San Diego Reader

Lee Dorman: Bass guitar | Ron Bushy: Guitar (electric), Vocals | Kerry Chater: Bass guitar, Guitar (acoustic), Guitar (electric)

Genre: Blues & Soul, Metal | Hardcore, Rock

Sound description: Bookends to a 20-minute drum solo.

RIYL: Blue Cheer, Vanilla Fudge, Led Zeppelin

Upcoming Local Shows

Related Links:

• Jam Session: "Iron Butterfly Archive Releasing 1968 Fillmore East Show" · Sept. 20, 2011

• Blurt: "No Helicopter, No Iron Butterfly" · Aug. 12, 2009

• Blurt: "Heavy, Beautiful" · May 4, 2006

Synoposis

Ex-Band Members: Danny Weis, Guitar (acoustic), Guitar (electric) Keith Ian Ellis, Bass guitar Erik Brann, Guitar (acoustic), Guitar (electric) Mike Pinera, Keyboards Larry Rhino Reinhardt, Guitar (acoustic), Guitar (electric), undetermined Philip Taylor Kramer, Bass guitar Jimi Henderson, Vocals Doug Ingle, undetermined Darryl DeLoach, undetermined Jerry Penrod, undetermined

Current Status: Reunited, retrofitted, reconsidered, and recording.

Influences: Led Zeppelin, Blue Cheer, the Rolling Stones, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, the Small Faces

Background:

"I can still rock," says Danny Weis, co-founder of Iron Butterfly. The guitarist, who lives in Canada, spent the majority of his youth in El Cajon.

"I fondly remember the years I would go see my dad, Johnny Weis, play guitar, backing people from the Grand Ole Opry at Bostonia Ballroom in El Cajon," says Weis. "I was age 9 to 12, and I used to stand right in front of the stage and lean on it with my elbows. I wasn't too tall then, I guess. I remember Johnny Cash playing right in front of me with my dad backing him on guitar with the band. [Cash] always remembered me and would stoop right in front of me, saying, 'Folsom Prison?' I said 'yes' with joy."

Weis picked up a guitar at around age 12 and by 13 was playing with local bands.

"I was always the youngest musician, as the others were all 18 to 21. I had trouble with club managers, as I looked so very young. They wanted me to dye my hair black and put on a fake mustache to look older. I didn't."

With Doug Ingle, Weis formed Iron Butterfly in 1966. One early versionof the group included Kerry Chater, who went on to play with Garry Puckett and the Union Gap.

"We sought a band name that was heavy, so to speak, and also beautiful. Not long after, we all got into Darryl DeLoach's -- God rest his soul -- black hearse and moved to Hollywood, California."

The band earned its bones by making frequent trips to L.A., to play at legendary Sunset Boulevard venues with other rising talents like Spirit, the Doors, Love, and Jefferson Airplane.

Weis quit Iron Butterfly soon after recording Heavy in Hollywood. He went on to play with the Rascals, Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, and the Everly Brothers.

"My early musical experiences in San Diego County would shape my entire career...there was a lot of jazz, country, and R&B."

On October 3, 2002, original guitarist/vocalist Darryl DeLoach died of liver cancer at the age of 56.

On July 31, 2003 Erik Brann died of cardiac failure at the age of 52. He was working on a new solo album at the time of his death. The album remains unreleased, although friends and family are working on seeing its release.

In 2004, the group was re-formed and touring with early members Ron Bushy and Lee Dorman. Weis's solo album Sweet Spot was released in June, 2006.

Legend has it that Iron Butterfly ALMOST played at the 1969 Woodstock music festival. According to festival co-creator Michael Lang in his 2009 book The Road to Woodstock:

“Iron Butterfly was booked for Sunday afternoon, but John Morris [production coordinator and stage MC] told me that their agent had called with a last-minute demand for a helicopter to pick them up...apparently, the agent had a real attitude, and we were up to our eyeballs in problems. So I told John to tell him to forget it; we had more important things to deal with.”

The band was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the September 2010 San Diego Music Awards ceremony, accepted by bassist Dorman. Mayor Sanders and longtime local DJ Jim McInnes presented the Award. They embarked on a European tour September 22, 2010.

As of 2011, the son of Doug Ingle -- Doug Ingle Jr. (Patrick Henry High class of 1982) -- is a musician and recording engineer based in Rancho Bernardo.

Guitarist Larry Rhino Reinhardt died on January 2, 2012, at the age of 63, due to sclerosis of the liver. The band then embarked on a European tour, running through March 18.