page_title: Iron Butterfly
section_title: Success with In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida and first breakup (1968–1971)
hierarchical_section_title: Iron Butterfly / History / Success with In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida and first breakup (1968–1971)
caption_attribution_description: English: Lee Dorman from Iron Buterfly (In-A-Gadda-Da Tour 2012, Retro Music Hall, Prague) Čeština: Lee Dorman ze skupiny Iron Buterfly (In-A-Gadda-Da Tour 2012, Retro Music Hall, Praha)
context_page_description: 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 1968 album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida was a best-seller. Iron Butterfly was the first group to receive an In-House platinum album award from Atlantic Records.
context_section_description: The 17-minute "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", the title track of Iron Butterfly's second album, became a top-30 hit (edited down to 2:52) in the U. S. The album was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA in December 1968 and had sold over three million copies by the end of 1970. The album stayed on the Billboard charts for over a year and ultimately sold over 30 million copies.
  During this time, IB were represented by the William Morris Agency, which booked all their live concerts. Iron Butterfly played its first national tour in the summer of 1968 alongside Jefferson Airplane. By the end of 1968, the band was back in the studio at work on their next album. Iron Butterfly's third album, Ball,  was released in January 1969 and went gold, reaching #3 on the Billboard charts.
  The band had been booked to play at Woodstock in August 1969 but got stuck at New York City's LaGuardia Airport. They explained their situation to the concert promoters and asked for patience. Their manager, however, sent a telegram demanding that Iron Butterfly be flown in by helicopter, whereupon they would "immediately" take the stage. After their set, they would be paid and flown back to the airport. According to drummer Bushy, "We went down to the Port Authority three times and waited for the helicopter, but it never showed up". Woodstock Production Coordinator John Morris claims he sent the manager a telegram reading: "For reasons I can't go into / Until you are here / Clarifying your situation / Knowing you are having problems / You will have to find / Other transportation / Unless you plan not to come." The first letter of each line in the telegram spelled out the acrostic "Fuck You" making clear that the band was not welcome.
  Erik Brann left the band after a final show in San Diego on December 15, 1969. Brann was frustrated with the band's unwillingness to move towards a harder rock sound. He was replaced in the line-up by two new musicians: guitarist/vocalist Mike Pinera (whose Blues Image had opened for Iron Butterfly's Vida tour) and guitarist Larry Reinhardt (from the Allman Brothers Band forerunner Second Coming). Both Pinera and Reinhardt had been rehearsing secretly with the band since September 1969 after Brann had voiced his objections to continuing. In August 1970 Iron Butterfly released its fourth studio album Metamorphosis. The album managed to get into the Billboard top 20.
  While Iron Butterfly was touring in Europe with Yes in early 1971, Doug Ingle announced his intention to leave the group. Ingle had grown tired of endless touring and wasn't totally on board with the band's new guitar-oriented blues and soul direction. The remaining four members cut the 45 rpm single, "Silly Sally" (with Bushy eventually being replaced on the record by a session drummer, at the producer's prompting). Putting forth a horn-based sound more characteristic of groups like Blood Sweat and Tears, the single failed to chart and proved to be their last recording before their mid-1970's reformation.
  The band, with Ingle in tow, decided to play one final tour, pairing with Black Oak Arkansas. The group then broke up after playing the tour's final show at Central Oregon Community College on May 23, 1971.
caption: Bassist Lee Dorman in Prague on March 11, 2012
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 50D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2012:03:12 12:23:45", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "232", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1000", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1114", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4045", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/80", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Shutter Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "1000", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:03:05 22:09:27", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:03:05 22:09:27", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "51/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "70", "EXIF SubSecTime": "52", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "52", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "52", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "800", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "533", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "968", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "792000/149", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1056000/199", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}