IRON BUTTERFLY handwritten/signed letter - by the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida guitarist

Description

IRON BUTTERFLY handwritten & signed letter - La Cave - "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" guitarist Erik Keith Brann 1968.
Erik Keith Brann,
August 11, 1950 – July 25, 2003, was an American
guitarist
with the 1960s
acid rock
band
Iron Butterfly
. He was featured on the band's greatest
hit
, the 17-minute
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
(1968), recorded when he was 17.
A
Boston, Massachusetts
, native and a
violinist
, Brann was accepted as a child into the
prodigy
program at the
Boston Symphony Orchestra
, but was soon lured away to become a rock guitarist, joining first Paper Fortress, then Iron Butterfly at 17. He played with
Ron Bushy
,
Lee Dorman
and
Doug Ingle
from late 1967 to December 1969. The first album from this lineup,
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
, sold over 30 million copies, was awarded the first platinum award and stayed on the
Billboard magazine
charts for nearly three years. With arrangement assistance from Dorman, Brann wrote the song "Termination," which was featured on the album. He also provided the lead vocal for the tra
ck
.
T
he album's mini-bio, written when he was 17, tells of an
acting
a
mbition he once had, clothing and food preference, and the ease with which rock 'n' roll artists were able to arrange sexual encounters (usually with
groupies
). It reads: "Although
music
has always been his one great love, Erik studied
drama
and before joining the Butterfly, his acting ability had landed him the lead
role
in a local play. ...Erik hopes to, one day, continue in the acting field. Right now, however, his only concern is the Iron Butterfly,
turtleneck
sweaters, bananas, and the fairer sex."
La Cave was the legendaryCleveland folk and rock club open from '62 through '69 that hosted dozens offuture Hall of Famers and Woodstock performers. Everyone from Arlo Guthrie,Richie Havens, Lou Reed, Paul Butterfield, Jose Feliciano, Gordon Lightfoot, JudyCollins and countless others got their careers started at La Cave.
Here's a short excerpt from an upcoming book about La Cave and Iron Butterfly:
Butterfliesof Iron
The next LarryBruner midweek special floated into town for three nights beginning Monday, 12August, and it was perhaps the most un-La-Cave-iest booking yet: IronButterfly. The band was riding high on the strength of their just-released 2
nd
album and, more specifically, the 17-minute jam that comprised all of side two,the title track “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” The song has become one of the mosticonic songs of the ‘60s: the album became the biggest-selling album of 1969,crushing bands like the Beatles – and everyone else – and up to that timeoutsold every other record in history.
LarryBruner recalls: “I had Iron Butterfly come in to play La Cave as their firstgig away from the West Coast. ‘Juggy’ Gayles, the National Promotion Directorof Atco Records, had never heard of them, and he thanked me for bringing themto his attention. Yet, they’d already had 2 albums on Atco by then and the 2nd,In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, eventually sold more than 20 (sic) million.”
The band’s three-day stint did a lot to raise the sad spiritsaround La Cave. They drew just south of 1,100 in ticket sales for their midweekappearance. Just as importantly, the gang in the seats plowed their way through,400 worth of refreshments, spurring several beer-chips-bread-ham runs by thestaff. It made the band’s ,000 performance fee palatable.
Regardless offuture events, the Iron Butterfly performances at La Cave stand out ashighlights in the club’s history.
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