In this post I will present a band from the '60's which for many reasons never tasted the success it deserved. They were called 'It's a Beautiful Day' and this is their story in short...
They were formed in San Fransisco on 1967 during the 'Summer of Love'. Although they were at the right place at the right time, they were never able to gain the fame and success of other bands of San Fransisco, like Jefferson Airplane Grateful Dead etc. Their first big mistake was that they signed a contract with Mathew Katz, (the manager of Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape), not knowing that both bands were already trying to get rid of him.
During 1967 and early 1968 Katz prevented IABD from performing live in the S.Fransisco area, saying that they are not ready. Instead, he brought them to Seattle and made them perform in a club he owned. So they found themselves in the rainy Seattle, playing for very small audiences, and living altogether in a small attic of an old house again owned by Katz. The band's most famous song 'White Bird' was inspired by their life in this attic, and the miserable life they were living in Seattle.
Around mid 1968 they returned to San Fransisco, completely broke and desperate. They started performing live gigs in secret from Katz in small clubs, and they started to gain some publicity.
Their big break was when they were offered to open for Cream on October 1968. All this time they were trying to finish their contract with their manager.
The next year (1969), they released their debut album named after the band. (It's an excellent record!)
It contains 7 songs, and most of them are top class. Their 'hit song' 'White Bird' is opening the A-side of the record, while the song 'Bombay calling' opens the B-side. 'Bombay calling' is an instrumental piece, and its main music theme was used by Deep Purple on 'Child in Time'. In return, Deep Purple gave their song 'Wring that neck' to IABD, and it has been included in their second record under the name 'Don and Dewey'.
Their 1st album reached at No.47 in USA, and remained at the top 200 for 70 weeks, while in UK reached No.58.
After 1970 the band started to change many of its members frequently, and that affected their sound and style. The band's 2nd record 'Marrying Maiden' (1970) entered again the charts (No.28 in USA and No.45 in UK), but it's not even close to the quality of their first one. (In this record Gery Garcia from the Grateful Dead is participating as a guest musician).
The band will continue to change members and release a few more records before they disbanded in 1976.
In the following years they made a few reunions for special occasions and some concerts.
I strongly recommend their first record to everyone who likes Rock music, but if you want something more than this, try 'Marrying Maiden' and 'Today'...
In the following videos you can listen to 'White Bird' and 'Bombay Calling' to get an idea about the band...
They were formed in San Fransisco on 1967 during the 'Summer of Love'. Although they were at the right place at the right time, they were never able to gain the fame and success of other bands of San Fransisco, like Jefferson Airplane Grateful Dead etc. Their first big mistake was that they signed a contract with Mathew Katz, (the manager of Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape), not knowing that both bands were already trying to get rid of him.During 1967 and early 1968 Katz prevented IABD from performing live in the S.Fransisco area, saying that they are not ready. Instead, he brought them to Seattle and made them perform in a club he owned. So they found themselves in the rainy Seattle, playing for very small audiences, and living altogether in a small attic of an old house again owned by Katz. The band's most famous song 'White Bird' was inspired by their life in this attic, and the miserable life they were living in Seattle.
Around mid 1968 they returned to San Fransisco, completely broke and desperate. They started performing live gigs in secret from Katz in small clubs, and they started to gain some publicity.
The next year (1969), they released their debut album named after the band. (It's an excellent record!)
It contains 7 songs, and most of them are top class. Their 'hit song' 'White Bird' is opening the A-side of the record, while the song 'Bombay calling' opens the B-side. 'Bombay calling' is an instrumental piece, and its main music theme was used by Deep Purple on 'Child in Time'. In return, Deep Purple gave their song 'Wring that neck' to IABD, and it has been included in their second record under the name 'Don and Dewey'.
Their 1st album reached at No.47 in USA, and remained at the top 200 for 70 weeks, while in UK reached No.58.
After 1970 the band started to change many of its members frequently, and that affected their sound and style. The band's 2nd record 'Marrying Maiden' (1970) entered again the charts (No.28 in USA and No.45 in UK), but it's not even close to the quality of their first one. (In this record Gery Garcia from the Grateful Dead is participating as a guest musician).
The band will continue to change members and release a few more records before they disbanded in 1976.
In the following years they made a few reunions for special occasions and some concerts.
I strongly recommend their first record to everyone who likes Rock music, but if you want something more than this, try 'Marrying Maiden' and 'Today'...
In the following videos you can listen to 'White Bird' and 'Bombay Calling' to get an idea about the band...
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