It's a Beautiful Day (album)
| It's a Beautiful Day | ||||
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| Studio album by It's a Beautiful Day | ||||
| Released | 1969 | |||
| Genre | Psychedelic Rock | |||
| Length | 40:42 | |||
| Label | CBS | |||
| Producer | Matthew Katz, David LaFlamme | |||
| It's a Beautiful Day chronology | ||||
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
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. The theme from the song "Bombay Calling" was used by Deep Purple as the intro to their song Child in Time.[2]
Contents |
[edit] The cover
The cover was designed by George Hunter and painted by Kent Hollister based on the cover of a housekeeping magazine from around 1900.[3] The cover used an old version of the Columbia logo that George Hunter felt was fitted with the feel of the rest of the cover.[3] The album cover is number 24 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 greatest album covers.
[edit] The Music
The group's signature song "White Bird" was inspired by the experiences David and Linda LaFlamme had while living in Seattle, Washington. For a few weeks in December 1967 the group members lived in the attic of an old house while playing and rehearsing at Seattle's Encore Ballroom. In an ironic twist on the band's name, the song was partly inspired by Seattle's rainy winter weather. In a later interview David LaFlamme said:
Where the 'white bird' thing came from ... We were like caged birds in that attic. We had no money, no transportation, the weather was miserable. We were just barely getting by on a very small food allowance provided to us. It was quite an experience, but it was very creative in a way.[4]
[edit] Popular culture
The song "White Bird" is used in three episodes of the 1980s television series Knight Rider. It is the theme song for the relationship between main character Michael Knight and his one true love, and appears in the episodes "White Bird" in season 1, "Let It Be Me" in season 2 and " The Scent of Roses" in season 4.
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Side one
- "White Bird" (6:06)
- "Hot Summer Day" (5:46)
- "Wasted Union Blues" (4:00)
- "Girl With No Eyes" (3:49)
[edit] Side two
- "Bombay Calling" (4:25)
- "Bulgaria" (6:10)
- "Time Is" (9:42)
1,2,4 by David LaFlamme and Linda LaFlamme. 3,6,7 by David LaFlamme. 5 by Vince Wallace and David LaFlamme.
[edit] Personnel
- David LaFlamme – violin, flute, lead vocals
- Linda LaFlamme – acoustic piano, electric piano, organ, celeste, harpsichord
- Hal Wagenet – guitars
- Mitchell Holman – bass, harmonica, backing vocals
- Val Fuentes – drums, backing vocals
- Pattie Santos – percussion, bells, backing vocals
- With-Bruce Steinberg – harmonica
[edit] References
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Ian Gillan interview
- ^ a b Thorgerson, Storm; Powell ,Aubrey (1999). 100 Best Album Covers. Dorling Kindersley. pp. 84. ISBN 0751307068.
- ^ "It's A Beautiful Day". pnwbands.com. http://pnwbands.com/itsabeautifulday.html. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
[edit] External links
- "It's A Beautiful Day — It's A Beautiful Day (LP) at Discogs". www.discogs.com. http://www.discogs.com/Its-A-Beautiful-Day-Its-A-Beautiful-Day/release/929554. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
