Probably a coincidence, but Iron Butterfly beat Led Zeppelin to that heavy-light name game by at least a year. You know, the iron (or led), as ballast for the delicate flying creature (or dirigible).
The Southern California band also anticipated Led Zep’s mix of punishing riffs and ethereal wails with “Iron Butterfly Theme,” a wordless monster of a song that set an early standard for hard acid rock.
The 4 1/2-minute instrumental, recorded in 1967, demonstrates why Iron Butterfly has been called “the father of heavy metal” by Def Leppard and other headbangers. The Butterfly boys even called the album “Heavy.”
“Theme” covers the life cycle of an iron butterfly, beginning with the throbs of birth, then the exhilarating flight, then the crash-and-burn accompanied by the devils of feedback and anarchy.
Throughout, keyboardist Doug Ingle’s organ dances and duels with Danny Weis’ distorted guitar as tribal drums pound away. As a coda, Morse code announces the death of the bellowing beast … fade to black. It’s as cinematic a song as there is in rock. (It did end up on the soundtrack to the biker movie “The Savage Seven,” no butterflies in sight.)
Nothing quite like “Iron Butterfly Theme” had been recorded before, except, perhaps, for the sonic chaos of the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows.” This was proto-metal, as if Pink Floyd recorded whilst tripping on horse tranquilizers.
Giving the song its unshakable creepiness is Ingle’s chanting — the echo of demented monks, perhaps. A warning of medieval horrors to come. Or, at least, something from the slab at Hammer Films.
There also exists a heroic quality that summons up another movie — picture a Schwarzeneggerian warrior holding his blade high to the skies, seeking the final reward of a lightning bolt. Like in “Heavy Metal” the movie, come to think of it.
Ingle called the group’s sound an exercise in “melodic consciousness.” That path soon would lead to “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” the 17-minute psychedelic slog for which the band is remembered today.
Fame came fast and faded in a few short years. The group was a victim of its musical bloat and inconsistent recordings — outplayed and outflanked by other West Coast psychedelic bands.
But for that first glorious 4 1/2 minutes, Iron Butterfly soared.
I saw the Iron Butterfly in 1969 and much later around 1996. Both times Doug was there. I listen to them more than anything. Awesome band, especially the ’68 and ’69 version.
Theme is the only song I can listen to over and over and never get tired of it. Most amazing song, ever.
There was an old WW2 movie called, appropriately enough, The Iron Butterfly. It was about a heavy bomber and her crew. Though I’ve never seen it, the music sounds like it would fit right in, though it was done 20 years after the movie.
The droning guitars represent the 4 props spinning, the string scratching would be the Messerschmidts firing along the fuselage. With only 2 engines left, she limps across the English Channel and belly-lands, breaking up as she does — that’s the chaotic sounds at the out-chorus.
I once attempted to decipher the Morse code at the end of the song.. from what I could tell, it said “God is love”.
The morse code message is “I Love You”. The first two characters are a little drowned out by the noise at the end, but the rest of the characters are clear. Pretty good “fist” too.
Correct if i am wrong were Iron Butterfly on the same bill as Zeppelin way back in ’68/’69?
Am I the only one to have noticed any similarity between one of the repeated music themes in “One Step Beyond” (I think it’s the one titled ‘Weird’) and the wordless vocals in “Iron Butterfly Theme”? Every time I listen to this Butterfly tune I am always reminded of “One Step Beyond”.
Thanks to my brothers in psychedelia for reminding me of this track. I hadn’t heard it in close to half a century but it has been in high rotation at my place since its recovery from the sunless depths of Lake Oblivion.
One of my favorite psychedelic songs.
My great memories of iron butterfly go back to 1967 and 68 when they were still starting out. Rick Davis (later chaned to Erik Braun or Braunn, went to nearby Chatsworth High School and in 1967 Replced the lead guitar player who quit the group. They played at the Van Nuys teen center in the San Fernando Valley where my band played a lot. A friend’s band opened for them using my bass amplifier on their stage. Iron butterfly ended with the iron butterfly theme with continuous feedback on their instruments as they walked off from the stage. It was fantastic. When their first album Heavy came out, we played all their songs. Then when In-a-gadda-davida came out they were rock stars.!
Moody and tension filled. At one point you can hear the Pterodactyl fly. Morse code sends a message into deep state.
Agree with you all!!! What a band. Metamorphosis has to be one of my all time fave albums. Play it frequently on my radio show.
I saw Iron Butterfly at the Hollywood Bowl, September of 1969. Absolutely stunning performance. Extended version of “In-a-Gadda-da-Vida” brought the audience down the aisles. When I retired after 47 years teaching rock history at the USC School of Music, it was the last song I played for my last lecture.