Erik Brann
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Erik Brann aka Erik Braunn (born 1951 - died July 31, 2003), American musician, was a guitarist with the 1960s heavy metal band Iron Butterfly. He is featured on the band's greatest (and indeed only) hit, the legendary 17-minute masterpiece In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968), recorded when he was just 17.
A Boston, Massachusetts native and a brilliant violinist, Brann was accepted as a child into the prodigy program at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, but was soon lured away to become a rock guitarist, joining Iron Butterfly at 16. He played with Ron Bushy, Lee Dorman and Doug Ingle from 1967 to 1969. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida sold over 20 million copies, went platinum and stayed on Billboard magazine's charts for over a year. With arrangement assistance from Lee Dorman, Brann wrote the song "Termination," which was featured on the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida album.
After 1969 Brann disappeared from view, apparently an ex-rock star at 20. In 1974, he reunited with Ron Bushy to form a new version of Iron Butterfly. The 1975 LP "Scorching Beauty" featured Brann on lead guitar and vocals, Bushy on drums, Philip Taylor Kramer on bass and Howard Reitzes on keyboards. A year later, the band released "Sun and Steel" early 1976 with Bill DeMartines replacing Reitzes on keyboards. Neither album sold well, and the band disbanded shortly afterward (around summer 1977).
Brann occasionally reunited with Iron Butterfly for concerts, and had just released a solo album a few weeks before, when he died of a heart attack in 2003.
