Lee Dorman, the Iron Butterfly bassist who played on the band’s iconic 17-minute song “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” which became an anthem for the drug-fueled psychedelic ’60s, was found dead Friday morning. He was 70
Dorman had suffered from heart problems for years and had to retire from music because of his health.
His body was found in his car at his home Friday morning, according to Orange County sheriff’s spokeswoman Gail Krause. No foul play is suspected, but a coroner’s investigation will be conducted, a routine procedure in deaths like Dorman’s.
The rock musician was reportedly on his way for a doctor’s appointment and may not have been feeling well, according to various reports.
The band came together in 1966 as the counterculture movement began taking root. The original members were Doug Ingle on vocals and organ), Jack Pinney on drums, Greg Willis on bass an and Danny Weis on guitar.
Darryl DeLoach joined the band shortly afterward and Dorman took over as bassist along with guitarist Erik Brann after the band relocated to Los Angeles from San Diego in 1967. It’s debut album Heavy was released a year later.
Ingle, whose father was a church organist,, wrote the seminal “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” for the band’s second album, which was titled the same. More than 30 million albums were sold and the set was a fixture on music charts for over a year.
The band broke up in 1971 and Dorman went on to found another band, Captain Beyond, with Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt, a guitarist who had joined Iron Butterfly the year before. It reformed later, but Dorman never went back.
Dorman had been living in Laguna Nigel, a coastal city in Southern California, when he died, according to The Associated Press. Although he had heart problems Dorman outlived most of the original and early members of the band.