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Iron Butterfly’s 1968 hit song, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” is widely regarded as one of the first heavy metal songs to gain significant popularity. Despite its unconventional title, the song captivated listeners and became a staple in the band’s catalogue.
Then there's the happy accident of drummer Ron Bushy mishearing songwriter Doug Ingle's lyrics and transcribing the lyrics as In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida instead of In the Garden of Eden. What was essentially gibberish gave the song a cryptic and otherworldly quality.
The track was written by vocalist, organist, and bandleader Doug Ingle, who formed the first incarnation of Iron Butterfly in 1966 in San Diego with drummer Ron Bushy. After the group moved to Los Angeles and played the club scene, they secured a recording contract and got national exposure through tours with the Doors and Jefferson Airplane.
Doug Ingle, the lead singer and organist of Iron Butterfly, the band that turned a purportedly misheard lyric into “In- AGadda- Da- Vida,” the 17minute magnum opus that propelled acid rock into the outer reaches of excess in the late 1960s, died on May 24. He was 78.
Not only does Ron Bushy’s heavy but simple drumming make the perfect backing for the guitars and vocals, but the song also features a whopping 5-minute drum solo. Even when the guitars and keyboard start creeping back in, the drums are still the main focus for further 5 minutes.
In the 1995 episode “The Simpsons – Bart Sells His Soul”, Bart pranks his church into singing “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” for the opening hymn which he labeled as “In the Garden of Eden” by I. Ron Butterfly in the sheet music handout.
The middle of the song features a two-and-a-half-minute Ron Bushy drum solo. A 2-minute-52-second 45-rpm version of the track was Iron Butterfly's only song to reach the top 40 . The album reached number four on Billboard's Top 200 chart and sold over 30 million copies.
