Shamanzarek Posted August 12, 2023 Share Posted August 12, 2023 Singer/violinist/guitarist/producer of the late 60s/early 70s San Francisco band It's a Beautiful Day has passed away. He was one of the first to introduce the violin as a featured instrument in a rock band. Their recordings like "White Bird" often border on soft rock but they were a real jam band in live performance. Their jams were more structured than other San Francisco bands and always interesting. From the German Beat Club show in 1970 with David in a rare performance playing guitar. Tanglewood concert 1970. Quote Gibson G101, Fender Rhodes Piano Bass, Vox Continental, RMI Electra-Piano and Harpsichord 300A, Hammond M102A, Hohner Combo Pianet, OB8, Matrix 12, Jupiter 6, Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, CS70M, CP35, PX-5S, WK-3800, Stage 3 Compact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderton Posted August 13, 2023 Share Posted August 13, 2023 It certainly was unusual to put a violin so upfront back in those days. Then again, music was more experimental back in the 60s... I knew Hal Wagenet, their original guitar player, quite well when I lived in Northern California. I believe he played in several reunions of the band as well. Quote Craig Anderton Educational site: http://www.craiganderton.org Music: http://www.youtube.com/thecraiganderton Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/craig_anderton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamanzarek Posted August 25, 2023 Author Share Posted August 25, 2023 Over the years little has been heard from keyboardist Linda LaFlamme who was married to David from 1963-1969 and co-founded It's a Beautiful Day. Richie Unterberger tracked her down and interviewed her in October 2020. If you are a fan of It's a Beautiful Day and the 60's San Francisco music scene this may be of interest. https://pleasekillme.com/beautiful-day-linda-laflamme/ Quote Gibson G101, Fender Rhodes Piano Bass, Vox Continental, RMI Electra-Piano and Harpsichord 300A, Hammond M102A, Hohner Combo Pianet, OB8, Matrix 12, Jupiter 6, Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, CS70M, CP35, PX-5S, WK-3800, Stage 3 Compact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuruPrionz Posted August 25, 2023 Share Posted August 25, 2023 I saw them live in Fresno after White Bird climbed the charts. They were a great band, one of my favorite live bands. Rest In Peace David. Quote It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderton Posted August 25, 2023 Share Posted August 25, 2023 Hal Wagenet was It's a Beautiful Day's original guitar player. He lived in the next town over from me when I lived in California, and we hung out quite a bit. He's still alive and well, and there's a short interview online that he did about the early days of the band. Quote Craig Anderton Educational site: http://www.craiganderton.org Music: http://www.youtube.com/thecraiganderton Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/craig_anderton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 I had the good fortune to open for him in the late 1970s. I believe he was just going by "LaFlamme"... issues with the rights to the name It's A Beautiful Day. Awesome guy and fantastic band. At the time they were promoting the single "My Life" - which had the extreme bad luck of coming out about the same time as Billy Joel's iconic song of the same name. Honestly I prefer LaFlamme's take on it - a fantastic track for the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamanzarek Posted August 27, 2023 Author Share Posted August 27, 2023 It's a Beautiful Day played in my home town of Salem, Oregon around 1971. I can't remember why I didn't go as I was a fan of the band at the time. My brother did go and waited outside the venue to meet Mitchell Holman. My brother played bass guitar at the time and had a 1957 P Bass that he took along to show to Mitchell. Mitchell offered to trade his bass for it but my brother didn't take him up on the offer. I did get to see them in Portland a bit later but by then Hal and Mitchell had left the band. Their replacements were Bill Gregory and Tom Fowler on guitar and bass respectively. The band seemed to be moving in a harder rock direction. I still liked them but I preferred the more melancholy sound of the earlier line-up. Several years I ago I purchased several autographed CDs that David was selling on eBay. I remember an interview where Justin Hayward was asked if there was any band he would like to play with other than the Moody Blues. He said they had done tour with It's a Beautiful Day and that they were so great that he wished he could have played in the band. Quote Gibson G101, Fender Rhodes Piano Bass, Vox Continental, RMI Electra-Piano and Harpsichord 300A, Hammond M102A, Hohner Combo Pianet, OB8, Matrix 12, Jupiter 6, Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, CS70M, CP35, PX-5S, WK-3800, Stage 3 Compact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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