Friday, January 9, 2009

It's A Beautiful Day-It's A Beautiful Day



Info By Wiki:
LaFlamme, a former soloist with the Utah Symphony Orchestra, had previously been in the band Orkustra, and unusually, played a five-string violin. The other members were his wife Linda (keyboards), Pattie Santos (vocals), Hal Wagenet (guitar), Mitchell Holman (bass) and Val Fuentes (drums). Although they were one of the earliest and most important San Francisco bands to emerge from the Summer of Love, It’s a Beautiful Day never quite achieved the success of their contemporaries such as The Grateful Dead and Santana, with whom they had connections. It’s A Beautiful Day created a unique blend of rock, jazz, folk, classical and world beat styles during the seven years the band was officially together.

The band's debut album, It's a Beautiful Day, released in 1969, featured the tracks "White Bird", "Hot Summer Day", "Time Is" and "Bombay Calling". The intro of the latter was used, at a slower tempo, by Deep Purple as the intro to "Child in Time" on its In Rock album.The vocals and violin playing of David LaFlamme plus Pattie Santos' singing attracted attention including FM radio play, and nationally, "White Bird" bubbled under Billboard's Hot 100 chart, peaking at #118.

By 1970 the original lineup of the band had changed somewhat; the LaFlammes had split up and Linda left the band, replaced by Fred Webb. The following album, Marrying Maiden, released in 1970, included memorable tracks and was also a chart hit. In that year, the group also performed at the Holland Pop Festival at the Kralingse Bos in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and at the UK Bath Festival.

The band continued on to record Choice Quality Stuff/Anytime in 1971 and the live album Live At Carnegie Hall in 1972, touring until 1974 when they split up. In 1976, LaFlamme's solo version of "White Bird" finally cracked the Hot 100 Chart, peaking at #89. Pattie Santos was killed in a car crash on December 14, 1989.

It's a Beautiful Day reunited in 1997 under the name "David LaFlamme Band" for a new recording label. The band still features founder David LaFlamme and original drummer Val Fuentes. Other band members are LaFlamme's current wife, Linda Baker LaFlamme (vocals), Toby Gray (basses), Gary Thomas (keyboards), Rob Espinosa (guitars), Michael Prichard (percussion). They completed a string of shows in 2005 and 2006 and toured with Jefferson Starship in 2007, and LaFlamme contributed to Jefferson Starship's 2008 release, Jefferson's Tree of Liberty.

A version of "White Bird" by violinist Vanessa-Mae was released in 2001 and reached number 66 in the UK Singles Chart.

It's a Beautiful Day is the self-titled debut album by San Francisco psychedelic band It's a Beautiful Day. This album's song "White Bird" was the band's biggest hit

It's A Beautiful Day-It's A Beautiful Day @320

1 White Bird
2 Hot Summer Day
3 Wasted Union Blues
4 Girl With No Eyes
5 Bombay Calling
6 Bulgaria
7 Time Is


Here: sharebee.com/54396a50

White Bird(Live)


Bombay Calling (Live 1978)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The kind of music to drink wine and listen to on a summer evening.. Classic even at this time of year. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I am old enough to remember this IABD debut lp as a new release.

But you know what, after 40 years it still sounds inovative, and these are great songs!

Check it out!