Iron Butterfly
Album: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (Expanded Edition)
Label: Salvo
Tracks: 10
Website: http://www.salvo-music.co.uk

This is an album that is arguably more the stuff of legend and reputation than many more musically celebrated or influential outpourings of the psychedelic era, mainly due to its "curiosity value" and eventual platinum sales status. I knew folks who owned the album and ostentatiously carried it around but seemed unable to discuss its contents in a way that they could other records of the time. Its enigmatic status and bewilderingly unexplainable appeal made it trendily inscrutable to say the least.

The band (wonderfully named, by the way!) was a typical garage-type band of the time, albeit a talented one; at its best-selling period, it comprised Doug Ingle, Lee Dorman, Ron Bushy and Erik Brann, none of whom were (or became) names to remember in any other context. And yet, it had defined its sound with a surprisingly well-selling debut album (Heavy) in 1967: organ-dominated, with a strong lead guitar presence, and a slight R&B influence informing song structures that weren't exactly orthodox but weren't quite strange enough to alienate either extreme of rock fan. This trend was continued with the band's second LP, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, which arrived in the racks in June the next year: at least, its first side contained five more-or-less-standard-length songs that in spite of occasional unpredictable musical gestures and a few rather Doors-like organ twirls here and there, made for a satisfying listen in the general psych-rock spirit of the time.

The disc's second side, however, followed the trend set by the likes of Dylan's Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands and subsequently Love's Revelation (on Da Capo), for giving a whole LP-side over to one single track lasting anything between 14 and 20 (in this case just over 17) minutes. Such an epic might most typically take the form of a lengthy, often rambling workout, and would invariably include solo passages for each of the band in turn, one of which tended to be the "obligatory drum solo", which it must be said varied considerably in inventiveness.

In the case of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, however, this drum solo proved to be a fairly low-key affair with shadings, restraint and dynamics more notable than overt bash-out showmanship. And, it must be said, not all fans of "alternative rock" found the track a comfortable ride (except perhaps in moments of determinedly stoned state) - although I find it surprisingly listenable today. Of course, whether or not you believe Ron Bushy's "authoritative" statement that the title is actually a garbled transcription of "In The Garden Of Eden" (as opposed to a dubious but possibly equally plausible slice of Portuguese!)…

This latest, remastered CD reissue contains some bonus material: the 7" versions of Iron Butterfly Theme (from Heavy) and the post-In-A-Gadda Soul Experience and the three-minute edit of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida itself, and the five-minute live edit of that track (little more than the drum solo) culled from a French B-side. That collection of bonus tracks, while useful, is disappointing, and could perhaps even more usefully have also comfortably included within the disc's potential maximum playing-time the full live version of the title track which had graced Rhino's mid-90s CD issue.

David Kidman