Maps of Music

Lotus (1973)

Where the lyrics of Lotus take you, and where it was really made.

The packaging holds the record for the most facings on a gatefold vinyl LP, with 22 panels, all illustrated by Tadanori Yokoo.

Key places

Where Lotus was recorded in Osaka (1973)

Recording site Osaka Kōsei Nenkin Kaikan — The live recording captures the concert held on 3 July 1973 at the Kosei Nenkin Kaikan in Osaka, Japan, during the Caravanserai Tour. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Lotus: 1974 live album by the Latin rock band Santana
• Recorded at the Osaka Kōsei Nenkin Kaikan, Osaka, Japan, in July 1973, during the Caravanserai Tour
• Originally released as a triple vinyl LP in Japan only
• This version was later released internationally
• 2017 limited edition: Lotus: Complete Edition, a 3-disc hybrid Super Audio CD set
• The 2017 edition adds seven previously unreleased bonus tracks
• The 2017 edition was also a Japan-only release

Background

• The Welcome album recording sessions were completed shortly before this concert
• Welcome was later released in November 1973
• The concert captured for Lotus was held on 3 July 1973 at the Kōsei Nenkin Kaikan
• Lineup on the recording: Carlos Santana, Leon Thomas, Tom Coster, Richard Kermode, Doug Rauch, Armando Peraza, José "Chepito" Areas, Michael Shrieve

Recording

• The 1973 live recordings were mixed in 4-channel quadraphonic sound
• The mix was released in the CBS Stereo Quadraphonic (SQ) matrix system
• SQ encoding folds all 4 channels into a 2-channel stereo version that works on conventional stereo equipment
• All known releases before 2017 use the same SQ encoded 2-channel recordings
• The 4 channels can still be heard on modern equipment with a proper SQ decoder and 4-channel playback system

Cover

• The elaborate packaging was designed by Japanese artist Tadanori Yokoo
• The gatefold vinyl LP has 22 panels, all illustrated by Yokoo
• Released by CBS/Sony to commemorate Santana's Tour of Japan in 1973

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in San Francisco, California, in 1966 by Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana.
• Named the Santana Blues Band at a January 1967 Fillmore audition; shortened to Santana by the end of 1967.
• Signed with Columbia Records in late 1968.
• The "classic" line-up stabilised in May 1969: Carlos Santana, Gregg Rolie, Michael Carabello, David Brown, Michael Shrieve and Jose "Chepito" Areas.

Members

• Carlos Santana is the only consistent member across the band's history.
• Classic line-up: Santana, Gregg Rolie (organ, lead vocals), Michael Carabello and Jose "Chepito" Areas (percussion), Michael Shrieve (drums), David Brown (bass).
• Brown died in 2000; Areas was not invited to the 2014 reunion.
• Classic line-up members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Career

• Breakthrough at the 1969 Woodstock Festival; the debut album Santana peaked at No. 4 on the US Billboard 200.
• Abraxas (1970) and Santana III (1971) both reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200.
• Early 1970s experiments with jazz fusion on Caravanserai (1972), Welcome (1973) and Borboletta (1974).
• Amigos (1976) returned the band to commercial success; Moonflower (1977) was its most successful album since Santana III.
• Commercial decline in the 1980s, followed by a seven-year recording hiatus.
• Supernatural (1999) won eight Grammy Awards and sold an estimated 30 million copies worldwide.
• Santana IV (2016) reunited the classic line-up, the first recording together in 45 years.
• Estimated 100 million records sold worldwide.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The complete 3-LP set was not released in Europe until November 1975.
• The first U.S. release was in June 1991 as a 2-CD set and 2 cassette tape set.
• The album was re-issued in 2006 on vinyl in the Netherlands and on CD in Japan as a 3-CD set.

Records

• 1991: first U.S. release, 2-CD set and 2 cassette tape set
• 2006: re-issued on vinyl in the Netherlands, and on CD in Japan as a 3-CD set
• 2013: re-issued in the US as a 3-LP set
• 2016: released in the US by Audio Fidelity as a 2-Super Audio CD set
• 2017: Lotus: Complete Edition released in Japan as a 3-disc hybrid Super Audio CD with seven bonus tracks
• 2017 edition: 4.0 surround sound audio, stereo SACD tracks, and a stereo CD layer playable on conventional CD players

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• On all original vinyl releases up to 1991, track E2 is printed as "Savor" by mistake; the track is actually "Mr. Udo".
• The Japanese 3-CD edition uses the same track listing as the original vinyl, with "Mr. Udo" in place of "Savor".
• The packaging's 22 panels were created by Tadanori Yokoo, and the production cost was reportedly about £30,000.
• Agharta, a live album by Miles Davis also recorded in Osaka, has a cover by Yokoo as well.

Sources: www.discogs.com · en.wikipedia.org

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