Here’s the first in a look back at some of the great vinyl album gatefold sleeves from the great to the well, not so!

Up first, on the sublime to the ridiculous scale, this makes 10 on the ridiculous. The 1974 triple live album, Lotus by Santana.

Recorded during their Caravanseri tour of Japan it featured the lineup which recorded the album Welcome released at the end of 1973. Despite it being a tour of their then new album, tracks from Caravanseri are sadly few and as an account of their live performances at that time it covers much of the previous three albums. This was originally only intended for release in Japan with America and Europe having to wait for their 1976 Moonflower album, a strange mix of live and studio recordings.

What it does feature however is a HUGE gatefold sleeve! I bought this circa 1985 and made the rookie mistake of opening it the moment I left the record shop to show it off to my friends. This is a gatefold on steroids, Carlos Santana was deeply spiritual by this point and the album artwork is a clear reflection of that.

The tri-fold gatefold opens to such a size it becomes very difficult to photograph so imagine my horror at attempting to unfold it on a windy day in the middle of a busy town centre! But it is a milestone in glorious 1970s rock self-indulgence, Carlos Santana was a follower of the Indian guru Sri Chimnoy who could also count John McLaughlin as one of his disciples. So this album is very much a recognition of his spiritual path at that time.

This was always an expensive album, there are moments of typical Santana magic but the overall sound leaves the listener wanting. Looking back I probably took more from owning such a huge album rather than the quality of the recording. It’s three albums of what many believe their golden period, Santana himself was exploring new musical styles and was clearly influenced by Chimnoy and McLaughlin with whom he released the seminal Love, Devotion, Surrender album in early 1973.

As well as the artwork there is plenty of information on track listing and the personnel on each track. There is a CD release for those who don’t have the floor space to open the vinyl version out! As gatefold goes this is a one of a kind, as a capture of a great band at the height of their powers it has moments of sheer brilliance. There was no other band like Santana and these shows went a long way in proving that.