Dead Flowers Pressed Between Pages of Tennyson

This phrase, or something close to it, appeared in a Rolling Stone review of the first album by the band It's A Beautiful Day. As important as Rolling Stone was way back in 1969, that disparaging review didn't seem to hurt record sales. In the crowd I moved in, this album was a constant presence. The cover art was simply impossible to forget. And the song White Bird was everywhere on FM radio, with good reason.

1969

I was living in England when the band appeared at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music in 1970. One of the English music papers ran a photo of the band's singer Pattie Santos onstage. Her dark beauty, the presence of a Latina in a rock band and Santana's performance at the same event made me wonder what the hell was going on in California.  

What happened to It's A Beautiful Day? It's a sad story. After losing a lawsuit brought by their former band manager, in 1973 they were forbidden to perform under the name It's A Beautiful Day and ordered to pay their former manager over $188,000. The band broke up in 1974. Read more about that here.  

Santos was killed in a car crash in  in 1989. She wasn't wearing a seat belt. But I'm still listening to White Bird.  It's a terrific song that holds up well, even after 45 years.  

Healdsburg (CA) Tribune, December 20, 1989

It's a Beautiful Day reformed in 2000, led by original vocalist/violinist David LaFlamme. They continue to tour.