# The guitarist Carlos Santana and Bob Weir agreed created “a different kind of blues”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-guitarist-carlos-santana-and-bob-weir-agreed-created-a-different-kind-of-blues/
- Published: 2026-11-09T19:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-09T20:40:01+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/guitarist-carlos-santana-bob-weir-agreed-different-kind-of-blues/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Santana admired Bloomfield’s guitar work on ‘East-West’.
- The 1966 track fused blues, jazz and Indian music.
- Bob Weir said guitarists quickly copied Bloomfield’s licks.

## Summary

Carlos Santana singled out Mike Bloomfield’s guitar work on the Butterfield Blues Band’s 1966 track ‘East-West’, calling it “a different kind of blues”. The 13-minute piece blended blues with modal jazz and Indian music, and its extended improvisation helped point towards the cross-cultural, exploratory sound Santana later developed.

The article says Santana encountered the track after moving to the US in 1966 and was especially struck by Bloomfield’s solo. Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir recalled that musicians were “awestruck” and that within about six months many had copied Bloomfield’s licks. The song’s influence reached artists including Santana and the Grateful Dead, whose live performances also featured long instrumental jams.

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