Iron Butterfly
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- "Iron butterfly" is also a name for an options-trading strategy.
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 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, Mike Pinera and Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt on guitars. 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.
The band re-formed in 1975 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 a California canyon in 1999). The albums released during this lineup: Scorching Beauty and Sun and Steel.
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 aniversary 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 July 31, 2003 Erik Brann died of cardiac failure at the age of 52.
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 2006 or early 2007.
Trivia
- "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". The song also features in the climax of the movie Manhunter.
- "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.
- 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.
Discography
Albums
- Heavy (1968)
- In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968)
- Ball (1969)
- Live (1969)
- Metamorphosis (1970)
- [[Evolution: The Best of Iron Butterfly]] (1971)
- Star Collection (1973)
- Scorching Beauty(1974)
- Sun and Steel (1975)
- Rare Flight (1988)
- [[Light & Heavy: The Best of Iron Butterfly]] (1993)
- In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida Deluxe Edition (1995)
- ? (2006-2007)
External links
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