How Iron Butterfly’s "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" Became an Accidental Epic and Missed Woodstock

Coming up, it’s a song that can only be described as ‘epic.’ In a Gadda Davida by Iron Butterfly, originally radio-friendly in length,later grew to monster proportions, swallowing up an entire side of an album. All thanks to a prolonged jam session that wouldn’t stop. The engineer liked what he heard and kept the tape rolling… and when it was done, Iron Butterfly had made history. Plus its gibberish title In a Gadda Da Vida had listeners wondering what in the world the song was about. Turns out, the singer was so sloshed when he first sang it, his bandmates thought he was singing something else entirely. But they liked it, so they kept it. Later on they would also have a chance to perform this legendary track at Woodstock… but after they pissed off the Performance Coordinator they found themselves stranded at the airport. Could they get there in time? An epic tale NEXT on the Professor of Rock.

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