United Kingdom

Hi all,
This is not a reply to my own mail.
I was later reading back and in your mail Paleopete I saw the name Southerland Brothers and quiver... I saw them once or twice around 1970 I should think, and probably in Ewell tech in Surrey England.
As far as I recall they were quite good, though hardly Hendrix sort of stuff

Hey Pete it sounds like things were quite strained for you and your dad; I hope you two get on well these days though... mine is 84 now, but we have always been pretty good and he used to cart me and my brother with guitars and amps to the village church hall every week in his van to our band practice when we were fifteen or sixteen.

Iron Butterfly make me feel that almost anyone might have been lucky enough to make their name in the rock world, but with almost nothing to speak of Iron Butterfly succeeded.
Mark.........................

oh yes ,in the garden of eden baby you know that i love you.i blieve the guitarist was 17.you know i bought this as a cut out in`69 for 50 cents along with the lemon pipers my green tamborine.

Hello John,
Do you mean the guitarist of the Southerland Brothers was 17? They all looked old to me but I was just a kid myself back then.
I think they were touring with Doctor Feelgood, who still have gigs and get togethers with old fans out on Canvey Island in the Thames Estuary beyond London's dockland... they own a hotel or a big pub I think, and you can stay there and have dinner with them.

They had a cracking good guitar player who played with just his fingers I recall, as a few others of us do too... I believe he left the band.
I think the singer died, and they were the only noticeably good ones I can remember back then.
The other guitarist of a band I played in a lifetime back still goes to these Feelgood weekends on Canvey Island... keeping the faith I guess!
Mark D Phillips.......

no mr mark i was talking about iron butterfly,my fault,i`m sorry.

Hello John,
I remember listening to Iron Butterfly a few times with friends who thought the name was cool; I was quite impressed back then, though I doubt I could hum you any of their tunes today!
Just hearing the name again has a strangely nostalgic feel to it
Those odd bands seem almost not really to have existed... but still by far better than to have been like the many of us who indeed really never did exist at all!
Cheers,
Mark....................

I got into these 60's Cali heads from my love of US garage / psych and absolutely love what these dudes did between 1966 and 1970.......In A Gadda Da Vida of course is great but they did some really trippy bass-heavy rock as well. Doug Ingle had a great (if slightly ridiculous) baritone vocal and Lee Dorman is my favourite bassist. I really like his sound and he plays some amazing wandering lines. He's still in the band too! Any one else dig the Butterfly?

That song might actually be on record (no pun intended) for being the very first epic song in Rock-Radio- History... Seems like it was a good 10 -12 minutes or more wasn't it? I just remember it carried through many parties in my youth...