Ron Bushy (Iron Butterfly) was born on December 23, 1941 in Washington DC. Little is recorded on how he ended up on the west coast but, following the band’s relocation from San Diego to Los Angeles, replacing previous drummer Bruce Morse, who left due to a family emergency. Bushy became part of the group’s classic lineup, along with vocalist and keyboardist Doug Ingle, guitarist Erik Brann, and bassist Lee Dorman.
I started in San Diego and went to college. I studied biology and psychology. I was going to become a Marine Biologist and go to Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla. I got sidetracked into music part-time. I rented a drum set and learned to play drums to Booker T and the MG’s, “Green Onions.” From there, I started playing nightclubs as the Bushmen….then The Voxmen. We played Arts Roaring 20s in El Cajon. We ran into the Palace Pages who then became Jerry and the Geritones…we became friends later. Then they changed their name to Iron Butterfly. They later went to Hollywood to make it. I was now in The Voxmen and we said if they can do it, so can we.
When we got to Hollywood we got a job at the Sea Witch on Sunset for $7 a night for the whole band. Iron Butterfly was playing at Bido Lidos on Cosmo Alley, so I went to see them. They asked me to sit in, and after the first song, they turned around and said, “We want you in Iron Butterfly.” I told them, “No, I’m loyal.” They pleaded with me to join, so we switched drummers. Their drummer liked The Voxmen better, and I became Iron Butterfly’s drummer.
‘Heavy’ was the original lineup with Iron Butterfly; Doug Ingle, Darryl DeLoach, Danny Weis, Jerry Penrod and Ron Bushy. They started in San Diego, then moved to L.A. where the real action was. There were actually 2 groups, The Voxmen and Iron Butterfly. They both went to L.A. and ended up switching drummers and Bushy ended up in Iron Butterfly. They played 6 nights a week at Bido Lito’s club on the Sunset Strip, 5 sets a night for 6 weeks. We lived upstairs in the office and left our equipment set up on stage. Everyday we got up and wrote songs, and rehearse, then playing 5 sets. From there we went to the Whisky for 6 weeks as the opening band for all the famous groups. From there we went 2 doors up to Galaxy where we played 7 nights a week, 5 sets a night. This is where we wrote and put ‘Heavy’ together. We became tight and got signed to ATCO Records [a division of Atlantic Records]. We went in to Goldstar Studio and recorded ‘Heavy’, while still playing at the Galaxy. But after the album was finished, Danny Weis left the band. Daryl DeLoach and Jerry Penrod followed. Now it was just Doug Ingle and me…
Atco shelved the album because there was no band. We had no band, so we started auditions. After 2 months we found Rick Davis [Erik Braunn], guitar and Lee Dorman, bass. Now Erik was only 17 and still in high school, so his mother needed to give her consent. Lee Dorman was an old friend of mine from San Diego who played drums, but had switched to the bass. We were still living in Laurel Canyon, later we rented a house in Mission Hills where the whole band lived and set up our equipment in the living room. We rehearsed and wrote songs for our next album.
The epic ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ title track took up all of side two of the album and clocked in at 17 minutes and five seconds. At one stage ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ held the record for biggest selling album of all time. The album reached no 4 in the USA and no 14 in Australia in 1968. The iconic song, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” owed both its name and its length to Bushy: His drum solo took up a substantial part of its 17-minute run time, and he misheard singer Doug Ingle’s slurred words when he sang the words “In the Garden of Eden.” The misunderstanding stuck, and the song went on to become one of the formative influences on hard rock and heavy metal.
On recording “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” Bushy said:
“After many months and 3 months of opening for Jefferson Airplane the song got longer and longer, taking on a life of its own,” we went straight into Ultrasonic Studios in Hempstead, Long Island. Don Caselle was the engineer. We set up our equipment and Don says, ‘Guys, why don’t you just start playing and let me get some microphone levels.’ We decided let’s do ‘Vida…’ we played the entire song without stopping. To make a long story short, when we finished, he said, ‘Guys, come into the control room.’ We listened to it and were blown away.” —from a 2021 interview for Vinyl Writer Music
The third album ‘Ball’ was written in the house and rehearsal studios and on the road and finished in a NY studio. After touring with Erik Braunn, he became very closed minded and did not accept ideas or let’s try this. He was impossible to work with—so we decided to break the band up.
For ‘Metamorphosis’, we replaced Erik with Mike Pinera from Blues Image and Larry Rhino [Reinhardt] from the Allman Bros. Doug Ingle by then lived in a house in Calabasas where we would write and rehearse the songs on ‘Metamorphosis’. The rest was rehearsed and recorded in 2 weeks at American Studio on Ventura Blvd. with Ritchie Podolar and Bill Cooper. They were the first to have an all DC studio running on car batteries…no AC hum. It was an old Chinese restaurant converted with the walk in refrigerator as an amazing live chamber. ‘Metamorphosis’ is my favorite album. We got to spread our wings and be totally creative. My favorites are ‘Soldier’ and ‘Slower Than Guns’. After “Metamorphosis” the band broke up again, but Bushy rejoined the band when they regrouped in 1974, playing on their fifth and sixth albums, Scorching Beauty and Sun and Steel, which were both released in 1975.
Even after a second breakup of the band took place, Bushy continued to drum for Iron Butterfly when they reformed again, despite various other member changeups, which made Bushy the only one who played on all six Iron Butterfly albums including the 4x Platinum classic ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ released in 1968.
Bushy remained with Iron Butterfly through a series of breakups and reformations, and he continued to drum for them off and on for the rest of his life. After the break-up of Iron Butterfly in 1975, Bushy worked first with the band Magic (1977-1978) and then Gold (1978-1980). Throughout the 80s he took part in the occasional Iron Butterfly reunion tours.
Ron Bushy died at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica from esophageal cancer on Aug 29, 2021. He was the third member of the original band to pass away. Guitarist Eric Brann died in 2003. Bass player Lee Dorman died in 2012. Last surviving member Lead singer/keyboardist Doug Ingle died in 2024
Shortly before his death, Bushy agreed to donate his iconic clear drum kit to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The custom set, build by Bill Zickos in 1969, was well-traveled, hitting the road with the likes of The Doors, Cream, and The Who.
Ringo Starr, famous Beatles’ drummer, never played a drum solo on a Beatles record until he was badgered by Paul, John and George on the last song of the last album they ever recorded, called “The End” and who did he copy? Part of Ron Bushy’s famous drum solo in “In a Gadda da Vida”. Listen here if you don’t believe it!
Bushy’s primal drumming would go on to influence many of his peers. “Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney came to see us at Royal Albert Hall,” Bushy said once. “Ringo took me out to dinner and drinks and said to me, ‘I hope you don’t mind I stole a part of your drum solo’ in ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ for the Abbey Road track “The End.” I told him not at all. ‘I took it as a compliment coming from you.’”
Bushy reveled in his very personal individualistic style, that felt like the dark jungle at your feet. He once stated: “I am completely self-taught. I just play what I feel. I don’t read or write music. I am just me, my style.”
