It’s a Beautiful Day

IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY
 
 
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, a former soloist with the Utah Symphony Orchestra, had previously been in the band Orkustra, and unusually, played a five-string violin.  They were one of the earliest and most important San Francisco bands to emerge from 1967’s social phenomenon Summer of Love; and the band created a unique blend of rock, jazz, folk, classical and world beat styles during the initial seven years it was officially together.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 

I have had the idea for a “might-have-been” post about rock and roll for most of the year; this is a mistake that I will not make again, I assure you!  I had no conception that the post would be this gargantuan when I started out, and this is likely due in no small part to having thought it through for several months.  There are several other examples that I had intended to include – the troubled life of the original frontman for Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett, and the San Francisco psychedelic band It’s a Beautiful Day that had a gorgeous hit in 1969, “White Bird” – plus others that have no doubt slipped my mind.  In the future, when I have a lot to say about a particular rocker, I will take them one at a time – as I did with the long discussion on Link Wray’s classic instrumental “Rumble” in the UARB post on Link Protrudi & the Jaymen.  

 

(June 2013/2)

 

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Writing for Allmusic, Dean McFarlane says of the album:  “From the opening cut, it is fairly apparent why the original album is so sought after – Magic Lantern is as fine a display of American psychedelia as late-’60s albums by It’s a Beautiful Day and Jefferson Airplane.  This will appeal to fans of the fuzzed-out guitar antics of Cream and Blue Cheer.”  There is also a long article in the “Biography” section in Allmusic (this time by Stanton Swihart) about Haymarket Square.  The band name is taken from a place in Chicago where a famous labor riot took place in 1886. 
 
(June 2015)