Song Of The Day - August 21, 2008

And now for something totally different: Psychedelic Rock! Today's song comes from Iron Butterfly, a band formed in the 1960s in San Diego, CA. You need look no further than their official website to understand which decade they performed in or the substances that influenced their music. Many people attribute Iron Butterfly for the birth of heavy metal music due to their dark, distorted riffs, but there is much debate on this issue. Without question, though, they were made famous by their 1968 hit entitled "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" from the album of the same name.

Singer Doug Ingle was reportedly drunk when he told Ron Bushy the title, which was originally intended to be "In The Garden Of Eden." Bushy did his best to interpret Ingle's slurred words and, as legend has it, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" became the official name of the song. The single version of the song, which appeared in the US Top 30 on the Billboard Chart Singles, is 2:53. A much longer version can be found on the original release of the album, though. As the feature song on the second side of its album, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is 17:05. 

The full album version, complete with outrageously lengthy solos, appears below as two separate videos. Enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2