speed of dark

I have mentioned previously (in regards to Joan Wasser's recent recordings and her former band the Dambuilders) that I enjoy hearing violin used as a lead instrument. The first example of this in my experience was It's A Beautiful Day, a band that was formed in San Francisco in 1967 by virtuoso violinist David LaFlamme, sharing vocals with Patti Santos.

In my early years of college, their first album was high on the list of must-have records, along with Santana's first album and Led Zeppelin's debut. It's A Beautiful Day had the double charm of being both truly gorgeous and different, bringing folk-style vocals into an orchestral/psychedelic/jazz setting.

The Maxwell Parrish-style cover further served to set it above the crowd. The male-female vocal combo was common in folk music (Husband cites Ian and Sylvia) but much less so in the male-dominated rock of the day. And no one else was doing psychedelic violin jams.

The song, "White Bird," was so expressive of the desire for freedom from repression and outdated values that infused the hippie spirit of those times.

From It's A Beautiful Day (1969):
White Bird
Girl With No Eyes

Sadly, their first album was a bit of a one-hit wonder. The original line-up of It's A Beautiful Day included LaFlamme's first wife, Linda on keyboards. They divorced shortly after the release of this album. Except for Linda, the band was still basically intact for the second album, Marrying Maiden, but the sound started to shift away from the rock/jazz vein toward a more honky-tonk and country-influenced sound, possibly due to the contributions of Jerry Garcia to this album.

The instrumental that kicks off Marrying Maiden, still carries a lot of the old sound. The title is a tribute to Don Harris and Dewey Terry, an R&B duo from Pasadena, CA.

Don and Dewey from Marrying Maiden (1970)

By the time that Choice Quality Stuff was released in 1971, legal battles and disagreements in the musical direction of the band were starting to take a toll that would eventually lead to David LaFlamme leaving the band in 1973. Side one of this LP and side two are recorded by different line-ups, one of which included several members of Santana. These tracks are both from side one, which is the old band line-up.

From Choice Quality Stuff (1971):
Bye Bye Baby
No Word For Glad

Today, which was released in 2003, found David LaFlamme out of his own band and only Patti Santos and drummer Val Fuentes remaining from the original group. LaFlamme reunited the group in 1997 with Fuentes, but Santos had been killed in a car accident in 1989. Still, the later recordings display some of the beauty and grandeur of the original band.

David LaFlamme played on Tracy Chapman's debut album (1988), and he has appeared on television shows Frasier, Ellen, and Wings as a strolling violinist who stands right at the table in a restaurant, playing loudly or annoyingly.

I recorded these tracks from my vinyl LPs, and I do not feel that the quality is as excellent as the music demands. I offer them as samples only, and I hope that if you enjoy them you will purchase finer-quality versions from any of the links below. In addition to these songs, I recommend sampling It's A Beautiful Day at Carnegie Hall (1972), Creed of Love (live at the Fillmore, 1971), and Live In Seattle (2003).

Official Website | David LaFlamme

Buy: Downloadable albums | Its About Music | Amazon | eMusic

References: JW's Rock Garden | Prog Archives | Wikipedia | Chaz Reviews
Photos and description of It's a Beautiful Day in concert at Bath (1970)