Great Bass Mysteries Vol. 1: The Iron Butterfly Effect

Ask for an example of a great classic rock bass line and the song "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly is bound to come up. The album of the same name peaked at number 4 on the billboard charts in 1968,and was the best selling album in the US in 1969. The album would go on to sell over 30 million copies, and until being passed by Led Zeppelin 4, was Atlantic Records best selling album. The band could not handle the success of this album well though and by 1972 the original line up had broken up. But in 1974 new bassist/vocalist Philip Taylor Kramer convinced remaining members to get together and release a pair of albums in 1975,Scorching Beauty and Sun and Steel. The two albums had nowhere near the success of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida(Although I think the cover art to Scorching Beauty is pretty awesome) and the band was once again on hiatus. After leaving the rock n roll life Taylor Kramer would go on to drop the Phillip from his name, earn a degree in aerospace engineering,and with Randy Jackson(Jackson 5 not American Idol) create Total Multimedia Inc, a high-tech multimedia company. Pretty good for a bass player. That is until February 12th 1995, Kramer disappeared from the airport in LA. Later that day he would call 911,and say "This is Philip Taylor Kramer. I am going to kill myself," and hang up. After four years of being missing, Kramer's remains and minivan were found near Malibu California on May 29th, 1999. His father never believed he killed himself and is quoted as saying "Taylor had told me a long time before there were people bothering him. They wanted what he was doing and some of them threatened him. He once told me that if I ever say I'm gonna kill myself, don't you believe it one bit. I'll be needing help" Kramer had been working on a revolutionary means of transporting information and matter through space before his death, and some believe he was getting ready to unveil the secrets of stellar communication to the world. Suicide or foul play? To me this is one of the great bass mysteries.

works cited and for a further look

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/iron-butterfly-philip-taylor-kramer-found-dead/

http://www.skeptictank.org/kramer.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfYuHPr5mUE

See also