Tuesday 30 July 2013

Record Sleeve Athletics (2): Marathon by Santana


Marathon was a 1979 album by Santana, and the sleeve features some ancient Greek runners. As well as a short introductory title track, the album features an equally short bass driven instrumental called Runnin'.

So was Carlos Santana a marathon runner himself? It seems not, but in the 1970s he was a follower of the Indian spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007), as was his wife Deborah. Chinmoy and his devotees were  very involved in athletics, and  the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team continue to organise the Self-Transcendence races across the world including in the UK.

While Santana undertook the rigorous Sri Chinmoy regime, including 5:00 am meditation, he drew the line at marathon running: 'This shit is not for me- I don't care how enlightening it is' (source). Deborah Santana did though take part in marathons and ultra-marathons. 

2 comments:

  1. Great blog! I sometimes plough a similar furrow over at rundontrun.wordpress.com

    Can I suggest Affectionate Punch by the Associates before I go off to think of some more athletics related album covers?

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  2. Thanks, have added a link to your excellent blog, which I hadn't seen before. Associates is a good call, as is your Gregory's Girl connection. My gf is from Dagenham by the way, so I've often been regaled with the Itchycoo Park story.

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