URBAN ASPIRINES: It' s A Beautiful Day 1969

Friday, October 27, 2017

It' s A Beautiful Day 1969

It's a Beautiful Day is an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1967, featuring vocalist Pattie Santos along with violinist David LaFlamme and his wife, Linda LaFlamme, on keyboards.

David LaFlamme, who as a youth had formerly once performed as a soloist with the Utah Symphony Orchestra, had previously been in the group Orkustra playing five-string violin. The other members of It's a Beautiful Day in its early years were 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 1967's social phenomenon Summer of Love, the band never quite achieved the success of contemporaries such as Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Santana,

The band's signature song "White Bird" was inspired by the experiences David and Linda LaFlamme had while living in Seattle.

The band's debut album, It's a Beautiful Day, was produced by David LaFlamme in Los Angeles, California, and released by Columbia Records in 1969. It features tracks such as "White Bird", "Hot Summer Day", and "Time Is". The album reached number 47 in the U.S. charts and number 58 in the UK. The theme from the song "Bombay Calling" was later used, at a slower tempo, by Deep Purple as the intro to "Child in Time" on its Deep Purple in Rock album.

The vocals and violin playing of David LaFlamme plus Santos's singing attracted FM radio play attention, and nationally, "White Bird" bubbled under Billboard's Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 118.

The band was almost invited to play at Woodstock. When Michael Lang was negotiating with Bill Graham to get the Grateful Dead to appear, Graham insisted Lang put one of two acts that he managed on the bill. Lang then listened to a tape of both It's a Beautiful Day and the other band and liked them so much that he couldn't decide so he flipped a coin and It's a Beautiful Day lost. The band that won was Santana, who became stars overnight.

Although they are not one of the better-known San Francisco bands to have emerged from the ballroom circuit of the late '60s and early '70s, It's a Beautiful Day were no less memorable for their unique progressive rock style that contrasted well with the Bay Area psychedelic scene. Led by David LaFlamme (flute/violin/vocals) and his wife, Linda LaFlamme (keyboards), the six-piece unit on this album vacillates between light and ethereal pieces such as the lead-off cut, "White Bird," to the heavier, prog rock-influenced "Bombay Calling"

It's a Beautiful Day remains as a timepiece and evidence of how sophisticated rock & roll had become in the fertile environs of the San Francisco music scene.

ΤRACKS

A1. White Bird (Written-By – David Laflamme, Linda Laflamme) 6:06

A2. Hot Summer Day (Written-By – David Laflamme, Linda Laflamme0 5:46

A3. Wasted Union Blues (Written-By – David Laflamme) 4:00

A4. Girl With No Eyes (Written-By – David Laflamme, Linda Laflamme) 3:49

B1. Bombay Calling (Written-By – David Laflamme, Vince Wallace) 4:25

B2. Bulgaria (Written-By – David Laflamme) 6:10

B3. Time Is (Written-By – David Laflamme) 9:42

Drums – Val Fuentes

Guitar – Hal Wagenet

Harmonica – Bruce Steinberg (tracks: A2)

Violin, Vocals – David Laflamme

Vocals, Tambourine, Bells, Percussion [Block, Gourd] – Pattie Santos

Val Fuentes – drums (1967–1974, 1997–present)

Linda Baker LaFlamme (aka Dominique Dellacroix) – vocals (1974, 1997–present)

Pattie Santos – vocals, percussion (1967–1974; died 1989)

Mitchell Holman – bass (1967–1971 plus several reunions)

Bud Cockrell – bass (1973; died 2010)

Greg Bloch – violin, mandolin (1974; died 1987)

Ralph Benkus – drums (1973 -1975)

Rob Espinosa - guitar & vocals (2000-2014)

Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Santana, with whom they had connections. The band created a unique blend of rock, jazz, folk, classical, and world-beat styles during the initial seven years it was officially together.