Iron butterfly

First Stage and First Decay (1966-1971)

Ron Bushes during the Iron Butterfly concert in Germany. May 2005.

Iron Butterfly was formed in San Diego , California , in 1966 : the founders of the band were vocalist and organist Doug Ingle ( English Doug Ingle ), Jack Pinney ( Jack Pinney , drums), Greg Willis (bass guitar) and Danny Weiss ( Danny Weis , guitar) ^[6] , which was soon joined by Darryl Deloach ( Darryl DeLoach , tambourine , vocals). The garage of the parents of the latter became a place for rehearsals for the collective ^[7] .

Soon Iron Butterfly moved to Los Angeles and began performing in local clubs. Willis and Pinney were replaced by Jerry Penrod and Bruce Morris, respectively, who in turn gave way to Ron Bushy . In the spring of 1967, the group received a contract with Atco (a subsidiary of Atlantic Records ) ^[8] .

In 1968, the group released their debut album Heavy , one of the first works of American hard rock ^[9] . Immediately after the debut album was recorded, all but Bush and Ingle left the line-up; The duet, fearing that the album might not be released at all, quickly found a replacement for the departed: bassist Lee Dorman and guitarist Eric Brann ( Erik Brann , also Erik Braunn ) came to the group. While the group toured (in particular, with The Doors , Jefferson Airplane , The Grateful Dead , Traffic , The Who and Cream ), the album remained on the Billboard charts for a year ^[8] .

The new line-up in July 1968 released the album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida , which on September 7 first entered the Billboard charts ^[9] . The album sold 4 million copies in the first year after release ^[3] , thus setting a record that has not yet been broken. On this occasion, the “platinum” disc was established, which Iron Butterfly also received the first in rock history from the hands of the head of Atlantic Records Ahmet Ertegun ^[9] .

The 17-minute “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”, the title track of the second album, was released as a single (in a shortened, three-minute version), became a hit, had “a tremendous resonance in the music business” ^[8] and largely predetermined that branch development of progressive rock, where long improvisations began to be used ^[9] . It is believed that Ingle created this thing in such a state that he could not even spell the name “In The Garden Of Eden” correctly. According to another version, the author of the riff is Eric Brann, who joined the composition at the age of 17 and by that time had not abused drugs and alcohol. The second album of the group lasted 140 weeks in the American charts, of which 81 weeks were in the top ten ^[9] . To date, the total circulation of the plate is about 30 million.

In 1968, the group, along with Cream, starred in the movie " Wild Seven ." Their composition Easy Rider ( Easy Rider ) sounds in the movie of the same name .

The third album of 1969 - Ball - turned out to be more diverse in style: he climbed to the top of the Billboard 200, spent 44 weeks on the lists and subsequently received a gold status, but the reaction of criticism to him disappointed the musicians ^[3] . Iron Butterfly spent a year on tour in the US, Canada and Europe, performing, among others, with Jimi Hendricks , Led Zeppelin , Frank Zappa , Chicago , Janice Joplin , Steppenwolf ^[8] .

In August 1970, the band released their fourth studio album, ' Metamorphosis , recorded without Brann, but with singing guitarist Mike Pinhera (who later led the Ramatam band and accompanied Alice Cooper ) and guitarist Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt . He was able to get into the top 20.

But Doug Ingle, disagreeing with the new soul-blues sound, decided to leave the group during a tour with Yes , which took place in Europe in January-February 1971. Without an organist, the four remaining members for the first time in their history (despite the fact that Bushey was replaced by a single session drummer at the request of the producer) released the single " Silly Sally ", in which the brass gave a sound reminiscent of the Blood Sweat and Tears sound. He could not get on the charts and turned out to be the last record of the group before its reformation in the mid-1970s.

After that, the group, together with the newly joined Ingle, decided to conduct their last tour, teaming up with Black Oak Arkansas . Pinera's colleague for Blues Image, drummer Manny Bertematti, replaced Buschi in many performances after he suffered a shoulder injury. The band split up after their final performance at Central Oregon Community College in Bend , Oregon , May 23, 1971. According to Pinera, one of the reasons for the breakup of the group was the failure to pay taxes by the IRS ^[10] .

Subsequently, Dorman and Reinhardt founded the group Captain Beyond .

Reunions (1974—2011)

In 1974, a promoter contacted Brann with a proposal to reanimate Iron Butterfly. In the end, he reunited with Ron Bushes to create a new version of the team and signed a contract with MCA Records . The new line-up also included: a friend of Bush, bass player Philip Taylor Kramer (later in February 1995 he went missing, and in May 1999 his remains and a minibus were found at the bottom of Decker Canyon ) and keyboardist Howard Reitzes, a friend of Brann, who worked in a music store ^[11] . Brann, who in previous incarnations of Iron Butterfly sang only occasionally, this time became the main vocalist. In January 1975, Scorching Beauty released Reitses, and in October of that year, Sun and Steel came out with Demartinis to replace him. Both albums were criticized due to the small resemblance to the band's early work and sold poorly compared to previous releases ^[12] .

In 1977, the line-up of Bushes / Brann / Kramer / Demartinez broke up partly due to poor management and concerts, which first began in theaters, but ended up in bars and clubs. After that, Bushes, Kramer and Demartinez created the Magic group, while Lee Dorman and Reno created a new version of IB, which included British singer Jimi Henderson, keyboardist Larry Kirnan, guitarist David Love and drummer Kevin Karamitros. This line-up toured mainly in the southern United States, and ultimately did not last long. In 1978, the composition already included Dorman, Karamitros, Pinhera and keyboardist John Leimsider. This composition was also short-lived.

At the end of 1978, the German promoter invited the group to go on a tour of Germany. The composition of the times of Metamorphosis (Ingle, Bushey, Dorman, Pinera and Reno) was preparing to go there, but just before leaving, Dorman's father fell ill and Keith Ellis (formerly Boxer ) was taken in his place, as Dorman had to return to the States. However, during the tour, Ellis died unexpectedly on December 12, 1978 in Darmstadt due to complications caused by alcohol and tooth inflammation. After that, Dorman returned to the group.

Back in the United States, Metamorphosis played several appearances in early 1979 with Eric Brann as a guest. However, at the end of the year, Bushy returned to his Gold band, and the next IB line-up included Mike Pinhera, Lee Dorman, Doug Ingle, the returning John Leimsider and Dorman's former Captain Beyond colleague, drummer Bobby Caldwell .

Back in the same year, Bobby Hasbrook from Hawaii joined the group as lead guitarist and vocalist, along with Dorman, Brann, Caldwell and Leimsider.

Since the end of 1979, IB had an unstable composition: Brann, Dorman, Leimsider, Caldwell and Hasbrook (1979); Pinera, Dorman, Brann, Hasbrook, Caldwell and Nathan Pino - keyboards (1979); Dorman, Brann, Hasbrook, Tim Kislan - keyboards, Zam Johnson - drums and Stars Vanderloket - percussion, vocals (1980); Dorman, Reno, Leymsider, Randy Skirvin - guitar, Jimmy Rock - drums and Luke - percussion, vocals (1981-1982); Pinera, Dorman, Reno, Guy Babylon - keyboards and Iain Juvena - drums (1982), as well as Pinera, Brann, Dorman, Reno, Babylon and Bushes (1982).

On July 31, 1982, a line-up consisting of Pinera, Brann, Dorman, Reno, Babylon and Bushey visited the Music Sound Connection Studio in Studio City , California, to record new material. But none of this has been published so far.

At the end of 1982, Ingle again returned to the scene with John Shearer on drums (from Steve Hackett 's band) and percussionist Luke, while Bushey quit music to become a Makita instrument seller. Brann also left the group by then.

In 1983, Pinera left the band again, and in September of the same year, IB began working on new material with drummer Jerry Sommers, pounding on some tracks. But again, nothing came of it.

In early 1984, Dorman, Ingle, Reno and drummer Rick Rotante toured on the Wings of Flight tour with Lenny Campanero (formerly Badfinger ), who was soon replaced by Rotante during studio sessions at Salty Dog Studios, in Van Nyes , California

At the end of 1984, the Legends Tour took place, which was attended by Ingle, Dorman, Campanero and guitarist Steve Fisher (later SteppenWolf ). Soon another SteppenWolf member, bassist Curtis Thiel replaced Dorman during the Phoenix tour in late 1985 and ending in November of that year. Soon after, Teal died unexpectedly on December 2 from a heart murmur . Then the group broke up again due to problems associated with managers.

In the spring of 1987, Bushes and Pinera got together and started the Iron Butterfly Wings of Flight 87 tour (Dorman did not participate in this reunion, since he was the captain of a fishing vessel at that time) with Ace Baker (keyboards) and Kelly Rubens (bass) . Tim Vaughn Hoffman and Glen Rappold (guitar, bass) soon replaced Ace Baker and drummer Donnie Vosburg (he had previously played with Pinhera in Thee Image), and then Ron Bushey for some shows. This lineup was short-lived, and then Brann and Bushes created their own versions of IB, which never gave concerts, throughout the year (see the lineup below).

In December 1987, the "classic line-up" Ingle, Brann, Dorman and Bushes played together at The Roxy Theater in West Hollywood and began a thirty-day tour of the East Coast in the winter and spring of 1988. It culminated in a performance on May 14, 1988, dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Atlantic Recording Corporation ( Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary ) in Madison Square Garden , along with Led Zeppelin and others.

After that, Brann and Dorman decided to continue their joint activity, calling Rino, keyboardist Derek Hilland and drummer Sal Rodriguez (who was later replaced by Kenny Surez). They were also joined by singer / frontman Steve "Mick" Fieldman and backing vocalists Joan Kurman-Montana and Cecilia Noel, thus staffing for several 1989 concerts. Also, for several performances in the fall of 1989, drummer Doug Friedman was involved, who temporarily replaced Surez.

In August 1969, IB Brann, Dorman, Reno, Hilland, Fieldman and Surez performed at the Woodstock '89 festival dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Woodstock.

In 1990, after Brann, along with some other members, left Iron Butterfly forever, Dorman, Reno, Hilland and Surez recorded an album with singer Robert Tepper . It was supposed to be an IB release called We Will Rise , but its release was delayed. He eventually redesigned it as Tepper's solo album, No Rest For The Wounded Heart .

After the composition with Tepper could not break through, Tepper left to resume his solo career, and Dorman, Reno and Bushes continued in early 1993 with the band's keyboard player Bart Diaz. But soon Reno and Diaz decided to leave the group, and Pinera returned with a keyboard player Hilland to replace him. Pinera at that time created his own band, The Classic Rock All-Stars and could not attend some Butterfly performances. Guitarist Danny Artache (summer 1993), and then Doug Bossy (1994), replaced Pinhera until he finally left the group in 1994 along with Bossi, and Eric Barnett (1995) was taken to replace him.

From 1994 to 1999, the returning Doug Ingle was again on the keys and vocals. In 1997, the group embarked on a European tour with members of the “classical era” Ingle, Bushey and Dorman, along with Hilland and Barnett. In 2008, this tour was published on DVD. The band also wrote several new songs (“Silent Screaming” and “Whispers in the Wind”) and planned to release a new studio album, but this was never realized. Hilland left the group in the same 1997, and Ingle officially left the concert in early 1999. Vocalist / keyboardist Damian Buganta stayed with the band for a relatively short time and was soon forced to leave for personal reasons. From 1999 to 2005, the keyboardist and vocalist of the group was Larry Rast.

In 2001, when Lee Dorman fell ill, Oli Larios replaced him with bass at some shows.

In 2002, the group joined the guitarist / vocalist Charlie Marinkovich . Originally from Seattle, Marinkovich had previously played with Randy Hansen in and others ^[13] .

The original vocalist Darrell Deloach (born September 12, 1947) died of cirrhosis on October 3, 2002 ^{[14] [15]} .

On July 25, 2003, Eric Branne died of a heart attack at the age of 52 ^[16] .

German violinist, keyboard player and vocalist Martin Gerschwitz, who previously played with Lita Ford , Meath Lowe , Walter Trout , as well as Eric Burdon and The Animals ^[17] joined the group in 2005, replacing Larry Rast.

In early 2006, Rast briefly joined the group to replace Gerschwitz at concerts in Italy , Croatia and Austria . Later that year, Ken Chalupnik and Dave Meros replaced Dorman.

In early 2010, it was announced that Iron Butterfly would receive the San Diego Music Awards for its achievement in the cultural life of San Diego. The ceremony took place on September 12, 2010 ^[18] . The prize was awarded by the mayor of San Diego, Jerry Sanders ^[19] .

Later that year, Ray Weston was in (formerly Wishbone Ash ) replaced the Bushes with drums, who then had health problems.

At the beginning of 2012, Phil Parlapiano on some shows replaced Martin Gerschwitz when he was on a solo tour ^[20] .

The death of Reinhartdt and Dorman, the breakup of the group (2012–2014)

On January 2, 2012, a former member of the Larry Rino group Reinhardt died of cirrhosis at the age of 63. Bassist Lee Dorman, who had heart problems, died on December 21 of the same year at the age of 70. Reinhardt and Dorman co-founded Captain Beyond, along with former Deep Purple vocalist Rod Evans and drummer Bobby Caldwell .

After the death of Dorman, the Iron Butterfly fell apart again. In 2013, Charlie Marinkovic made a statement that he was no longer a member of Iron Butterfly, and that the team leader, Ron Bushes, was seriously ill. Thus, the further activities of the group were in question.

In 2014, Bushy, feeling better, said that he did not exclude the possibility of reuniting Iron Butterfly with Martin Gershwitz as a keyboard player and vocalist ^[21] .

Third Reunion (2014 - present)

At the end of 2014, it became known that the team had reunited again. The updated lineup included Mike Pinhera, Ron Busch, Doug Ingle Jr. and an unnamed bass player ^[22] . Nevertheless, this reunion was unsuccessful, and in 2015 the official website of the group announced that now Iron Butterfly members are: bassist Dave Meros, guitarist Eric Barnett, keyboardist Phil Parlapiano, drummer Ray Weston and percussionist Mike Green. Meros and Weston previously replaced at concerts of Dorman and Bush in 2006 and 2010.

IB founder and bass player Greg Willis, who suffered a stroke in April 2012, died in Portland , Oregon on November 11, 2016, at the age of 67. ^[23] On November 30, a memory concert was held at Nicky Rottens Club in El Cajon , California.

On November 25 of the same year, former Butterfly keyboardist Larry Rast died at the age of 63 at his Los Angeles home ^[24] .

In 2018, Martin Gerschwitz is again the keyboard player for Iron Butterfly. ^[25]

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine named Iron Butterfly among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in Fire at 2008 Universal Studios Hollywood . ^[26]

Current squad

• Eric Barnett - guitar, vocals (1995-2002, 2015-present)
• Martin Gerschwitz - keyboards, vocals (2005-2012, 2015, 2018-present)
• Mike Green - percussion, vocals (2015-present)
• Dave Meros - bass, vocals (2015 - present; one performance - 2006)
• Ray Weston - drums, percussion (2015 - present; one performance - 2010)

Former members

Музыканты на разовое выступление

• Мэнни Бертематти — ударные, перкуссия (одно выступление — 1971)
• Донни Восбург — ударные (одно выступление — 1987)
• Дуг Фридман — ударные, перкуссия (substitute — 1989)
• Джоан Монтана — бэк-вокал (один концерт — 1989)
• Сесилия Ноэл — бэк-вокал (один концерт — 1989)
• Оли Лариус — бас-гитара (одно выступление — 2001)
• Кен Чалупник — бас-гитара (одно выступление — 2006)

Compositions

Timeline

Студийные альбомы

• 1968 — Heavy
• 1968 — In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
• 1969 — Ball
• 1970 — Metamorphosis
• 1975 — Scorching Beauty
• 1975 — Sun and Steel

Концертные альбомы

• 1970 — Live
• 2011 — Fillmore East 1968 ^[27]

Сборники

• 1992 — Evolution: The Best of Iron Butterfly
• 2002 — Star Collection
• 2004 — Rare Flight
• 2005 — Light & Heavy: The Best of Iron Butterfly

• Buckley, Peter. The Rough Guide to Rock. — London : Rough Guides, 2003. — ISBN 1-84353-105-4 .

• www.ironbutterfly.com , официальный сайт
• www.classicbands.com
• Doug Ingle: интервью
• www.spblife.info , статья об Iron Butterfly из журнала In Rock
• http://www.dougingle.com , официальный сайт Дуга Ингла
• http://www.erikbraunn.net , официальный сайт Эрика Браунна
• Дискография Iron Butterfly с обложками (недоступная ссылка)