On June 20, 1968, Carlos Santana and his band live-debuted what would be one of their most-played and beloved songs, "Soul Sacrifice."

The grooving, uplifting instrumental features the group's co-founder, keyboardist Gregg Rolie (who a few years later co-founded Journey); as well drummer Michael Shrieve and percussionists Mike Carabello and Jose Areas on congas.

The tune would become the closing number of the band's 1969 debut album, Santana, and close the show that historic night in Inglewood at the Forum in '68.

Worldwide audiences probably best know the version the group performed at Woodstock on Saturday afternoon on August 16, 1969 where they wowed the enormous audience for 45 minutes.

Later it was one of the highlights of the Oscar-winning 1970 documentary.

But that night at the Forum was special for several reasons. First of all, the 16,000 capacity arena in Central Los Angeles was barely six months old and the era of stadium-sized concerts had yet to become the norm. Only a handful of performances took place at the Forum in '68 beginning with Aretha Franklin in January.

Diana Ross & the Supremes (with The Jackson Five opening) happened two months after Santana in August, which was followed by Cream and Deep Purple's two-night run in October, and the Doors in December.

In 1968, Santana was playing almost exclusively in Northern California so the excursion down to LA was a rarity.

The Forum set included several songs that would appear on the group's debut album, including Santana mainstays "Jin-go-lo-ba" (the Babatunde Olatunji cover) and "Evil Ways" (the Willie Bobo cover).

Carlos Santana is 75 years old and is touring the east coast of North America this summer. Later in the year he will be performing an "intimate" residency at the House of Blues in Las Vegas in September and November. Tickets are available on this website.