In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Encyclopedia
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is a song by Iron Butterfly
, released on their 1968 album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.
At a little over seventeen minutes, it occupies the entire second side of the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida album. The lyrics
are simple, and heard only at the beginning and the end. The track was recorded on May 27, 1968, at Ultrasonic Studios in Hempstead
, Long Island
, New York.
The recording that is heard on the album was meant to be a soundcheck
for engineer Don Casale while the band waited for the arrival of producer Jim Hilton. However, Casale had rolled a recording tape, and when the rehearsal was completed it was agreed that the performance was of sufficient quality that another take was not needed. Hilton later remixed the recording at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles. The single reached number thirty on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
.
In later years, band members claimed that the track was produced by Long Island producer George "Shadow" Morton
, who earlier had supervised the recordings of the band Vanilla Fudge
. Morton subsequently stated in several interviews that he had agreed to do so at the behest of Atlantic Records chief Ahmet Ertegun
, but he also allowed that he was drinking heavily at the time and that his actual oversight of the recording was minimal. Neither Casale nor Morton receives credit on the album, while Hilton was credited as both its sound engineer and producer.
, Jimi Hendrix
and Steppenwolf
, it marks the time period when psychedelic music
began to form heavy metal
. In 2009, it was named the 24th greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1
.
A commonly related story says that the song's title was originally "In the Garden of Eden" but at one point in the course of rehearsing and recording, singer Doug Ingle
became intoxicated and slurred the words, creating the mondegreen
that stuck as the title. However, the liner notes on 'the best of' CD compilation state that drummer Ron Bushy
was listening to the track through headphones, and could not clearly distinguish what Doug Ingle answered when Ron asked him for the title of the song (which was originally "In-the-Garden-of-Eden"). An alternate explanation, as given in the liner notes of the 1995 re-release of the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida album, is that Ingle was drunk or high, or both, when he first told Bushy the title, and Bushy wrote it down. Bushy then showed Ingle what he had written, and the slurred title stuck.
", a guitar
and bass
ostinato
. It is used as the basis for extended organ
and guitar solos, then silenced to make way for a drum solo
, one of the first on a rock record and one of the most famous, due to its surreal tribal sound. Bushy removed the bottom heads from his tom-toms
to give them less of a resonant tone, and during the recording process, the drum tracks were subjected to a process known as flanging
, producing a slow, swirling sound. The solo is followed by an ethereal polyphonic organ solo (which resembles variations on "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen") to the accompaniment
of drums (beginning around 9:20 into the piece). There are then interludes in cut time and a reprise
of the original theme and vocals.
In the Netherlands (and perhaps other territories too) a different, longer 4:14 minute edit was released first on a 45 with catalogue number 2019 021 and later on an EP with catalogue number 2091 213. This edit features only one verse, a large portion of the drum solo, the final verse and the closing segment.
. This version lengthens the drums solo by roughly four minutes and the organ solo by about one minute. It also omits the bass and drum solo jam (heard from 13:04–15:19 on the studio recording).
When Doug Ingle
wrote the song, he had not intended for it to run 17 minutes long. However, Ingle said that he "knew there would be slots for solos". During live renditions, Erik Brann's (guitar) and Ron Bushy
's (drum) solos varied from performance to performance, while Ingle's organ solo remained the same.
as well as (under the title "In the Garden of Eden," referencing the popular story about the mondegreen) in the The Simpsons
episode Bart Sells His Soul
. The song was also heard briefly in the film Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
. The song was played on bagpipes during a funeral in the series finale of Rescue Me
. The song was featured prominently in the beginning of "The Tribe," episode #16 of season #1 of the TV series Criminal Minds
. The song is also featured in an episode of Supernatural in the opening scene of "Skin", episode 6 of season 1. It can also be heard during a trip sequence in Resident Evil Extinction
(scheduled for a November 1980 release), the single was ultimately never included because the album release was delayed for one year. "Children of Paradise" peaked at #11 in the German charts, whereas it became the group's lowest placing in the UK at #66 only. Boney M. would use the double A-side format in this period, typically with the A1 being the song intended for radio and A2 being more squarely aimed at discos. The sides would usually be switched on the accompanying 12″ single. Although no-one knew, at the time it was recorded, "Gadda-Da-Vida" became a controversial Boney M. record since it turned out none of the original members sang on it. Due to a fall-out between producer Frank Farian and the group, he had session singers La Mama
(Cathy Bartney, Patricia Shockley and Madeleine Davis) sing the female vocals while he did the deep male vocals as usual. The group only promoted it once on TV. Two different single edits were done of the full 9-minute version that appeared on the 12-inch single. "Gadda-Da-Vida" was the A-side in Japan. Only the French release correctly stated the song title as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida".
12″ single
Iron Butterfly
Iron Butterfly is a US psychedelic rock band best known for the 1968 hit "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida".Their heyday was the late 1960s, but the band has been reincarnated with various members. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida is the 31st best-selling album in the world, selling more than 25 million copies.-History:The...
, released on their 1968 album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.
At a little over seventeen minutes, it occupies the entire second side of the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida album. The lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
are simple, and heard only at the beginning and the end. The track was recorded on May 27, 1968, at Ultrasonic Studios in Hempstead
Hempstead (village), New York
Hempstead is a village located in the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 53,891 at the 2010 census.Hofstra University is located on the border between Hempstead and Uniondale.-Foundation:...
, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York.
The recording that is heard on the album was meant to be a soundcheck
Soundcheck
A soundcheck is the preparation that takes place before a concert, speech, or similar performance, when the performer and the sound crew run through a small portion of the upcoming show on the venue's sound system to make sure that the sound in the venue's "Front Of House" and stage monitor sound...
for engineer Don Casale while the band waited for the arrival of producer Jim Hilton. However, Casale had rolled a recording tape, and when the rehearsal was completed it was agreed that the performance was of sufficient quality that another take was not needed. Hilton later remixed the recording at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles. The single reached number thirty on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
.
In later years, band members claimed that the track was produced by Long Island producer George "Shadow" Morton
Shadow Morton
George 'Shadow' Morton is an American record producer and songwriter best known for his influential work in the 1960s and the introduction of girl group The Shangri-Las to the pop music world....
, who earlier had supervised the recordings of the band Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band. The band's original lineup – vocalist/organist Mark Stein, bassist/vocalist Tim Bogert, lead guitarist/vocalist Vince Martell, and drummer/vocalist Carmine Appice – recorded five albums during the years 1966–69, before disbanding in 1970...
. Morton subsequently stated in several interviews that he had agreed to do so at the behest of Atlantic Records chief Ahmet Ertegun
Ahmet Ertegun
Ahmet Ertegün was a Turkish American musician and businessman, best known as the founder and president of Atlantic Records. He also wrote classic blues and pop songs and served as Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum...
, but he also allowed that he was drinking heavily at the time and that his actual oversight of the recording was minimal. Neither Casale nor Morton receives credit on the album, while Hilton was credited as both its sound engineer and producer.
Overview
The song is considered significant in rock history because, together with music by Blue CheerBlue Cheer
Blue Cheer was an American psychedelic blues-rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf (band)
Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The...
, it marks the time period when psychedelic music
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
began to form heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
. In 2009, it was named the 24th greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
.
A commonly related story says that the song's title was originally "In the Garden of Eden" but at one point in the course of rehearsing and recording, singer Doug Ingle
Doug Ingle
Doug Ingle is a founding member and former organist, vocalist and primary composer for the band Iron Butterfly. He also had a short stint with the pop group Stark Naked and the Car Thieves in the early 1970s after he left Iron Butterfly.- Biography :Ingle's father Lloyd, a church organist,...
became intoxicated and slurred the words, creating the mondegreen
Mondegreen
A mondegreen is the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near homophony, in a way that gives it a new meaning. It most commonly is applied to a line in a poem or a lyric in a song...
that stuck as the title. However, the liner notes on 'the best of' CD compilation state that drummer Ron Bushy
Ron Bushy
Ron Bushy is the drummer of the rock band Iron Butterfly.He was born in Washington, D.C. on December 23, 1945. He grew up in a military family, living in approximately 34 states during his youth...
was listening to the track through headphones, and could not clearly distinguish what Doug Ingle answered when Ron asked him for the title of the song (which was originally "In-the-Garden-of-Eden"). An alternate explanation, as given in the liner notes of the 1995 re-release of the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida album, is that Ingle was drunk or high, or both, when he first told Bushy the title, and Bushy wrote it down. Bushy then showed Ingle what he had written, and the slurred title stuck.
Musical composition
The first six minutes of the song is dominated by a memorable, "endless, droning minor-key riffRIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
", a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
ostinato
Ostinato
In music, an ostinato is a motif or phrase, which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice. An ostinato is always a succession of equal sounds, wherein each note always has the same weight or stress. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody in...
. It is used as the basis for extended organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
and guitar solos, then silenced to make way for a drum solo
Drum solo
A drum solo is an instrumental solo played on a drum kit. A drum solo may be set or improvised, and of any length, up to being the main performance....
, one of the first on a rock record and one of the most famous, due to its surreal tribal sound. Bushy removed the bottom heads from his tom-toms
Tom-tom drum
A tom-tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snare.Although "tom-tom" is the British term for a child's toy drum, the name came originally from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala; the tom-tom itself comes from Asian or Native American cultures...
to give them less of a resonant tone, and during the recording process, the drum tracks were subjected to a process known as flanging
Flanging
Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, with one signal delayed by a small and gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and notches are produced in the resultant frequency spectrum,...
, producing a slow, swirling sound. The solo is followed by an ethereal polyphonic organ solo (which resembles variations on "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen") to the accompaniment
Accompaniment
In music, accompaniment is the art of playing along with an instrumental or vocal soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner...
of drums (beginning around 9:20 into the piece). There are then interludes in cut time and a reprise
Reprise
Reprise is a fundamental device in the history of art. In literature, a reprise consists of the rewriting of another work; in music, a reprise is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the...
of the original theme and vocals.
Edited Versions
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida was released on a 45 in the USA and other territories. The 17 minute original version was edited down to 2:53 minutes. This version contains the intro, two complete verses, the repeat of the main theme very near the end, a short break and the closing segment. There is nothing at all left of any of the solos, such as organ, guitar, drums, etc.In the Netherlands (and perhaps other territories too) a different, longer 4:14 minute edit was released first on a 45 with catalogue number 2019 021 and later on an EP with catalogue number 2091 213. This edit features only one verse, a large portion of the drum solo, the final verse and the closing segment.
Live version
A live version reaching over 19 minutes long was released as part of their 1969 live albumLive (Iron Butterfly album)
Live is the first live album by Iron Butterfly, released in 1970. It was a commercial hit, reaching #20 on the Billboard album charts.-Reception:Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic rated Live three out of five stars...
. This version lengthens the drums solo by roughly four minutes and the organ solo by about one minute. It also omits the bass and drum solo jam (heard from 13:04–15:19 on the studio recording).
When Doug Ingle
Doug Ingle
Doug Ingle is a founding member and former organist, vocalist and primary composer for the band Iron Butterfly. He also had a short stint with the pop group Stark Naked and the Car Thieves in the early 1970s after he left Iron Butterfly.- Biography :Ingle's father Lloyd, a church organist,...
wrote the song, he had not intended for it to run 17 minutes long. However, Ingle said that he "knew there would be slots for solos". During live renditions, Erik Brann's (guitar) and Ron Bushy
Ron Bushy
Ron Bushy is the drummer of the rock band Iron Butterfly.He was born in Washington, D.C. on December 23, 1945. He grew up in a military family, living in approximately 34 states during his youth...
's (drum) solos varied from performance to performance, while Ingle's organ solo remained the same.
In popular culture
The song is featured prominently in the climax of the film ManhunterManhunter (film)
Manhunter is a 1986 American thriller film based on Thomas Harris's novel Red Dragon. Written and directed by Michael Mann, it stars William Petersen as Will Graham and features Brian Cox as Hannibal Lecktor...
as well as (under the title "In the Garden of Eden," referencing the popular story about the mondegreen) in the The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode Bart Sells His Soul
Bart Sells His Soul
"Bart Sells His Soul" is the fourth episode of The Simpsons seventh season. It first aired in the United States on the Fox network, on October 8, 1995. In the episode, Bart pranks churchgoers by replacing the music to a hymn with a psychedelic rock song, so Reverend Lovejoy forces him and Milhouse...
. The song was also heard briefly in the film Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare is a 1991 American slasher film. It is the sixthand as the title suggests, intended to be the lastfilm in the series of films featuring Freddy Krueger...
. The song was played on bagpipes during a funeral in the series finale of Rescue Me
Rescue Me (TV series)
Rescue Me is an American television drama series that premiered on the FX Network on July 21, 2004, and concluded on September 7, 2011. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of a group of New York City firefighters in the fictitious Ladder 62 / Engine 99 firehouse.The show...
. The song was featured prominently in the beginning of "The Tribe," episode #16 of season #1 of the TV series Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds is an American police procedural drama that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime...
. The song is also featured in an episode of Supernatural in the opening scene of "Skin", episode 6 of season 1. It can also be heard during a trip sequence in Resident Evil Extinction
Boney M. version
"Children of Paradise" / "Gadda-Da-Vida" is a 1980 single by German band Boney M. Intended to be the first single off the group's fifth album BoonoonoonoosBoonoonoonoos
Boonoonoonoos is the fifth studio album by Boney M. It was released on November 1, 1981.Despite producer Frank Farian having announced that Boney M...
(scheduled for a November 1980 release), the single was ultimately never included because the album release was delayed for one year. "Children of Paradise" peaked at #11 in the German charts, whereas it became the group's lowest placing in the UK at #66 only. Boney M. would use the double A-side format in this period, typically with the A1 being the song intended for radio and A2 being more squarely aimed at discos. The sides would usually be switched on the accompanying 12″ single. Although no-one knew, at the time it was recorded, "Gadda-Da-Vida" became a controversial Boney M. record since it turned out none of the original members sang on it. Due to a fall-out between producer Frank Farian and the group, he had session singers La Mama
La Mama (band)
La Mama is a German pop and disco trio who worked in Frank Farian's studios in the first half of the 1980s. Adapting their name from New York theatre La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, they released three singles and two albums and worked as backing singers on a number of recordings for other...
(Cathy Bartney, Patricia Shockley and Madeleine Davis) sing the female vocals while he did the deep male vocals as usual. The group only promoted it once on TV. Two different single edits were done of the full 9-minute version that appeared on the 12-inch single. "Gadda-Da-Vida" was the A-side in Japan. Only the French release correctly stated the song title as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida".
Releases
7″ singles- "Children of Paradise" (Farian, Reyam, Jay) - 4:40 / "Gadda-Da-Vida" (Ingle) - 5:18 (Hansa 102 400-100, Germany)
- "Children of Paradise" (Final mix) - 4:28 / "Gadda-Da-Vida" (Final mix) - 5:05 (Hansa 102 400-100, Germany)
12″ single
- "Gadda-Da-Vida" (Long version) - 8:56 / "Children of Paradise" (12″ mix) - 5:18 (Hansa 600 280-100, Germany)