Iron Butterfly

Side One of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

(ATCO Records)

album released July, 1968

If you believe the myths, "In-A-Gadda-Di-Vida" was either a drunk mispronunciation of "in the garden of Eden" or else it was very bad Latin for "play as long as you like, I've got to take a monstrous dump." This lumbering, 17 minutes and five second Iron Butterfly opus took up the whole of an album side and contained possibly the longest, most unspectacular drum solo in rock history. Sort of like Ringo's token attempt on Abbey Road's "The End," except that it was longer. Much, much longer.

What In-A-Gadda-Di-Vida really translated into was triple platinum! Released in July 1968, this near-sitcom length song caught the fancy of turned-on, dropped out lepidopterists everywhere. By March 1971, the album was still on the charts, as was a new, improved version of "In-A-Gadda-Di-Vida" on Iron Butterfly Live. If length is what Butterfly fans were after, this version was almost three minutes longer, the same length of the entire shortened, puny single version, which only got as high as number 28 on Billboard's Top 40.

Yet because "In-A-Gadda-Di-Vida" was such a benchmark in recorded history, few people remember what was on the other side of the album. Barring side six of the Clash's Sandinista and sides two, three and four of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music, few sides of music-encoded vinyl were left as undisturbed as Side One of Iron Butterfly's hippie miesterwork. For those of you whose copy of this album still resides at your parents' house or else wound up reclaimed by your older brother, we decided to take out our own dog-eared copy to find out just what we've been missing all these years!

"Ya mean ya WON'T come with me-hee-hee and walk this la-ha-ha-ha-HAND? PLEASE ! TAKE MY Heh-heh-heh-HAND!"

1. "Most Anything You Want" According to the liner notes, Doug Ingle was "the group's leader and spokesman" as well as its "most serious member." After all, being the author of "In-A-Gadda-Di-Vida," like being the inventor of napalm, is a responsibility one does not take lightly. Doug wrote this opening ditty in which he assures his girl (and us lucky listeners) that "I just want to make you ha-ha-happy, that's all I'm trying to do." He does this by dutifully leaving out all the love man grunts and "awlrights" he shouts during the album's title track. To the girl at least, his intentions would seem as pure as the driven Cowsills. For now. This track employs the same innocuous, Elizabethan pop sound that Iron Butterfly would utilize in its unforgettable radio commercial forBan Roll-on Deodorant. Yup, the Butterfly were one of rock's first paisley-swathed corporate shills. But what else would you expect from the only band who was told to fuck off by the organizers of Woodstock because they asked for too much money.

2. "Flowers and Beads" Sample this next pearl of wisdom, also from dandy Doug: "Flowers and beads are one thing, but havin' you, girl-THAT'S something!" Woah! The statement is a bold one for 1968-fuck daffodils and plastic costume jewelry, what does a guy have to do to get a little nookie around here? Whether the Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense and Peppermints" was the inspiration for this tune is unclear, but with all the harpsichord sounds, you kind of expect Shirley Jones and David Cassidy to start bleating "ba ba ba ba ba" in the background any minute.

3. "My Mirage" Doug sees "a mirage on the wall" and surmises that "it's not really there at all." Of course not, ya idjit! That's why it's a mirage! Doug's solution to this very serious problem is that he will draw his mirage on that very same wall for all the beautiful people that come to his home to enjoy. But what if Doug's mirage turns out to be a dark tunnel? And what if, like in a Road Runner cartoon, as soon as he finishes rendering it an oncoming train rushes out, killing all those beautiful people instantly? Bummer, man!

4. "Termination" "Spinning in circles-miracles happen/As laurel-lined shores bleed me to my doomThis is termination, the outcome of your life." Since neither guitarist Erik Brann or bassist Lee Dorman was the group's designated spokesman, their songs weren't really expected to make all that much sense. According to the liner notes, Brann's only concern in 1968 was "the Iron Butterfly, turtleneck sweaters, bananas and the fairer sex," leading one to believe he left the group in 1971 when his concern for the welfare of bananas became too overpowering. Dorman, on the other hand, was said to be the humorist of the group. Yet the only funny thing about this tune is how much it sounds a lot like "In-A-Gadda-Di-Vida".

5. "Are You Happy""Took a pretty girl on a date last night/And let me tell you now she was groo-vay!" Yet when Doug kisses her, his mind drifts back to an old love, the one he couldn't make "ha-ha-happy." So he pops the question "Are You Happy" over and over to his old flame, in the same manner that most vaudevillians taunt audiences with "is everybody happy?" Apparently, he gets tired of waiting around for an answer and after the instrumental break he begins demanding that she tell him right here and now that she's happy. Nothing like the power of suggestion to work wonders on your mirth cells. Ingle probably just wants to make sure you're in the perfect frame of mind for his "In-A-Gadda-Di-Vida," just a flip of a disc away. As garden of Edens go, this one is about as idyllic as Dante's Inferno. And the worst part of it is, you can't seem to get the Beelzebub away from that confounded drum kit!

RECOMMENDED! You can get the single, LP and live version of "In-A-Gadda-Di-Vida," plus these five "lost" Iron Butterfly tracks on a recent "special edition" of In -A-Gadda-Da Vida from Rhino. There's also a Rhino Home Video of the greatest live performances of same tune. In short, a whole lotta "Gadda" going on!