Indeed, it was a beautiful day. But I want to talk for just a minute about the band It’s a Beautiful Day. Their first album, named, strangely enough, It’s a Beautiful Day, was one of my favorites. David LaFlamme and his five string violin, his wife Linda on keyboards, their passionate vocals, all combined to mesmerize me for hours on end. Or it might have been what I was smoking. But seriously, I wondered what happened to them.
I was reminded of them when I looked up at the sky tonight and saw the clouds and the moon and the stars in a pattern so very much like the cover of that album. So, when I got back in from walking the dog, I looked them up on that modern oracle, Wikipedia.
It seems they narrowly missed being at Woodstock. Michael Lang, the Woodstock promoter was negotiating with Paul Graham to get the Grateful Dead to play at Woodstock. Paul offered him two other bands, It’s a Beautiful Day and Santana. Michael liked them both but only had room on the bill for one. He flipped a coin and Santana won.
I wish things had gone differently for them. I would have liked to have heard more of their music. I didn’t seek out their later albums though. I do still love that first album though. White Bird, Hot Summer Day, and Bombay Calling are still near the top of my all time favorites.