THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,040) Iron Butterfly — “So Lo”
Heavy metal founding fathers Iron Butterfly’s first LP is appropriately titled Heavy. Yet it contained this lovely ditty — “CLA-HA-HA-HAS-IC!! one of a kind. unique. dark, happy, spooky, in a psychic tongue-in-cheek and merry way…”. (starcloud49595, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-6cGbHKC934&pp=ygUUSXJvbiBodXR0ZXJmbHQgc28gbG8%3D)
Andrija Babovic writes that:
When Iron butterfly started playing the club circuit in ’66, there had never been anything that sounded like them. Dubbed “heavy metal”, Butterfly both directly and indirectly influenced more bands than arguably anyone else. . . . Heavy is essentially revolutionary . . . and it reflects the roots of hard rock. This album is definitely the “must have” LP for . . . those who just want to hear how heavy music started its development 45 years ago.
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2013/05/iron-butterfly-heavy-1968-review-2.html
Joe Marchese chines in:
[Heavy] introduced the band’s dense sound fusing hard rock and psychedelia with a set of original songs plus a reimagining of Allen Toussaint’s “Get Out of My Life Woman.” While three-fifths of the band left after that debut, Heavy nonetheless began Iron Butterfly on a journey
https://theseconddisc.com/2021/01/27/heavy-cherry-red-esoteric-collect-iron-butterflys-unconscious-power-on-new-box-set/
Beverly Paterson enthuses that:
Heavy makes good as a mighty impressive introduction to the band. As the title of the album so openly announces, Iron Butterfly was keen on targeting their music at the burgeoning underground audience of the day. Playing sweet pop little tunes geared for commercial radio was not the band’s motive . . . . Iron Butterfly really had their act together on this album, with each and every entry sporting memorable qualities. . . . Ambitious and enterprising, Heavy is regularly cited as one of the first authentic heavy metal albums. . . . Unified songwriting, strengthened by crack arrangements and some pretty fierce melodies, cause the record to be a brash and brain-twisting collection of sounds that flip back to a time when rules were meant to be broken in rock and roll. And in most instances, as is the case
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2013/09/iron-butterfly-heavy-1968-review.html
with “Heavy,” in the end a stunning piece of music was created.
Steve Huey gives us some history:
The heavy, psychedelic acid rock of Iron Butterfly may seem dated to some today, but the group was one of the first hard rock bands to receive extensive radio airplay, and their best-known song, the 17-minute epic “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” established that more extended compositions were viable entries in the radio marketplace, paving the way for progressive AOR. The track was written by vocalist, organist, and bandleader Doug Ingle who formed thefirst incarnation of Iron Butterfly in 1966 in San Diego with drummer Ron Bushy. After the group moved to Los Angeles and played the club scene, they secured a recording contract and got national exposure through tours with the Doors and Jefferson Airplane. Following the release of their 1968 debut album, Heavy, original members Jerry Penrod (bass), Darryl DeLoach (vocals), and Danny Weis (guitar) left the band and were replaced by guitarist Erik Braunn and bassist Lee Dorman. Weis went on to join Rhinoceros. The new lineup recorded In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida later that year, which sold four million copies and spent over a year in the Top Ten. . . . A shortened version of the title track, which contained extended instrumental passages with loud guitars and classical/Eastern-influenced organ, plus a two-and-a-half-minute drum solo, reached number 30 on the singles charts. The follow-up album, Ball, showed greater musical variety and went gold, but it also marked the beginning of the band’s decline. Braunn left the group and was replaced by guitarists Mike Pinera and Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt, but the band’s success was largely over. Iron Butterfly broke up in 1971 . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/iron-butterfly-mn0000772567#biography
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