September 15: Iron Butterfly bassist Lee Dorman, was born on this date in 1942...

... he died on December 22, 2012 at the age of 70.

Lee Dorman, the bassist for psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly, died on December 22, 2012 at age 70. Douglas Lee Dorman was born in September 15, 1942 and had been living in Laguna Nigel, a coastal city in Southern California, when he died.

Iron Butterfly was formed and rose to prominence in the late 1960s. Its second album, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," sold more than 30 million copies, according to the band's website. The title track's distinctive notes have been featured in numerous films and TV shows including "The Simpsons," "That `70s Show" and in the series finale of "Rescue Me."

Dorman was found dead in a vehicle. Foul play was not suspected. He has suffered from heart problems for some time and has ended his music career.  Dorman may have been on his way to a doctor's appointment when he died.

Lee was a producer, song writer and arranger. For over 30 years, Dorman had been the driving force of Iron Butterfly. He discovered the rock groups Blues Image (of "Ride, Captain, Ride" fame) and Black Oak Arkansas and successfully engineered recording contracts for both bands on the ATCO label (a subsidiary of Atlantic Records). He also co-produced the first Black Oak album, called Black Oak Arkansas. After touring with Iron Butterfly for 7 years, he created the progressive rock band Captain Beyond.

Known for being ahead of its time with its jazz-rock influences in multi-time signatures, the group today, still has a cult following throughout the world and even has three "unofficial" websites ... one of which is Japanese. Lee, who has had a major influence on bass players for the past 30 years, has also produced, written and arranged the music for a Harley Davidson promotional video. He had been working on his autobiography, a cookbook, and involved with the VH1 production "Where Are They Now?" segment on Iron Butterfly, and co-producing Iron Butterfly's Spring 1997 European Tour Video, to be released in the near future.

 

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For more on Iron Butterfly, visit their Website at -

http://www.ironbutterfly.com/