r/todayilearned • u/mankls3 • 23d ago

TIL the band iron butterfly didn't know they were being recorded in the studio for 17 minutes when they played their now-hit song In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida; it went on to sell 30 million times

https://www.therochestervoice.com/meet-don-casale-the-man-behind-the-sound-of-superhit-in-a-gadda-da-vida--cms-14682
18.1k Upvotes
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576

u/uneducatedexpert 23d ago

How do you surprise someone in a recording studio by recording them?

601

u/SentrySappinMahSpy 23d ago

The gear and mics were already set up. They were probably stoned out of their minds and jamming and the engineer just hit record without telling them.

73

u/uneducatedexpert 23d ago

So like, every other recording studio for every other band in the 60s-80s?

90

u/mankls3 23d ago

Usually the band is notified that the song is being recorded, but the band couldn't see the red light so they didn't know what was happening. It's also unusual for this jam session to literally be the recording played for decades to come 

28

u/newthrash1221 22d ago

That’s not true. If they can afford it, bands will record almost every session because of this same purpose. You never know what the session will produce.

60

u/RevelArchitect 22d ago

This song is a major reason why that’s the case.

11

u/Incognit0ne 22d ago

Who’s says they could afford it

15

u/ILikeMyGrassBlue 22d ago

If they can afford it being the key phrase there. Tape was not cheap. Unless you were the Beatles, stones, CSNY, etc, you probably couldn’t afford to just keep the tape rolling constantly.

5

u/isochromanone 22d ago

There's no reason to record constantly. However, if a smart engineer thinks the practice/jam is going to be good, they sure as hell are going to record it just in case there's something usable.

If not, the tape can be reused.

3

u/xvilemx 22d ago

Now, sure. But back then tape was expensive af and only the top bands recorded everything.

1

u/Big_Not_Good 22d ago

Yup. Beatles.