In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Last updated
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"
Inagaddadavida-single.jpeg
Cover of the 1968 German single
Single by Iron Butterfly
from the album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
B-side "Iron Butterfly Theme"
ReleasedJune 14, 1968 (1968-06-14) (album)
July 31, 1968 (1968-07-31) (single) [1]
RecordedMay 27, 1968
Studio Ultrasonic Studios, Hempstead, New York, U.S.
Genre
Length
  • 17:05 (album version)
  • 2:52 (single version)
Label
Songwriter(s) Doug Ingle
Producer(s) Jim Hilton
Iron Butterfly singles chronology
"Unconscious Power"
(1968)
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"
(1968)
"Soul Experience"
(1969)

"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" (derived from "In the Garden of Eden") is a song recorded by Iron Butterfly, written by band member Doug Ingle and released on their 1968 album of the same name.

Contents

At slightly over 17 minutes, it occupies the entire second side of the album. The lyrics, a love song from the biblical Adam to his mate Eve, are simple and are heard only at the beginning and the end. 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 "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was Iron Butterfly's only song to reach the top 40, reaching number 30, [6] while the album itself reached number four on the album chart and sold over 30 million copies. [lower-alpha 1] An 8-minute-20-second edit of the song was included in the soundtrack to the 1986 film Manhunter . [14] In 2009, it was named the 24th-greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1. [15] It is also often regarded as an influence on heavy metal music and one of the firsts of the genre. [16] [17]

Background

Though it was not recorded until their second album, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was written during Iron Butterfly's early days. According to drummer Ron Bushy, organist-vocalist Doug Ingle wrote the song one evening while drinking an entire gallon of Red Mountain wine. When the inebriated Ingle then played the song for Bushy, who wrote down the lyrics for him, he was slurring his words so badly that what was supposed to be "in the Garden of Eden" was interpreted by Bushy as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". [18] [19]

Even though nearly all of Iron Butterfly's songs were quite structured, the idea of turning the minute-and-a-half-long ballad into an extended jam emerged very early; Jeff Beck claims that when he saw Iron Butterfly perform at the Galaxy Club on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles in April 1967, half a year before the band recorded their first album, their entire second set consisted of a 35-minute-long version of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". [18] The track was recorded at Ultrasonic Studios in Hempstead, Long Island, New York. [20]

Reception

Cash Box said that it was an "eerie blues work with a pounding rhythm backing and hypnotic chord structures". [21]

Charts

Chart (1968–1972)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [22] 92
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) [23] 49
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [24] 43
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [25] 7
US Billboard Hot 100 [26] 30

Other versions

Incredible Bongo Band covered the song in 1973. [27] The composer and percussionist David Van Tieghem released a version and two remixes in 1986. [28] 16 BIT (a German dance project from 1986 to 1989 by Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti) recorded in 1987 a single "(Ina) Gadda-Da-Vida", [29] [30] [ circular reference ] also included in album Inaxycvgtgb. [31] New Jersey psychedelic band 6 Feet Under recorded a version in the late 1960s. [32] In 1987, Slayer recorded a cover version that appears on the Less than Zero soundtrack. Rapper Nas sampled the Incredible Bongo Band's cover version of the song on his singles "Thief's Theme" and "Hip Hop Is Dead".

See also

Notes

  1. Attributed to multiple references: [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron Butterfly</span> American rock group

Iron Butterfly is an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1966. They are 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. Although their heyday was the late 1960s, the band has been reincarnated with various members with varying levels of success with no new recordings since 1975. Their second album, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968), remains a best-seller, and Iron Butterfly was the first group to receive an In-House platinum album award from Atlantic Records. Their music has found a significant impact on the international rock scenes, influencing numerous acts such as Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Rush, Alice Cooper, Mountain, Uriah Heep, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Slayer, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, and Queens of the Stone Age.

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Ball is the third studio album by the rock band Iron Butterfly, released on January 17, 1969. After the enormous success of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Iron Butterfly modified its acid-rock sound somewhat and experimented with more melodic compositions. The band's trademark heavy guitars, however, are still evident on such tracks as "In the Time of Our Lives" and "It Must Be Love". The album reached number 3 on the Billboard 200 charts, making Ball more immediately successful than In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Ball was certified Gold in March 1969. It also spawned two minor hit singles: "Soul Experience", an uncharacteristically uplifting song for the group, went to number 75 on the Billboard charts, and despite its nightmarish musical tones and morbid lyrics, "In the Time of Our Lives" managed to reach number 96. This is the second and final studio album to feature the famous lineup of Ingle, Bushy, Dorman and Brann.

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