In the Fall of 1970,
when I was a junior in high school in the small eastern NC town of Kinston, I saw Iron Butterfly perform at the gym at
East Carolina University in Greenville, NC.
I still remember the
announcement as they took the stage “Ladies and Gentlemen…from Los Angeles, California… Iron Butterfly!” It was as
though gods had come to earth.
I was on the front row and these guys
rocked!
The album that the
tour was supporting is called “Metamorphosis”. It is a good one. “The album spawned the
single 'Easy Rider (Let the Wind Pay the Way),' which reached number
66 on the Billboard
chart, making it the band's biggest hit aside from ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’. The
album is noted for having one of the earliest uses of the Talk box on a rock album.”
[1]
The other night, at
about 2:00 a.m. I woke up and couldn’t go to sleep. So, I grabbed my ipod and decided to listen
to some music. Thanks to a program that
my son gave me several years ago, I have been able to digitize many of my vinyl
albums and load them on my ipod. And…there
was “Metamorphosis”! I’ve always loved
it, but listening to it on high quality headphones in the silence of the night,
has made me an even bigger fan. The
vocals as well as the interplay of instruments is amazing. The lyrics are also very good and hold up
after all these years. The songs
themselves are well written.
I am just amazed
that there are so many talented musicians in this world. The more I try to learn about guitar the more
I am amazed by those who have mastered the instrument. And listening to this Iron Butterfly album
only reminded me of the gifts and talents and of the music that is being put
out there. I am grateful that I was able
to hear this concert and listen to this album. It truly is worth listening to, after all
these years. Here is a link so you can
listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBaA6i8nULg
(Above is the back cover of the album. Below is the front cover.)
