolute favorite songs is Everything is coming our way with Carlos singing falsetto. I also really love Just in time to see the sun in which Carlos and Gregg Rolie share leads seamlessly.

And another of my favorites is Esperando on the Sacred Fire album in which Karl Perazzo sings lead.

I know there are differences in the skill and voice range among the Santana singers but I find myself thinking it's all good! Also, music is very much tied in to nostalgia and one tends to want to hear a song the way one got used to it.

Bless/Shalom

[Stephen Morris]

I forgot to mention Leon Thomas and Wendy Haas. Leon on Lotus and Welcome; Wendy on Welcome. Definitely some great vocal contributions there!

[Mike Balitao]

Yes Alex is a great singer his been singing forsantana for a long time but graig rollie is ausome too

[Hector Gilberto]

Just bear in mind that Gregg had to play while singing so he wasn't able to "stretch" his singing as much as Alex, on the other hand of all the Santana singers I think Alex has got the widest range of'em all, he can (or could I dunno how he's singing nowadays) reach the lowest and highest notes, for instance on "Sensitive kind".

[Hector Gilberto]

And don't focus only in Alex's work with Carlos, don't forget to check his early work with Brian Auger!!!!!

[Hector Gilberto]

Yes brother, Leon Thomas was amazing, what he did with Pharoah Sanders is incredible and still sounds surprising nowadays! Leon was perfect for the Lotus / Welcome era!