FDF Volume 4 Issue 368 - Iron Butterfly - Inna Gadda Da Vita
Album – In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Artist – Iron Butterfly
Key Players – Doug Ingle – keyboards, lead vocals. Lee Dorman – bass and backing vocals. Erik Brann – guitar. Ron Bushy - drums
Produced By – Jim Hilton
Release Date – June 14, 1968
Overview – This was the second album released by San Diego band Iron Butterfly. It would peak at #4 on the US charts and has sold over 30 Million copies worldwide.
FDF Comments (aka the songs) – This is a short album, well when you count tracks with just 6. The album opens with “Most Anything you Want”. Dorman has a solid bass line as Ingle gives the heavy downbeat on the organ. The guitar is awash over the top but the vocals are that sort of fun 60’s Summer of Love feel. Realize that makes total sense based off when it was released, but one doesn’t quickly think of Iron Butterfly and “pop”. The mix is clean and you can really hear each player. “Flowers and Beads” is just 3:05 long and feels a little like a Doors outcast but with a splash of the Monkees. “My Mirage” would be right in place on the soundtrack to any film around the time. The chopping guitar, swinging bass line and soaring vocals. The band is pretty laid back on the track and they allow the music to take the listener on a ride. “Termination” is just exactly 3 minutes long and the band shows it can write a catchy, almost “pop” song. Sure the guitars are fuzzed out and the bass thumps more than a “pop” song but this track has a particular feel to it. “Are you Happy” has a rumbling drum line and the psychedelia seems to be most dominant here. It is easy to hear where Deep Purple got some influence from. Ingle has a strong voice and the band is really very tight. The album concludes with the title track. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida when originally released was the full side B of the record. The track runs a legendary 17:05, about 2 minutes shorter than the full running time of the prior five tracks! Easily the bands most well know track there are solos after solos. The first is a guitar solo early on that is well complimented with a terrific walking bass line under it. That fades of course to the stand alone drum solo that is heavy on the tom toms. That changes course and it’s the organ solo that takes off. It’s a slow build on the organ solo with more long chords than fast runs. The isolated solos end around the 12:30 mark and the band comes back in and hangs on the groove for a bit before the drum solo takes off again and everyone gets short bursts to show off. The band does some additional runs playing off one another which leads to one final crescendo of organ and then we end.
Artist – Iron Butterfly
Key Players – Doug Ingle – keyboards, lead vocals. Lee Dorman – bass and backing vocals. Erik Brann – guitar. Ron Bushy - drums
Produced By – Jim Hilton
Release Date – June 14, 1968
Overview – This was the second album released by San Diego band Iron Butterfly. It would peak at #4 on the US charts and has sold over 30 Million copies worldwide.
FDF Comments (aka the songs) – This is a short album, well when you count tracks with just 6. The album opens with “Most Anything you Want”. Dorman has a solid bass line as Ingle gives the heavy downbeat on the organ. The guitar is awash over the top but the vocals are that sort of fun 60’s Summer of Love feel. Realize that makes total sense based off when it was released, but one doesn’t quickly think of Iron Butterfly and “pop”. The mix is clean and you can really hear each player. “Flowers and Beads” is just 3:05 long and feels a little like a Doors outcast but with a splash of the Monkees. “My Mirage” would be right in place on the soundtrack to any film around the time. The chopping guitar, swinging bass line and soaring vocals. The band is pretty laid back on the track and they allow the music to take the listener on a ride. “Termination” is just exactly 3 minutes long and the band shows it can write a catchy, almost “pop” song. Sure the guitars are fuzzed out and the bass thumps more than a “pop” song but this track has a particular feel to it. “Are you Happy” has a rumbling drum line and the psychedelia seems to be most dominant here. It is easy to hear where Deep Purple got some influence from. Ingle has a strong voice and the band is really very tight. The album concludes with the title track. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida when originally released was the full side B of the record. The track runs a legendary 17:05, about 2 minutes shorter than the full running time of the prior five tracks! Easily the bands most well know track there are solos after solos. The first is a guitar solo early on that is well complimented with a terrific walking bass line under it. That fades of course to the stand alone drum solo that is heavy on the tom toms. That changes course and it’s the organ solo that takes off. It’s a slow build on the organ solo with more long chords than fast runs. The isolated solos end around the 12:30 mark and the band comes back in and hangs on the groove for a bit before the drum solo takes off again and everyone gets short bursts to show off. The band does some additional runs playing off one another which leads to one final crescendo of organ and then we end.
Where are they Now? There has been a lot of incarnations of this band. The band still does preform. They have not released new material. Brann passed away in 2003. Lee Dorman passed away on December of 2012. Bushy is the only member that appeared on all 6 of the bands studio records.
FDF Overall Take/Was it worth Dusting off? – I will fully disclose that I bought the record for the title track. For whatever reason I had always felt this band was a joke. I don’t mean that like they couldn’t play but you know..what band releases a track that is 15+ minutes long and is not pretentious etc. The backstory on the band is fascinating as well, adding to the lore. It took me a long time to get back to those first 5 tracks, but I am glad I did. You should check them out too.
Disclaimer – I am just a music fan. Feel free to comment about something that may be written incorrectly about the band/members etc. I strive to have a fun and enjoyable site. This site used to post mp3s but ran in to many issues. The audio clips provided are usually from YouTube. No copy write infringement is intended. Please alert me if something should be pulled. Finally, support the artist featured, or your favorite artist by purchasing their music, seeing their shows if possible and saying hi. They need your support.
posted by March2theSea @ 8:00 AM
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home