* En anglais uniquement
San Francisco psychedelic folk-rock unit
It's a Beautiful Day was primarily the vehicle of virtuoso violinist
David LaFlamme, born April 5, 1941 in New Britain, Connecticut but raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. After beginning his musical education at age five,
LaFlamme later served as a soloist with the Utah Symphony, following an army stint by settling in the Bay Area in 1962. There he immersed himself in the local underground music scene, jamming alongside the likes of
Jerry Garcia and
Janis Joplin; after his short-lived Electric Chamber Orchestra splintered,
LaFlamme also co-founded an early incarnation of
Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks before assembling
It's a Beautiful Day in mid-1967. The group -- which originally included
LaFlamme's keyboardist wife Linda, vocalist Pattie Santos, guitarist Hal Wagenet, bassist Mitchell Holman, and drummer Val Fuentes -- issued its self-titled debut LP on Columbia in 1969, scoring their biggest hit with the haunting FM radio staple "White Bird." Linda LaFlamme left
It's a Beautiful Day soon after, going on to form Titus' Mother; keyboardist Fred Webb signed on for the follow-up, 1970's Marrying Maiden, while
Holman exited prior to 1971's Choice Quality Stuff, recorded with new guitarist
Bill Gregory and bassist Tom Fowler. In 1973, ongoing disputes over royalties forced
LaFlamme out of the group he created, and upon installing new violinist
Greg Bloch, the remaining members issued It's a Beautiful Day...Today before dissolving in the wake of 1974's 1001 Nights.
LaFlamme mounted a solo career in 1977 with
White Bird, continuing his protracted legal tussle with ex-manager
Matthew Katz for years to follow; sadly, Pattie Santos died in a December 14, 1989 auto accident. ~ Jason Ankeny