It's a Beautiful Day (album)

The cover, designed by George Hunter and painted by Kent Hollister, was based on the 1912 painting Woman on the Top of a Mountain by Charles Courtney Curran. The design used an old version of the Columbia Records logo because George Hunter believed it fit better with the feel of the rest of the cover.{{cite book|title=100 Best Album Covers|last1=Thorgerson |first1=Storm |author-link1=Storm Thorgerson |last2=Powell |author-link2=Aubrey Powell (designer) |first2=Aubrey|publisher=Dorling Kindersley |year=1999|isbn=0-7513-0706-8|pages=84}}{{cite web|url=http://homeliving.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/fitness-at-home.html|title=Fitness at Home|website=homeliving.blogspot.co.uk|date=12 August 2012 |access-date=18 October 2017}} The album cover is number 24 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 greatest album covers.

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 a Seattle venue originally known as The Encore Ballroom. The band's manager, Matthew Katz, had recently assumed control over the club and renamed it "San Francisco Sound". 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.{{Cite news|url=http://pnwbands.com/itsabeautifulday.html|title=It's A Beautiful Day|publisher=pnwbands.com|access-date=2009-09-07}}

A substantial part of the theme and arrangement of the song "Bombay Calling" was used by Deep Purple as the basis for their song "Child in Time".{{cite web|url=http://deep-purple.net/Review-files/asia2002/mumbai-gillan-interview.htm|title=Deep Purple. Ian Gillan interview, Mumbai 2002|author=Deep Purple Appreciation Society|website=deep-purple.net|access-date=18 October 2017}}

Lindsay Planer at AllMusic, gave the album four stars out of five, writing:{{quote| It's a Beautiful Day were no less memorable for their unique progressive rock style that contrasted well with the Bay Area psychedelic scene...It's a Beautiful Day remains as a timepiece and evidence of how sophisticated rock & roll had become in the fertile environs of the San Francisco music scene.}}

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. The song was also featured in the 2015 movie Focus with Will Smith. The album cover is used in Naoki Urasawa's 2018 one-shot manga "It's a Beautiful Day".

{{tracklist

| headline = Side one

| extra_column = Writer(s)

| title1 = White Bird

| extra1 = David & Linda LaFlamme

| length1 = 6:06

| title2 = Hot Summer Day

| extra2 = D. & L. LaFlamme

| length2 = 5:46

| title3 = Wasted Union Blues

| extra3 = D. LaFlamme

| length3 = 4:00

| title4 = Girl With No Eyes

| extra4 = D. & L. LaFlamme

| length4 = 3:49

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = Side two

| extra_column = Writer(s)

| title5 = Bombay Calling

| length5 = 4:25

| extra5 = Vince Wallace & D. LaFlamme

| title6 = Bulgaria

| extra6 = D. LaFlamme

| length6 = 6:10

| title7 = Time Is

| extra7 = D. LaFlamme

| length7 = 9:42

}}

• David LaFlamme – lead vocals, violin
• Linda LaFlamme – organ, piano, electric piano, celeste, harpsichord
• Hal Wagenet – guitar
• Mitchell Holman – bass
• Val Fuentes – drums
• Pattie Santos – vocals, tambourine, bells, block, gourd

• Bruce Steinberg – harmonica (track 2)

• David LaFlamme – producer
• Brian Ross-Myring – engineer
• Col. John Walker, U.S.M.C. (Ret.) – manager
• Globe Propaganda – cover art
• Bruce Steinberg – photography

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|award=Gold|type=album|artist=It's a Beautiful Day|title=It's a Beautiful Day|accessdate=24 October 2023|relyear=1969|certyear=1972}}

{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|title=A Brief History of Album Covers|first=Jason|last=Draper|publisher=Flame Tree Publishing|location=London|year=2008|pages=68–69|isbn=9781847862112|oclc=227198538}}

• {{cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/Its-A-Beautiful-Day-Its-A-Beautiful-Day/release/929554 |title=It's A Beautiful Day — It's A Beautiful Day (LP) at Discogs |year=1969 |publisher=www.discogs.com |access-date=2010-02-28 }}
• {{MusicBrainz release group|id=80a35034-1779-3a40-85a9-af7d9acc5cd0}}

{{Authority control}}

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Category:1969 debut albums

Category:It's a Beautiful Day albums

Category:CBS Records albums