The founder, lead singer and organist of the band Iron Butterfly, Doug Ingle passed away last Friday at the of 78. One of the few records I have that only come out on very special occasions is my very dated and crackly In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly, released in 1968. It is one of those records that everybody had to have back in the days and everybody I know only played the one side, the one with the 17 minute track In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, the rest of the record is in virgin condition because having played it once, it was never played again. Not that that mattered much, the long track on side two justified the purchase and was played that the tail end of many a party to those too drunk or spaced out to dance. Rumor has it that the name of the track should have been “In the Garden of Eden” but Doug was so drunk when he sang it for the first time to the other members of the band that it came out as “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”. What memories I have of that track!
Although he left Iron Butterfly in 1971 and with a number of revivals and tours in the 80’s and 90’s he could never latch on to the fame of 1968. With that one track he made millions and, as with many an artist of the day, lost them just as quickly and ended up tending a trailer park in his later days. Doug Ingle died last Friday and has moved on to the great gig in the sky where, I’m sure, he is in good company.