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In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida starts with the ridiculously happy Most Anything That You Want, where Dorman puts down a fabulous sliding bassline that works to great effect with Dorman's B-movie baritone singing. A really fun bouncy song that remains one of the forgotten classics of the 1960's, ... Read review
by way of its utterly over-the-top title cut. Reportedly composed by keyboardist/lead singer Doug Ingle in such a stoned-out, numb-tongued condition that he coul...
by way of its utterly over-the-top title cut. Reportedly composed by keyboardist/lead singer Doug Ingle in such a stoned-out, numb-tongued condition that he coul...
by way of its utterly over-the-top title cut. Reportedly composed by keyboardist/lead singer Doug Ingle in such a stoned-out, numb-tongued condition that he coul...
by way of its utterly over-the-top title cut. Reportedly composed by keyboardist/lead singer Doug Ingle in such a stoned-out, numb-tongued condition that he coul...
by way of its utterly over-the-top title cut. Reportedly composed by keyboardist/lead singer Doug Ingle in such a stoned-out, numb-tongued condition that he coul...
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A review by TheIncredibleCheeseSandwich on In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - Iron Butterfly April 24th, 2008
Author's product rating:
Originality
Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics
Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks
A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Good
Value for Money
Good
Advantages:
Great 1960's music
Disadvantages:
A little inconsistent for some
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
1966 on the West Coast of the USA was a time where bands really were turning their dials to 11, using the dual effects of narcotics and increased amplification to move away from the traditional 3-minute single format to longer, wierder, heavier "album orientated" rock, which often consisted of single ringing chords, stop-gap time signatures and heavy distortion. Bands began to explore this relatively new genre, and furthermore had the help of not only US FM radio stations to help them (FM at the time was the hip alternative to the mainstream AM stations) but also record labels who had money to throw at musicians and sometimes weren't too fussy about what the music was like! It was a great age for making music, and a whole plethora of acts came out of the scene, which would eventually find its niche as termed alternatively "garage" or "pyschadelic" rock.
There are too many to name them all but suffice to say that people like The Byrds, It's A Beautiful Day, HP Lovecraft, Quicksilver Messenger Service and The Doors made the West Coast of 1966-68 a very good place to hear music. San Diego's Iron Butterfly could be considered among the second division of acts, with their debut album "Heavy" being released on Atlantic's "experimental" label Atco in 1967. A solid enough collection, it enjoyed modest chart sucess but the band fragmented at the end of the year, losing their bassist, singer and guitarist. leaving only keyboardist/singer Doug Ingle and drummer Ron Bushy. An album had to be made, so with Ingle and Bushy now effectively leading the band the Butterfly took flight once more, replacing ex-guitarist Danny Weis with the then 17 year old prodigy Erik Brann and Ingle took over the sole ownership of singing from Darryl DeLoach. The real masterstroke came with the recruitment of Lee Dorman in place of Jerry Penrod. Dorman, a really fluent and inventive bassist whose melody lines became something of a signature for the band's subsequent sound, adds some heavy dropped-octave texture to this album, in contrast to Brann's somewhat scratchy guitar lines. In fact it could be said that the organ / bass combination is more important to the overall sound than the usual guitar-orientated one prevalent at the time of its release.
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida starts with the ridiculously happy Most Anything That You Want, where Dorman puts down a fabulous sliding bassline that works to great effect with Dorman's B-movie baritone singing. A really fun bouncy song that remains one of the forgotten classics of the 1960's, followed by the quaint tripe of Flowers And Beads, a dippy surf/pysch love song with cringe-inducing lyrics "flowers and beads are one thing, but having a girl, that's something", though the utterly charming chorus redeems it. Band: "girl, he just knows he loves you now" : Ingle: "you're all I talk about, and everything I say ah".
Things start to get heavy with My Mirage, a jarring organ/guitar sound that builds up to some faintly melodramatic lyrics "my mirage, I'll be drawing you so ooo oooh uuuhnn" etc. A taster of what is to follow further on. The shorter Termination, a throwaway track and the weakest selection on offer, shows the band noodling away in an effort to create an atmosphere but failing miserably. Skip this one. The better Are You Happy marries the first two songs' lighter feel with "Mirage"'s heavier vibe and thuds along with its basic but effective falling scale. The lyrics though are still a bit lightweight: "met a pretty girl on the train last night, let me tell ya now she was groovy"...yeah.
Centrepiece of the whole release is the epic 17 minute title track. Legend has it that it was to be called In The Garden Of Eden but Doug Ingle was so faced that he couldn't pronounce it properly, and thus In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida it was. Again the lyrics are nothing special "don't you know that I love you, don't you know that I'll always be true, girl won't you come with me, and take my hand, girl won't you come with me, and walk this land....." that 's basically it.....but the music makes up for it. A blues riff in Fmaj (it is!! it is!!) all the members of the band get to have a solo: Brann, after some earlier featherweight guitar lines, showcases his scat style nicely with some edgy schizo lines; Ingle puts down an Egyptian style organ - watch out at about 11.13 in when he chucks in a sample of "God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen"; Dorman's bass dominates the earlier part of the epic before taking a rest until the last two bars. The famous / infamous drum solo melodically takes the honours though. Bushy's use of snare / bass drum was for its time quite innovative and remains the most-remembered bit of the whole composition.
Very much an album of its time, it shot to the top of the US charts becoming the first platinum album, selling over 3 million copies in 1968-69 alone, to date something like 30 million copies all told, but as the years went by it slipped into a mere paragraph in rock history. The band struggled to follow its sucess - though they did have a big US hit with its follow up Ball - but it was more or less over. The comeback began in the late 1980's when the title track appeared in Micheal Mann's taut thriller "Manhunter" (ironically itself a film that gained kudos as the years went by) being cemented when the makers of The Simpsons put in the numerous references to the track in episodes of that ever-popular show. The band are still going, and popular enough to tour 600-700 seat venues.
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida: for sure a long long way away from being the best album ever made, but an essential addition to your late-1960's collection if that's your bag, baby. RIP Erik Brann: 1952-2004
For the record, the bassline, after much practice, runs like this: Fmaj: A A C B F G slide up to Cmaj diminished: E Db D C Now I bet you really wanted to know that. It's a bassline that has often rocked the house in the Cheese Sandwich Towers, much to the annoyance of our square neighbours.
Advantages: The title track Disadvantages: Betcha you've never heard of it, eh?
Released in 1968, this is one of the albums that bridged the gap between the 1960's pop sounds and the heavier blues that came later on. It's very much an album of two halves, Brian, side one being hippie-dippie flower power stuff, but no worse for it, and side two consisting of the title track alone, in all its majestic seventeen minutes. The US FM stations loved it, and it opened the record company's eyes to the sheer huge financial prospects of ... ...platinum, and to date has sold something like 27 million copies! Waddya mean, you've never heard of it?
The band, coming out of Los Angeles in 1968, were Doug Ingle (keyboards, vocals), Lee Dorman (bass), Ron Bushy (drums) and the late Erik Brann (guitar), who sadly died not too long ago aged only 52.
In A Gadda Da Vida was the bands second album. Reputedly so named because Doug Ingle was so wacked out during recording that he couldn't sing the ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Bangers throughout Disadvantages: A couple of mildly-effective elements
...he drops one which takes you through a bit of a journey whilst using some slapping breaks to really get you moving with one which brings up the mood significantly.
**Five Stars**
3. ?In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida?
Sampling the classic Psychedelic IronButterfly song of the same name, you get one which re-plays the main riff in a speedier pace for an effect which you don?t get matched at any other stage in the album. I saw it as one of the best in the whole of the album and I can?t see how you couldn?t see it any other way.
**Five Stars**
4. ?Kiss Kiss Bang Bang?
This is a real stand-out tune which you get from the album and one you can?t miss as it is done in a way you don?t get from any of the others as for once he chooses to bring in clear influence from outside the immediately-associated genres with a Hip Hop style coming through at first...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
...Released in 1969 following the massive success of the fourteen-hour long (OK it just seemed like it) rock epic In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, this was the third offering from those Cali hippie heads known as IronButterfly. Gave them a US no 1 album too, spending nearly a year on the charts.
The Butterfly have sometimes been credited (wrongly, in my opinion) with inventing heavy metal. True, they did have Erik Braun's scratchy guitar sound, but dominating throughout we have Doug Ingle with his magic organ and Lee Dorman's walking basslines. "Ball" by IronButterfly is a mix of seriously mellow hippy sounds, wacked-out trippy stuff and naïve but sweet pop and all the better for it. Sadly there's no 17-minute composition on this album, nor does Ron Dorman get another 3-minute drum solo either, but overall this CD is kinda cute...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Great music from the flower power era Disadvantages: One (or maybe two) songs don't really belong on it
...of all of the songs, probably the only one that sounds dated.
Track 8 Magic Hollow, The Beau Brummels. French accordion, moody quavering vocals, acoustic guitar and orchestral strings. A sort of cross between French Left Bank and 1960s US folk music. Pleasant, but not especially memorable.
Track 9 Pride of Man Quicksilver Messenger Service. Apocalyptic song, strong guitars with a strong bass, and muted but purposeful drum playing. "Oh God, pride of man, broken in the dust again." Heady stuff!
Track 10 In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by IronButterfly. This is an interesting bluesy, heavy metal and psychedelic melding of styles, with somewhat portentous (or perhaps pretentious?) lyrics. Good fun, all the same.
Track 11 Yes I Need Someone, Eire Apparent. Experimental guitar playing, stiring, driving vocals and music. Thoughtful writing.
Track...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Album Notes: Iron Butterfly: Doug Ingle (vocals, organ, keyboards); Erik Brann (guitar); Lee Dorman (bass); Ron Bushy (drums). Recorded at Gold Star Studios, Hollywood, California and Ultra-Sonic Studios, Hempstead, New York. Includes original release liner notes by Ron Tepper. Iron Butterfly was the American answer to the heavy riff-rock of British groups like Cream and Led Zeppelin, with a touch of Vanilla Fudge's organ-led theatricality and the Doors' mysterioso image. They will forevermore be known for the 17-minute title track of this, their second album. "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" (a poke at singer/organist Doug Ingle's gruff, John Kay-like delivery of "In the Garden of Eden") is built around one of the most memorable riffs of the '60s. It's filled out by long solos from all concerned, especially from drummer Ron Bushy, whose lengthy extemporizing provided the template for Big Rock Drum Solos for decades to come. The rest of the tunes reveal that Iron Butterfly did indeed possess some pop sensibility to leaven the heaviness; "Flowers and Beads" in particular is simultaneously a romantic '60s pop-rock ballad and a subtle but surprising swipe at flower power culture.
Album Reviews: Q (7/93, p.108) - 3 Stars - Good - "...The ingredients are standard '68: cod-mysticism, implied sex, baroque organ doodlings, freaked-out guitar stuff and shouting. Put them together and you're three million copies of the IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA album lighter..."
Titles on disc 1
1.: Most Anything You Want
2.: My Mirage
3.: Termination
4.: Are You Happy
5.: In A Gadda Da Vida
6.: Flowers And Beads
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