Douglas Lee Dorman (September 15, 1942 – December 21, 2012) was an American bass guitarist best known as a member of the psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly. He was also a founding member of the British-American supergroup Captain Beyond.
Career
Iron Butterfly
The first album from this lineup, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, sold over 30 million copies, was awarded the first platinum award and stayed on the Billboard magazine charts for nearly three years. With arrangement assistance from Dorman, Brann wrote the song "Termination," which was featured on the album.
They are best known for the 1968 hit "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", providing a dramatic sound that led the way towards the development of hard rock and heavy metal music. The song, originally written by Ingle as "In the Garden of Eden" but as a result of singing the first draft whilst intoxicated was misheard by Bushy as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", went to number thirty on the Billboard Hot 100, and charted highest in the Netherlands, where it went to number seven.[1][2]
Dorman had four stints with the group; 1967 to 1971, 1977 to 1978, 1978 to 1985, and from 1987 until his death in 2012. He was the longest serving member of the original foursome, and the longest serving of all the past and present members of Iron Butterfly.
The band was plagued from its inception with significant problems, including lawsuits involving Evans, Reinhardt and Dorman with their former bands, and a dispute over musical style with their record label, Capricorn Records
Dorman died of natural causes in his car in Laguna Niguel, California on December 21, 2012.[6] He was the second member of the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida lineup to die, being preceded by Erik Brann in 2003, and succeeded by Ron Bushy in 2021, and Doug Ingle in 2024.
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