No. 160 – Toussaint L’Overture

Performer: Santana

Songwriters: Jose Areas, David Brown, Mike Carabello, Greg Rollie, Carlos Santana, Michael Shrieve

Original Release: Santana III

Year: 1971

Definitive Version: Live at Mountain View, 1986.

Speaking of unexpected treats, a few years ago on his podcast, Steve Dahl listed what he called the five greatest guitar solos of all-time. His list; his call. No. 1 on his list was the one at the end of this song.

I knew of Toussaint L’Overture, but truth be told, I’d kind of forgotten about it over the years until Steve mentioned it. Hmm, well if the guitar solo—really a duet between Santana and Neal Schon, with Gregg Rolie filling a third line on organ—was THAT good, I should check it out again.

So I went to the YouTube and punched in Toussaint L’Overture Santana Live. One of the first videos that came up said Mountain View, 1986 (reunion show with Neal Schon). Wait … what? Neal played with Santana again? Cool! I thought they didn’t like each other.

I quickly clicked the link. Sure enough, it was a one-off full reunion of the original Santana lineup, plus Neal Schon, as the encore at a special concert in 1986. Even better, the solos were as advertised, and the song became an instant favorite.

At about the same time I made my discovery, I got an email from Jin with some news: The MGM Grand in Vegas was having a special sale on suites in October: $210 for an entire weekend. Nothing had been mentioned about scheduling Ratpack Weekend, but this deal seemed too good to pass up.

Laurie had attended a Ratpack Weekend before, but we’d never stayed anywhere but The Flaming-O. (I stayed at the IP twice, but that was for CES both times.) Flamingo and Las Vegas boulevards had been Ground Zero of every Vegas excursion I’d taken, but I was intrigued about trying something new.

As much as Laurie loved the pool at The Flaming-O, after reading up on the pool at the MGM Grand, she decided it could be OK. Besides, it was 70 bucks a night … for a suite. How can you pass that up? You can’t! We booked, and Jin said that between the two of us, we had pretty much set up when Ratpack Weekend would be—in October 2010.

It was a weekend full of new experiences. The room was fantastic, although the view was of the loading dock. We had a large sitting area and a massive king—I don’t think it was a California king—bed. The real allure of the suite was the wet bar (we had to stock it ourselves) and the bathroom, which included a whirlpool tub that could hold four people.

Laurie and I tried out the whirlpool—with drinks, of course—before dinner. Of course, a whirlpool can make it so you have to lie down, you know, to be rested up before going out that night. This song—the Mountain View version—was on in the background, and I can’t recommend it enough for afternoon delightful post-whirlpool rest-ups.

That was the Sunday. The Saturday included a new experience perhaps for everyone in Vegas, as well as those at the MGM Grand. When Laurie and Jin went out to the pool that afternoon, it was packed. They found a couple bench seats when I headed out after a round of Pai Gow poker with Paul.

By the time I arrived, however, the sun was gone, and it not only was cloudy, but the sky also looked angry. To any Midwesterner, this was a common sight, but how many people west of the Rockies ever saw an honest-to-goodness thunderstorm? They did that day.

It was a mild thunderstorm compared with what we get in the Midwest, but it cleared the pool area in no time (and soaked our towels). Everyone was ushered out, and the pool officially closed for a couple hours.

By 5 p.m., the sun came back out, and the pool reopened, but no one came back—except us. We about had the place to ourselves, which was all the better to swim, grab a free innertube for the lazy river float—innertubes typically cost $20—and no lines at the drink stands for mai tais.

We had a good time and got in at least a little pool time before it was time to clean up for dinner, which we had at Emeril’s place in the MGM Grand. Truth be told, I would’ve rather done the Bellagio Buffet, but that had to wait till next year. We’re trying new things this year, you know.

Laurie learned a valuable lesson from the thunderstorm experience: Sometimes in Vegas, you have to sacrifice for the greater good. The next morning, before the breakfast buffet, Laurie and Jin went out to the pool and used their towels to stake out chairs in a good location, so when the time came to begin the afternoon of drinking poolside, it was in a perfectly sunny location by one of the main pools … and the bar.

Best of all, we didn’t have to deal with the wall-rumbling house beats at the Avril Lavigne birthday party that went on the day before at the nearby—and very exclusive—Wet Republic pool club. That pool wasn’t shut down during the thunderstorm, like the real ones were. I guess being one of the beautiful people has its advantages.

You’d think that a supposed punk-rocker chick would want something more like Toussaint L’Overture at her birthday instead of house music, but I guess her appearance fee didn’t dictate the music selection. Besides rock doesn’t fit with the image that the MGM Grand wanted to sell to the wannabes—bikini-clad babes and buff guys working up a lather and being one wrong move away from a full-on orgy.

Like I once said: Vegas—the place where anything could happen but probably won’t.