Heavy (Iron Butterfly album)

Heavy
Studio album by Iron Butterfly
Released	January 22, 1968
Recorded	October 1967
Genre	Psychedelic rock, blues rock, acid rock
Length	30:45
Label	Atco
Producer	Charles Greene; Brian Stone
Iron Butterfly chronology
Heavy (1968) In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968)

Heavy is the debut studio album by the rock band Iron Butterfly, released in early 1968. Most of the songs are strikingly simple, based on two or three riffs. The lyrics are also simple; with the exceptions of "Unconscious Power" and "Gentle as it May Seem", each song has but a single verse of eight lines or less, repeated in whole or in part as needed.

The first two tracks, "Possession" and "Unconscious Power", were released as the respective sides of a single.

Three of the group's members (Jerry Penrod, Darryl DeLoach and Danny Weis) left the band shortly after the album was recorded, leaving Ingle and Bushy to find replacements. Despite being a debut album with no hit single to provide an entry point for the casual listener, Heavy was a commercial success, reaching #78 on the Billboard Charts and eventually going Gold in the US.

Contrary to rumor, tambourine player Darryl DeLoach contributed lead vocals to only a few songs on Heavy. As with all of Iron Butterfly's albums prior to Scorching Beauty, most of the lead vocals are by Doug Ingle.

Cover art

The album's artwork depicts the band members playing their instruments beside a large monument of a human ear. It was designed by Armando Busich (artwork) and Joe Ravetz (photography).

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated Heavy three-and-a-half out of five stars. He stated that "most of the album was not particularly well written" but that "the band's overwhelmingly loud sonic attack occasionally made up for the weakness in the material."

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Lead Vocals	Length
1.	"Possession"	Doug Ingle	Doug Ingle	Ingle	2:45
2.	"Unconscious Power"	Ron Bushy	Ingle, Danny Weis	Ingle	2:32
3.	"Get Out of My Life, Woman"	Allen Toussaint	Allen Toussaint	Ingle	3:58
4.	"Gentle As It May Seem"	Darryl DeLoach	Weis	DeLoach	2:25
5.	"You Can't Win"	DeLoach	Weis	Ingle	2:41

Side two
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Lead Vocals	Length
1.	"So-Lo"	DeLoach	Ingle	DeLoach	4:05
2.	"Look for the Sun"	DeLoach	Ingle, Weis	Penrod, DeLoach, Ingle	2:14
3.	"Fields of Sun"	DeLoach	Ingle	Ingle	3:12
4.	"Stamped Ideas"	DeLoach	Ingle	DeLoach	2:08
5.	"Iron Butterfly Theme"	none	Ingle	none	4:34

Singles

US singles

• "Unconscious Power" b/w "Possession"
• "Iron Butterfly Theme", "Possession" b/w "Get Out of My Life, Woman", "Unconscious Power" (Radio EP)

International singles

• "Iron Butterfly Theme" b/w "So-Lo"

Personnel

• Doug Ingle - organ, vocals
• Ron Bushy - drums
• Jerry Penrod - bass guitar, vocals
• Darryl DeLoach - tambourine, vocals
• Danny Weis - guitar