Iron Butterfly is an American rock band best known for the 1968 hit "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", providing a dramatic sound that led the way towards the development of hard rock and heavy metal music. Formed in San Diego, California, among band members who used to be "arch enemies", their heyday was the late 1960s, but the band has been reincarnated with various members with varying levels of success, with no new recordings since 1975. The band's seminal 1968 album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida is among the world's 40 best-selling albums, selling more than 30 million copies. Iron Butterfly is also notable for being the first group to receive an RIAA platinum award. The original members were Doug Ingle (vocals, organ, formerly of Jeri and the Jeritones and Palace Pages, Iron Butterfly's forerunner), Jack Pinney (drums), Greg Willis (bass) and Danny Weis (guitar, also of Palace Pages).Ingle has said in interviews over the years that he had heard of the Iron Butterfly moniker being used briefly by another band from the San Francisco Bay area and liked its "light and heavy" connotation. They were soon joined by tambourine player and vocalist Darryl DeLoach. DeLoach's parents' garage on Luna Avenue served as the site for their almost nightly rehearsals. Jerry Penrod replaced Willis after the band relocated to Los Angeles in the summer of 1966 when the Willis family refused to allow Greg to move to LA due to his young age. Pinney stayed around a little longer but eventually left as well to return to school. Bruce Morse then became the group's new drummer until Ron Bushy (from a group called the Voxmen) came aboard when Morse left due to a family emergency (Bruce later returned to take Bushy's spot in the Voxmen). A booking at Bido Lito's club on the Sunset Strip soon led to regular appearances at the Galaxy Club and the Whisky a Go Go.
In early 1968, the band's debut album, Heavy, was released after signing a deal with Atco, an Atlantic Records subsidiary, the group having been signed by Atlantic's Charles Greene, who was co-producer of Heavy. All but Ingle and Bushy left the band after completing the album in October 1967. The remaining musicians, faced with the possibility of the record not being released, quickly found replacements in bassist Lee Dorman and 17 year old guitarist Erik Brann (also known as "Erik Braunn" and "Erik Braun") and resumed touring. Brann had previously played with a band called Paper Fortress. In a 1986 interview with IB's fan club fanzine, The Butterfly Net, Brann stated that Jeff Beck, Neil Young and Michael Monarch (who would go on to join Steppenwolf) had also expressed interest in joining the group to replace Weis, but after he was chosen, Penrod and DeLoach, uncomfortable with Brann's young age and frustrated with the time it was taking for him to learn the Butterfly's set, decided to leave after Weis did. During this time, IB were represented by the William Morris Agency, which booked all their live concerts. DeLoach subsequently recorded with Two Guitars, Piano, Drum and Darryl, while Weis and Penrod went on to form the group Rhinoceros. In 1970 DeLoach formed Flintwhistle along with Jerry Penrod and Erik Brann; the band performed live for about a year before breaking up.
1968
Atco ATM 8227/ 10 tr./ 30:43 min
1968
Atco ATM 8250/ 6 tr./ 36:07 min.
1969
Atco ATM 8280/ 9 tr./ 34:22 min.
1970
Atco 71522/ 9 tr./ 40:49 min.
2014
Purple Pyramid 1909/ 7 tr./ 76:52 min.
