With his 70th birthday coming up, Carlos Santana is looking back on his life and career, like his band's legendary performance at Woodstock in 1969, where he admits he wasn't totally present.
"Fifty years went fast, but now I feel even younger and more clear, and I have more energy and more conviction than back then," he tells Rolling Stone. "[Woodstock] was basically...the highest I've been in front of so many people. To peak with LSD or peyote in front of 400,000 people, you almost have no control of anything."
The legendary guitarist points out that times have changed a lot since the late-1960s, and not all for the better.
"For me, [The Summer of Love in] '67 means something that's not happening right now that should be happening, which is more people taking LSD, peyote and mescaline," Santana says. "More people discarding plastic values. Even Cary Grant was taking LSD. It's therapeutic. Under supervision, people will be better."
The legendary guitarist had said in the past that he would probably retire around age 70; the milestone birthday for him is coming up July 20. But he's not about making such proclamations anymore.
"I'm retired from retiring," he says.
Read the full interview here.
Photo: Getty Images