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| From | "Harris, Will" <wharris1@bcharrispub.com> |
| Subject | Not exactly power pop, but a loss nonetheless... |
| Date | Tue, 29 Jul 2003 12:52:12 -0400 |
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'Iron Butterfly' Guitarist Erik Braunn Dies at 52
Mon Jul 28, 7:50 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former Iron Butterfly lead guitarist Erik Braunn,
who led the acid rock band to the heights of their success with the 1968
anthem "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," has died at age 52.
Braunn, a San Diego native who joined the Los Angeles rock group in 1967 at
age 16, died on Friday of heart failure, the Los Angeles Times reported on
Monday. His death was later reported on the band's official Web site.
Braunn stayed with the band just two years, long enough to experience
superstardom at the release of their 17-minute opus whose title was
translated as "In the garden of Eden."
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," featuring Braunn on lead guitar, sold four million
copies and spent more than a year as a Top Ten record. During a 1988
comeback attempt, Braunn told the Times that the mega-success and a heavy
touring schedule so early in his career took a toll on his personal life.
"My first vacation I bought a car, a Jaguar, and parked it outside the
hospital where I spent two weeks for ulcers and gastroenteritis," Braunn
told the newspaper.
He also believed the band never got the recognition it deserved. "Our sound
paved the way for all the heavy metal bands that are popular today," he
said. "Yet our records rarely get played, and most people regard us as a
joke."
In the years since he left the band, Braunn occasionally reunited with his
former bandmates for a gig or two but worked independently as a songwriter,
music industry officials said.
The band's bassist, Lee Dorman said he and Braunn were tour roommates before
Iron Butterfly hit the big time.
"I remember him growing up with the band," Dorman said on Monday. "It was a
pretty tight-knit group ...when he left everyone just sort of drifted."
Regards,
WiLL
WiLLiAm E. HaRRiS
Call Scripting Analyst
> * Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company
4000 Crossways Blvd.
Chesapeake, VA 23322
Ph. 1-757-965-8055
<mailto:wharris1@bcharrispub.com>
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