In this Friday, Dec. 20, 2013 frame grab from video provided by KRON-TV, famed rock guitarist Carlos Santana, left, greets his former bandmate Marcus Malone on the streets of Oakland, Calif.
Famed guitarist Carlos Santana has reportedly reunited with one of the founding members of his band, Marcus “The Magnificent” Malone, who is now homeless in Oakland, California.
The meeting was arranged by a reporter from a San Francisco television station who had a chance meeting with Malone while working on a story about illegal dumping in an Oakland neighborhood.
“You don’t know how afraid I am to let you see me,” Malone told his former bandleader during the reunion.
Santana reportedly replied that he was “honored” to be in Malone’s presence. The meeting came more than four decades since the two musicians last saw each other. Santana promised to present Malone with a new conga set and said he would help his former bandmate “get back on his feet.”
Malone played congas on the band’s legendary first album and hosted practice sessions in his mother’s garage, but left the group in 1969 after being jailed for manslaughter.
[AP]