Iron Butterfly

Iron Butterfly was an American rock band that played an important role in the commercialization of album-oriented rock in the late Sixties. Their only major hit song, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," with a running time in excess of seventeen minutes, occupied one full side of their album of the same name. That album, released in July 1968 on Atlantic Records' ATCO label, has been claimed by the group and its record company to be the first to sell a million units. The RIAA did not have an official "Platinum" certification at the time, but has since awarded the album "4x Multi-Platinum" status. Having accomplished this with a song that literally did not fit either the 45 RPM single or any AM radio format, Iron Butterfly demonstrated the commercial possibilities of the music of the Counterculture.