Love Devotion Surrender is an album released in 1973 by guitarists John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana, supported by their respective bands Santana and Mahavishnu Orchestra. The album was inspired by the teachings of Sri Chinmoy and was intended as a tribute to John Coltrane. It contains two compositions by Coltrane, two songs by McLaughlin, and a traditional gospel song arranged by Santana and McLaughlin. The album went gold in 1973 and was reissued on CD in 2003 with alternate recordings of the tracks as bonus tracks.

Both men were students at the time of the guru Sri Chinmoy, and the album’s title reflects the core concepts of his philosophy, which focused on love, devotion, and surrender.

Sri Chinmoy said of the album and the concept of surrender.

“Unfortunately, in the West the concept of surrender is misunderstood. We feel that if we surrender to someone, then they will dominate us, but spiritually, when the finite enters the infinite, it becomes infinite. When a small drop enters the ocean, we cannot trace the fall, it becomes the mighty ocean.”

For both men, the album came at a transitional moment spiritually and musically. Love Devevotion Surrender was a very public search for their spiritual selves. Carlos Santana was moving from rock to jazz and fusion, experiencing a spiritual awakening, while McLaughlin was about to experience the breakup of the band Mahavishnu after being criticized by its members. Santana was a follower of McLaughlin, who introduced him to Sri Chinmoy in 1971, at which time the guru gave him the name Devadip, which in Sanskrit means “the lamp, the light, and the eye of God.” The two began playing and recording together in 1972.

Santana had much to learn from McLaughlin. According to biographer Mark Shapiro, who wrote:

“He would sit for hours enthralled by the new ways McLaughlin was teaching him, and this new spirituality influenced his music. It felt like Carlos’s newfound faith was present in every groove of the record.”

The album was met with mixed reviews, mostly negative, when it was first released, but 30 years later, critic Tom Jurek, reviewing what had been written, highly praised the album, writing:

“After three decades, Love Devevotion Surrender still sounds utterly radical and moves astonishingly beautifully”.
 
“A Love Supreme,” the track we’ll hear next, is a cover of John Coltrane’s “Acknowledgement” from his landmark 1964 album A Love Supreme.

McLaughlin and Santana play electric guitars on an extended and largely improvised version of the original, for the most part. Santana’s guitar is heard on the left channel, while McLaughlin’s is on the right, and as in the original, towards the end of the track, a chant saying “A Love Supreme” is heard, probably in the voice of Armando Peraza, since he is the only one mentioned as a singer on the album.

Tracklist

1. A Love Supreme 7:48
2. Naima 3:09
3. The Life Divine 9:30
4. Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord 15:45
5. Meditation 2:45