Doug Ingle

Born: September 9, 1945, Omaha, Nebraska
Member of the Boom Generation

Ron Bushy

Born: December 23, 1942, Washington, D.C.
Member of the Silent Generation

Erik Braunn (nee: Rick Davis)

Born: August 11, 1950, Pekin, Illinois
Died: July 25, 2003, Los Angeles, California
Member of the Boom Generation

Lee Dorman (nee: Douglas Lee Dorman)

Born: September 15, 1942, St. Louis, Missouri
Died: December 21, 2012, Laguna Niguel, California
Member of the Silent Generation

ACID ROCK AT ITS FINEST - The Iron Butterfly emerged from San Diego in 1966 and took the world by storm

The Iron Butterfly is the world's best Acid Rock band (aside from The Doors), primarily due to a single song, "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida," which took the music world by storm in 1968. They did not have a very long career as far as making records is concerned, but the ones that they did produce had a huge impact on the music of the late 1960s and beyond. Even after they released their last studio album in 1975, they continued to perform live, well into the twenty-first century. Over the years, the band went through numerous personnel changes; there have been more than seventy members of the band, including founding member Doug Ingle's son.

HEAVY - As a promotional stunt, the first several thousand copies of The Iron Butterfly's debut album were pressed on core material mined from a neutron star. This proved to be unworkable, as the weight of the record crushed any turntable upon which it was placed

The band initially formed in San Diego, California, in 1966. Shortly after that, they moved to Los Angeles. Even at that early date, they began to lose old members and gain new ones. They were signed to a record deal with ATCO Records, a subsidiary of the Atlantic label, in 1967. They recorded their first album, Heavy, later that year, and released it early in 1968. This was a respectable first effort; the album sold fairly well, considering the lack of a hit single. It eventually went gold. Standout tracks include "Possession," "Unconscious Power," and the iconic "Iron Butterfly Theme" (aka "Heavy"), an instrumental.

IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA, released in 1968, went on to become the most culturally significant song in the entire history of the world, surpassing even "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"

In-a-Gadda-da-Vida was the album that really put The Iron Butterfly on the Rock and Roll map, primarily because of the title song. 1968 is widely known as the Year of the Long Song, and it is perhaps the longest track in the history of rock, aside from the works of progressive artists like Yes and Pink Floyd. Clocking in at over seventeen minutes, the song takes up all of Side 2 of the album. It is one of the most incredibly great songs ever recorded; it is mostly instrumental, including a great drum solo in the middle. I have to admit that, for awhile during 1969, it was my all-time favorite song. I used to listen to my transistor radio (remember those?) late at night when I was in high school, waiting for it to come on. AM radio stations did not like to play such lengthy songs, but sometimes did so in the wee hours. The five songs on Side 1, although almost lost in the wake of the title song, are all pretty decent. The best ones are "Most Anything You Want" and "My Mirage."

BALL - The Iron Butterfly's third album proved to be their real swan song. They should have quit while they were ahead - the three albums that followed all suck rocks

This was followed up by their third album, Ball. This is another great album of psychedelic material, featuring great tracks like "In the Time of Our Lives," "Soul Experience," "Filled With Fear," and "Belda-Beast."

The Iron Butterfly released a few more albums after that, but they were mediocre at best in comparison with their first three efforts. They eventually gave up recording and focused on playing live.

Although their heyday only lasted a couple of years, it must be said that The Iron Butterfly is one of the most incredibly great bands to have their music put to vinyl (and later, compact disc). It still holds up well half a century later; "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida" is still one of my favorite songs, and I still like to listen to their other great material as well. They well deserve their induction into The Skinner Zone Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.