Iron Butterfly ‘In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida’ Singer Was 78

Doug Ingle, co-founder of the heavy rock band Iron Butterfly and singer and organist of songs including their iconic hit, “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida,” died Friday at age 78. He was the last surviving member of the classic lineup from the late 1960s.

Much of Iron Butterfly’s success came with the 17-minute FM radio hit “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida”. The 1968 second album, named after the hit single, spent 81 weeks in the top 10 in the United States; for a time it remained the best-selling album in Atlantic Records history. The LP was later certified quadruple platinum.

Ingle’s family announced his death on social media and did not provide a cause of death. “It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that I announce the passing of my father Doug Ingle,” posted Doug Ingle Jr. “Dad passed away peacefully this evening in the presence of his family. Thank you Dad for being a father, teacher and friend. Precious loving memories that I will carry for the rest of my days as I move forward on this journey of life. I love you dad.”

Ingle was the last surviving member of the original lineup, formed in San Diego in 1966, and also the sole survivor of the so-called classic edition of the group which recorded “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” over two years. later, by this time, the group had undergone total turnover, except for him.

A montage of “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida” that lasted just two minutes and 52 seconds climbed the charts to land at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, although that hardly indicates how much point the song seeped through. Culture. It’s the 17-minute album track that has become legendary – and something of an affectionate joke in rock circles, either as a symbol of excessive length or as something a late FM disc jockey evening party could put down a needle for smoking or smoking. bathroom break.

Beyond the epic length, the biggest piece of history surrounding the song had to do with its intentionally silly title, which was essentially a fuzzy version of “in the Garden of Eden,” as the drummer allegedly misheard. Ron Bushy when Ingle first presented the piece. song to the group.

In a 1995 episode of “The Simpsons”, “Bart Sells His Soul”, Bart introduced an organ version of the song into his church’s worship service under the title “In the Garden of Eden”, attributed to I .Ron Papillon. “Hey, Marge, remember when we were kissing to that anthem?” murmured Homer.

In addition to being covered by Bart Simpson’s church congregation, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” has been covered by Slayer (on the soundtrack to the film “Less Than Zero”), the Residents, Boney M and the Incredible Bongo Band, whose version was sampled twice by rapper Nas. He also memorably appeared in Michael Mann’s thriller “Manhunter.”

Part of the reason the track ended up being 17 minutes long is that when Iron Butterly arrived at the recording studio, recording engineer Don Casale asked the band to play the song so he could tune its levels. They played the extended version heard on LP as practice, unaware that Casale had reached the “record”; this epic jam, of course, ended up being the master take.

Iron Butterfly has not remained as ubiquitous a name in counterculture nostalgia as other bands of its era, in part because the band broke up relatively soon after their biggest hits – in 1971 – and didn’t enjoy the extended reunions that others had.

But Ingle participated in a short reunion in the late ’70s, two more in the ’80s, and, finally, a longer period in the late ’90s, which ended when Ingle retired altogether of the show in 1999.

Other band members from the band’s classic “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” era include guitarist Erik Brann who died in 2003, bassist Lee Dornan in 2012, and drummer Ron Bushy in 2021.

A Wikipedia entry for the band lists 60 musicians who have been part of the band in its various incarnations over the decades – in addition to the four musicians who tour today under the name Iron Butterfly, none of whom go back any further with the band than 1995.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1995, as the band began a reunion tour, Ingle spoke of his regrets about how things had gone with the band in the ’70s, with many problems caused by debt.

“It all happened so quickly and so easily,” Ingle told the Times, describing how he became a multimillionaire in his early 20s, then was hit hard by unpaid tax debts and lost a 600-acre ranch, a building and even his apartment. grand piano, before resolving its tax problems in 1986.

“I was a child among men,” said Ingle, at 48. “I was dealing with competent people but who were not necessarily working in my best interests. I took the luxury of playing ostrich. I didn’t get involved at all on a commercial level. I just went out and played. It was: “Isn’t life beautiful?” Then everything collapsed. I still maintain that life is beautiful, but now I base it on something (real) rather than wishful thinking.