Iron Butterfly

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Iron Butterfly

Origin San Diego, California
Country United States
Years active 1965-1971
1974-1977
1978-1979
1988-1993
1998-Present
Genres Psychedelic rock
proto metal
Labels ATCO
Members Ron Bushy
Lee Dorman
Charlie Marinkovich
Martin Gerschwitz
Past members Doug Ingle
Erik Brann
Jerry Penrod
Darryl DeLoach
Danny Weis
Philip Taylor Kramer
Howard Reitzes
Bill DeMartinez
Mike Pinera
Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt
Larry Rust
Lyle West
Website(s) www.ironbutterfly.com
For other uses, see Iron Butterfly (disambiguation).

Iron Butterfly is a U.S. hard rock and psychedelic band, best known for their 1968 hit "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". They are sometimes called "the first heavy metal band" because of this song and others like it. Their heyday was the late 1960s, but the band has been reincarnated several times with various members.

Contents

[edit] History

The band was formed in 1966 in San Diego and released their debut album, Heavy, in 1968, after signing a deal with ATCO, an Atlantic Records subsidiary. The original members were Doug Ingle, Ron Bushy, Jerry "The Bear" Penrod, Darryl DeLoach and Danny Weis. All but Ingle and Bushy left the band after recording the first album in late 1967; the remaining musicians, faced with the possibility of the record not being released, quickly found replacements in bassist Lee Dorman and guitarist Erik Brann and resumed touring.

Weis and Penrod almost immediately went on to form the supergroup Rhinoceros.

The 17-minute "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", the title track of their second album, became a huge hit that spent over a year in the Top Ten. (Doug Ingle is reported to have said the title was an alcohol-slurred version of "In the Garden of Eden", although this is probably apocryphal; see the page on that song for more.) The members when In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida was recorded were Doug Ingle (keyboards and vocals), Lee Dorman (bass guitar), Ron Bushy (drums) and Erik Brann, also Braunn (guitar). The next album, Ball, was less successful, and more lineup changes followed. In 1970 with Erik Brann gone, Iron Butterfly released their fourth album, Metamorphosis with two new members, guitarist / vocalist / songwriter Mike Pinera (whose Blues Image had opened for the Butterfly's Vida tour and who later led Ramatam and played with Alice Cooper) and guitarist Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt. The album only managed to get into the top twenty. The band broke up in 1971. Dorman and Reinhardt later joined the supergroup Captain Beyond.

The band was booked to play at Woodstock, but got stuck at an airport. When their manager called the conductors of the concert, they explained the incredible situation they had been dealt and asked for patience. However, the manager demanded that the Butterfly be flown in by helicopter whereupon they would "immediately" take the stage. After their set they would be paid and flown back to the airport. The manager was told that this would be taken into consideration and he would be called back. In truth, his outrageous demands were never given a second thought.

Iron Butterfly classic line-up
Iron Butterfly classic line-up

The band re-formed in 1974 with Ron Bushy and Eric Brann joined by bassist Philip Taylor Kramer and Howard Reitzes. (Kramer later made news with his 1995 disappearance and the discovery of his bones and minivan at the bottom of Decker Canyon in 1999). The albums released during this lineup: Scorching Beauty in 1975 with Reitzes and Sun and Steel early 1976 with DeMartines.

A very brief semi-reunion in 1978, enlisting Jimi Henderson on vocals and former Van der Graaf Generator / Koobas / Juicy Lucy bassist Keith Ian Ellis, imploded during a tour of Germany, when Ellis was found dead in a motel room.

The famous line-up of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida got together for the Atlantic Recording Corporation's 40th anniversary concert and celebration, appearing on stage along with the surviving members of Led Zeppelin, and with Aretha Franklin among many other acts of the company's roster in 1987.

On October 3, 2002, original frontman Darryl DeLoach died of liver cancer at the age of 56.

On July 31, 2003 Erik Brann died of cardiac failure at the age of 52. He had released a new CD album just a few weeks before.

As of 2004, the group is once again re-formed, and is touring with early members Ron Bushy and Lee Dorman. Iron Butterfly is now working on a new album that should be released in mid-late 2007.

[edit] Trivia

  • Led Zeppelin opened for Iron Butterfly. A year to the day later Iron Butterfly opened for Led Zeppelin. The ironic twist continued with the band Yes, with whom drummer Ron Bushy is pals.
  • When Iron Butterfly reformed in 1968 after a brief split, musicians rumored to have been interested in joining as lead guitarist include Neil Young, Jeff Beck, and Michael Monarch. Doug Ingle and Ron Bushy eventually decided upon Erik Brann.

[edit] References in other media

Iron Butterfly's signature song "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" has been featured and referenced in other media on a number of occasions:

  • "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was featured in the Simpsons episode "Bart Sells His Soul," where Bart switched hymns in the church. It was renamed "In the Garden of Eden" by "I. Ron Butterfly" to fool Reverend Lovejoy.
  • The song features extensively in the climax of the movie Manhunter.
  • "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was played extensively during the opening scenes in "The Tribe" (episode 16, first season) of the TV series Criminal Minds.
  • "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was featured in the Seinfeld episode "The Slicer." Elaine is playing it loudly to mask the sound of the neighbor's starving cat when her power goes out.
  • "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was included in American comedian Wayne Federman's electric ukulele rock medley, beginning in 1986. A version was shown on Comedy Central.
  • In the TV series Roseanne, Roseanne Barr makes a reference to an Iron Butterfly concert while John Goodman sings "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" during a power outage.
  • "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is played at the end of a Halloween episode of the TV series Home Improvement.
  • In a Christmas episode of Wings, Lowell is playing the drums (off-camera) in the hangar. Faye calls Lowell into the terminal and asks him what he was playing. Lowell replies, "That was the drum solo to 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'."
  • In the movie Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" plays during a dream sequence involving the stoner character Spencer.
  • In the first few minutes of the Supernatural episode "Skin," the song is played, which is not an uncommon thing for the show to do as older rock has become a trademark of theirs.
  • A track entitled "In-A-Gadda-Stravinsky" (actually an excerpted guitar solo from a 1984 live performance of "Let's Move To Cleveland") appears on Frank Zappa's album Guitar. This features Zappa briefly quoting the opening bassoon part of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring on his guitar while the bass player Scott Thunes sets up a riff from "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida".
  • "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was sampled twice by the rapper Nas; On "Thief's Theme" and "Hip Hop Is Dead."
  • In an episode of Hardcastle & McCormick, the song was used by McCormick to drown out the jazz being played by Hardcastle and his buddies.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

Here is a full listing of 45's released by the band in the USA and Overseas.

  • Don't Look Down On Me/Possession
  • Possession/Evil Temptation
  • Unconscious Power/Possession
  • RADIO EP: Iron Butterfly Theme, Possession/Get Out Of My Life Woman, Unconscious Power
  • In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (2:52 edit)/Iron Butterfly Theme (3:25 Edit)
  • EP: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida & Flowers & Beads/My Mirage
  • Soul Experience/In The Crowds
  • In The Time Of Our Lives/It Must Be Love (Some have the full 4:47 album version of the A-Side, others the 3:15 edit)
  • Easy Rider/Soldier In Our Town
  • New Day/Soldier In Our Town (European Release)
  • Silly Sally/Stone Believer
  • Silly Sally/Talkbox Solo from Butterfly Bleu (B-Side is the talkbox section from the song) (European Release)
  • Shady Lady/Best Years Of Our Lives (European Release)
  • Pearly Gates/Searchin' Circles (Both songs heavily edited)
  • Beyond The Milky Way/Get It Out
  • I'm Right I'm Wrong (3:50 Edit)/Free (Promo copies exist only)
  • In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (2:52 Edit)/Soul Experience (Atlantic Oldies re-release)
  • Thai EP: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (The song plays from the beginning and fades just before the drum solo)/Get Ready (Rare Earth)
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