Iron Butterfly

Iron Butterfly are an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in the mid-1960s, and one of the pioneering acts of the heavy, organ-driven sound that would soon splinter into hard rock and heavy metal. The band came together from a circle of local musicians who had previously played in rival groups before uniting under keyboardist and vocalist Doug Ingle, whose swirling Vox organ became the group's defining instrumental voice.

The band's reputation rests almost entirely on its 1968 album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, and above all its seventeen-minute title track, which became an FM radio staple thanks to its hypnotic organ riff, extended instrumental passages and thunderous drum solo. The song's slurred title, said to be a mishearing of «In the Garden of Eden», gave the record an air of psychedelic mystery that matched its sprawling, trance-like structure. The album's commercial success was extraordinary for its era, turning Iron Butterfly into one of the best-selling acts of the late 1960s.

After lineup changes through the early 1970s the band's momentum faded, and it never produced another record with the same cultural impact. Iron Butterfly has nonetheless been reformed multiple times over the decades with rotating members, trading on the enduring legacy of its signature song, which remains a touchstone reference point for the birth of heavy rock.