Doug Ingle, who co-founded the heavy rock band Iron Butterfly and was the singer and organist of songs including his signature hit, “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida,” died Friday at age 78. He was the last surviving member of the classic lineup of the late 1960s.
The majority of Iron Butterfly’s success came with the 17-minute FM radio hit “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida.” The 1968 second album, named after the hit single, spent 81 weeks in the US top 10; for a time it was the best-selling album in Atlantic Records history. The LP went on to be certified quadruple platinum.
Ingle’s family announced his death on social media and did not provide a cause of death. “It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that I announce the passing of my father Doug Ingle,” posted Doug Ingle Jr. “My father passed away peacefully tonight in the presence of his family. Thank you dad for being a father, teacher and friend. Dear loving memories that I will carry for the rest of my days moving forward on this journey of life. I love you dad.”
Ingle was the last survivor of the original lineup, formed in San Diego in 1966, and also the only survivor of the so-called classic edition of the group that recorded “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” for two years. later, at which point the band underwent complete turnover, except for him.
An edit of “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida” that lasted just two minutes and 52 seconds climbed the charts and reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, though that’s a small indication of how deeply the song has infiltrated. the culture. It was the album’s 17-minute track that became legendary – and something of an affectionate joke in rock circles, as a symbol of excessive length or just something a late-night FM disc jockey might stick a needle for a smoke or break to go to. bathroom.
Aside from the epic length, the biggest lore surrounding the song had to do with its purposefully silly title, which was basically a slurred version of “In the Garden of Eden,” as supposedly misheard by drummer Ron Bushy when Ingle first introduced the album. turn. music for the band.
In a 1995 episode of “The Simpsons,” “Bart Sells His Soul,” Bart played an organ-driven version of the song at his church’s worship service under the slurred title “In the Garden of Eden,” credited to I. Butterfly Ron. “Hey, Marge, remember when we used to enjoy that hymn?” whispered Homer.
In addition to being covered by Bart Simpson’s church congregation, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” was covered by Slayer (on the soundtrack to the film “Less Than Zero”), The Residents, Boney M and Incredible Bongo Band , whose version was sampled twice by rapper Nas. He also memorably appeared in the Michael Mann thriller “Manhunter.”
Part of the reason the track ended up being 17 minutes long is that when Iron Butterly arrived at the recording studio, engineer Don Casale asked the group to play the song so he could set its levels. They played the extended version heard on the LP as a rehearsal, unaware that Casale had reached “record”; that epic jam, of course, ended up being the main version.
Iron Butterfly hasn’t remained as ubiquitous a name in counterculture nostalgia as other groups of its era, in part because the group broke up soon after their biggest hits — in 1971 — and didn’t enjoy the extended reunions that some others had.
But Ingle participated in a brief reunion in the late 1970s, two more in the 1980s, and finally a longer period in the late 1990s, which ended when Ingle retired from performing completely in 1999.
Among the remaining members of the band’s classic “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” era, guitarist Erik Brann died in 2003, bassist Lee Dornan in 2012 and drummer Ron Bushy in 2021.
A Wikipedia entry on the group lists 60 musicians who have been part of the group in its various incarnations over the decades – in addition to the four musicians who tour as Iron Butterfly today, none of whom date back to 1995 with the band.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1995, when the group was beginning a reunion tour, Ingle spoke of his regrets about how things had turned out with the group in the ’70s, with many problems caused by debt.
“It all happened so quickly and easily,” Ingle told the Times, describing how he became a multimillionaire in his early 20s, then was hit hard by unpaid tax debts and lost a 600-acre ranch, an apartment building and even even his grand piano, before resolving his tax problems in 1986.
“I was a child among men,” Ingle said, looking back at 48 years. “I was dealing with people who were competent, but not necessarily (working) in my best interest. I had the luxury of playing ostrich. I didn’t get involved at the business level. I just went out and introduced myself. It was, ‘Isn’t life great?’ Then everything collapsed. I still claim that life is great, but now I base it on something (real) instead of illusions.”
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