Iron Butterfly - In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida

First performance: 22/09/1969


Coverinfo

Bruce covered the song only once:  
 
 
1969-02-23 Upstage (The), Asbury Park, NJ 
 
No other set details are know from this evening . An early morning jam session featuring Springsteen with Vinnie Roslin (bass) and Big Bad Bobby Williams (drums) for the first two songs noted under, including Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Vini Lopez replaced Williams and Danny Federici also joined for an extended blues improvisation, which some suggest lasted some forty-five minutes. This would be the beginnings of a new band called Child (whose name would change to Steel Mill in late 1969). This event actually took place in the early hours of Sunday, February 23. The Upstage had opened for a business a year earlier (February 1968) and was steadily becoming a popular late night hangout for local musicians. Springsteen's first known performance at the famous club - he is known to have made at least thirty appearances before the Upstage closed in October 1971.
 
ROCK ME BABY / IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA / HEAVY BERTHA / blues improvisation 
 
 
  

Songinfo

"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" (mistransliteration: "In the Garden of Eden") is a song recorded by Iron Butterfly and written by bandmember Doug Ingle, released on their 1968 album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. At slightly over 17 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. Though it was not recorded until their second album, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was written during Iron Butterfly's early days. According to drummer Ron Bushy, organist/vocalist Doug Ingle wrote the song one evening while drinking an entire gallon of Red Mountain wine. When the inebriated Ingle then played the song for Bushy, who wrote down the lyrics for him, he was slurring his words so badly that what was supposed to be "in the Garden of Eden" was interpreted by Bushy as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". Catalogs.com confirmed that the song "was supposed to have been titled 'In The Garden of Eden', but the singer was slurring his words when he told Ron Bushy, the drummer, the title, and the garbled name stuck.
 
 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

Lyrics

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, honey,
Don't you know that I love you?
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, baby,
Don't you know that I'll always be true?

Oh, won't you come with me
And take my hand?

Oh, won't you come with me
And walk this land?

Please take my hand!