In the Garden of Eden now ...
https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/may/27/doug-ingle-frontman-of-rock-band-iron-butterfly-dies-aged-78(Yup, that is then-Hefner-squeeze and later
Ain't That Just The Way-singer Ms Barbi Benton dancing
in a purple babydoll outfit upfront.)
They were proto-heavy rock and I doubt Deep Purple would have been the same without them.
From Wikipedia:
"
In the late fall of 1978, a German promoter made an offer for the band to tour. The Metamorphosis lineup (Ingle, Bushy, Dorman, Pinera and Rhino) made preparations, but just before they were to depart for Germany, Dorman's father took ill and another bassist, Keith Ellis (formerly of Boxer), was brought in to cover for Dorman in case he had to suddenly return to the US. During the tour, Ellis died in Darmstadt, Germany on December 12, 1978."
I saw them that exact night in Darmstadt: Dorman played bass on a few songs (largely vintage Iron Butterfly, they played those songs well), so did Ellis who had an AOR-type side project with Rhino going which also presented its newer songs (sounding more like Foreigner or Journey than Iron Butterfly, the two styles from different eras jarred somewhat and Ellis came close to upstaging Dorman). Ellis didn't look, play or sing like he had any issues, but he died that night after the gig - the German papers at the time said it was drug-related.
