Philip "Taylor" Kramer, bassist The mysterious disappearance of one-time Iron Butterfly bassist

Philip "Taylor" Kramer, 42, has come to a tragic conclusion with

the May 29, 1999, discovery by hikers of his 1993 Ford Aerostar

van at the bottom of a Malibu, Calif., ravine. Skeletal remains

found inside and near the vehicle were confirmed through dental

records to be those of Kramer. Kramer's Feb. 12, 1995, disappearance has been the subject of

numerous TV shows due both to his connection with Iron Butterfly

and his involvement with government projects, lending X-Fileslike

conspiracy overtones to his vanishing. Unfortunately, most reports

have given the mistaken impression that he was with Iron Butterfly

during the band's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" days when in fact he

was only with the band during a mid-70s re-formation. Most

glaring (and high profile) of these shows is a segment on VH-1's

Where Are They Now? which, while purporting to be on the band

as a whole, devoted more than three and a half minutes out of the

five-minute segment to the Kramer mystery, never once mentioning

that Lee Dorman was the main Butterfly bassist during their classic

years. This was done in spite of Dorman being both interviewed

and shown performing on stage during the VH-1 show. Kramer played in a number of bands in Ohio (including Max, with

future Dead Boy Stiv Bators) before moving to L.A. in the early

'70s. After working a number of odd jobs and even living on the

streets, he was asked to join an Iron Butterfly reunion by original

drummer and friend Ron Bushy, whom he'd been working with as

a prop builder at Warner Brothers Studios. Along with guitarist

Erik Braunn and keyboardist Howard Reitzes, they recorded

Scorching Beauty for MCA in 1974, followed by Sun And Steel

(with Bill DeMartines replacing Reitzes). Neither album was

particularly good, and while the band toured based on the strength

of the name (with Kramer singing "IAGDV"), the band folded in

1977. Kramer and Bushy formed a post-Butterfly group called

Gold and recorded an unreleased album during '78-'79. After that

stint Kramer quit the music business altogether. Kramer immersed himself in schooling, studying engineering and

getting a job building radar equipment. He graduated from night

school with straight A's and got a job at Northrup, working on the

design of the MX missile. At the time of his disappearance, he had

reportedly discovered a mathematical formula that would allow

matter to travel faster than the speed of light. His involvement in

projects of this nature have led to theories that he was abducted or

murdered. What is known is that on Feb. 12, 1995, having spent an hour

waiting at Los Angeles International Airport for a business contact

who never arrived, he called both his wife and Ron Bushy from his

cell phone in his car, leaving Bushy a cryptic message about seeing

him "...on the other side." According to newspaper reports,

Kramer also called 911 just before noon that day and said he was

going to commit suicide. Despite this, family members believe he

could have been the victim of foul play. Officials said that determining whether Kramer's death was a

suicide, murder or accident could take months.  Geof O'Keefe Skeletal remains may belong to missing rock musician May 31, 1999

Web posted at: 11:47 AM MALIBU, California (AP) -- Human remains found inside the wreckage of

a minivan that plunged down a 200-foot ravine may be those of a rock

musician missing since 1995, police said. The 1993 Ford Aerostar matches the description of a van driven by onetime

Iron Butterfly bass player Philip "Taylor" Kramer, who was believed to be

driving his van when he disappeared February 12, 1995. The remains were being examined by coroner's investigators Sunday,

authorities said. No identity has been released. A hiker in the ravine discovered the skeleton late Saturday but investigators

were not able to recover the vehicle until daylight, said Los Angeles County

Sheriff's Deputy Bruce Thomas. The ravine is located below a curving, two-lane road that is a popular

dumping ground for stolen cars, Thomas said. It is not yet clear whether the driver died when the car went off the side of

the road or whether foul play was involved. Kramer, who was 42 when he disappeared, was last seen leaving his

Thousand Oaks-area home to pick up a friend at Los Angeles International

Airport. He joined a re-formed Iron Butterfly in 1975 as a singer and bass player.

The band, best known for its 17-minute smash hit "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" in

1969, had several incarnations with various band members over the years. Kramer went on to work in aerospace and later became involved in

interactive media. At the time of his disappearance, he was chief technology

officer at Total Multimedia in suburban Newbury Park. After he disappeared, his wife, Jennifer, said her husband "would never, for

any reason or under any circumstances, allow himself to completely abandon

the family he loves more than life itself."