Reposted from @thelegendsofmusic Iron Butterfly performing “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” Live on the 16th of April, 1971 About “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by the Iron Butterfly: This song runs on pure animal-instinct rock and roll with a track length of 17 minutes and 5 seconds. The title was supposed to be "In The Garden Of Eden." Drummer Ron Bushy wrote it down as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" because he couldn't understand was vocalist Doug Ingle was singing. Their record company was OK with the title because it sounds exotic and Eastern spirituality was big at the time, with The Beatles going to India and The Rolling Stones experimenting with Indian instruments. As for the meaning of the song, it's just a guy affirming his love for his special girl.
 Keyboardist Doug Ingle was highly influenced by the organ riffs played in a church when he originally created the chords for this song. When he wrote the song, Doug Ingle didn't intend for it to be over 17 minutes long, but that's how it played out when the band recorded it at what they thought was merely a soundcheck to test levels for engineer Don Casale while they waited for producer Jim Hilton to arrive. Casale, though, kept tape rolling, and the band got in a groove. After the rehearsal was completed they agreed that the performance - filled with mistakes but also with raw energy - was of sufficient quality that another take wasn't needed.
 When released as a single, the record label edited the song down to just 2 minutes and 52 seconds, but it was progressive FM stations that played the full album version and soon, the band developed a cult like following. In an effort to get the full song, listeners had to buy the album, and they did. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, the album, ended up selling over 4 million copies. Until Led Zeppelin came along, it was the best selling album in the history of Atlantic Records.
 Source: Songfacts.com #Music #RockNRoll #IronButterfly #DougIngle #ErikBrann #RonBushy #LeeDornman iiii]; )'