Welcome

Welcome is the fifth studio album by Santana, released in 1973. It followed the jazz-fusion formula that the preceding Caravanserai had inaugurated, but with an expanded and different lineup this time. Gregg Rolie had left the band along with Neal Schon to form Journey, and they were replaced by Tom Coster, Leon Thomas and John McLaughlin, who had collaborated with Carlos Santana on Love Devotion Surrender. Welcome also featured John Coltrane's widow, Alice, as a pianist on the album's opening track, "Going Home" and Flora Purim (the wife of Airto Moreira) on vocals. Because this album was far more experimental than their first four albums, Welcome did not feature any hit singles. In 2003, the album was re-released with a bonus track, "Mantra", which was part of a jam session between Tom Coster, Carlos Santana, and Mike Shrieve.