A somewhat forgotten song born more than 50 years ago in the San Francisco hippie music scene of the late 1960s – “White Bird” — has managed to have some new exposure in recent years. In 2015, for example, it was used in the film Focus, starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie. In 2017, it was also used in the premiere episode of the PBS-TV series, Prime Suspect: Tennison.
But this violin-infused song, along with its prominent vocals by a group known as ‘It’s A Beautiful Day,’ holds up quite well for any era, and has an optimistic if somewhat dreamy quality about it — but also a kind of determination. Some history on this song, sampled below in a YouTube clip, follows after the music (scroll down for lyrics).
David LaFlamme, a classically-trained musician, is the featured violinist on “White Bird,” also the leader and founder of the group, It’s A Beautiful Day. In 1967, the year of the San Francisco Summer of Love, when hippie “flower power” flourished, LaFlamme and his wife-to-be, Linda Rudman, a keyboardist, formed their group. It was a heady time for music then, as a number of singers and groups formed in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco, among them, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and others.
David LaFlamme, co-author of “White Bird” and founder of It's a Beautiful Day rock group, shown here in later undated photo.
Some years later, in 1962, he had come to San Francesco after a hitch in the Army, having spent some military leaves in the city. Then arriving with duffle bag, some Army clothes, and a “few bucks in my pocket,” he then began jamming with guitar and violin in parks and clubs with the likes of Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, and Country Joe and the Fish.
In 1963, David had met Linda Rudman and the two were married the following year. Soon thereafter, he became involved in some early bands – the Electric Chamber Orkustra in 1966, and later, part of Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks. But it would be the group ‘It’s A Beautiful Day’ where “White Bird” and other songs would be created.
The original line-up of the LaFlamme-led group included Patti Santos on vocals, David’s wife, Linda Rudman LaFlamme on keyboards, Hal Wagenet on guitar, Mitchell Holman on bass, and Val Fluentes on drums. However, the group had a somewhat circuitous and tortured route to recognition and their “White Bird” song.
Members of the San Francisco-based rock group, “It’s A Beautiful Day,” circa, late 1960s, from left: David LaFlamme, Patti Santos, Mitchell Homan, Val Fuentes. Hal Wagenet, and Linda LaFlamme.
The group’s then manager, Matthew Katz, not always known for his fair dealings with rock groups, persuaded them to temporarily relocate to Seattle, where he argued they could hone their act without San Francisco press attention. Katz believed they weren’t yet ready for the San Francisco scene. Katz had also come up with the name for the group, It’s A Beautiful Day. “I wasn’t in love with the name,” Linda LaFlamme would later say, “because it was during the Vietnam War, and I wasn’t thinking that it was such a beautiful day.” Still, they went with it.
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“White Bird” White bird White bird The leaves blow But the white bird White bird must fly [ brief violin feature ] White bird But the white bird White bird must fly The sunsets come She must fly [ guitar intro w/ White bird White bird White bird must fly White bird must fly! |
And though reluctant to go to Seattle, the group agreed to relocate there, staying at an old five-story Victorian house that Katz owned – a house shared with others. The LaFlammes and group would also have practice sessions and performances at a Katz-owned nightclub/ dancehall in Seattle’s historic Encore Ballroom that he had renamed The San Francisco Sound.
And so it was December 1967 that the band’s Seattle sojourn began with practice sessions and performances at The San Francisco Sound, a venue that yielded little attendance. The group also worked on their music at Katz’s old Victorian house.
Making The Song
As David and Linda LaFlamme (then some months pregnant) first began working on the “White Bird” song, they were holed up in the Seattle house working in the attic. They were using a small Wurlitzer piano near a window looking out on rainy-day winter scenes, with leaves blowing around on the streets below. For the LaFlammes and their band, it was a time of frustration.
“We were like caged birds in that attic,” LaFlamme later recounted. “We had no money, no transportation, the weather was miserable were just barely getting by “We were like caged birds in that attic…”
-David LaFlammeon a very small food allowance provided to us. It was quite an experience, but it was very creative in a way.”
LaFlamme would later note that the “White Bird” song, with its references to darkened skies and rage – beyond their own difficulties at the time – could also describe struggle between freedom and conformity, or as he would later put it, between the pull of freedom and the compromises of conformity. “The white bird in a golden cage represents someone trying to break out of the constraints of the affluent middle class,” he would also offer.
Linda LaFlamme, for her part, wrote in a later email, that she considered “White Bird” a song of hope, and that the only rage they had felt was about the Seattle weather. Still, others interpreting the song’s chorus, “white bird must fly, or she will die,” also saw it as a reflection of the times, given 1960s disillusionment and social turmoil.
At any rate, in that rainy-day attic, at the point of the song’s initial creation, when the LaFlammes had first collaborated on chords, lyrics and melody, they knew they had something quite good.
Linda LaFlamme believed “White Bird” to be a song of hope…“The song kept evolving,” Linda LaFlamme would say some years later. But even “after two hours,” she said, “David and I looked at each other, and we knew we had a beautiful song.” Still, it would take another year or more to get that song, and others, to market and the broader world.
In 1968 the LaFlammes and band headed back to California. But they were still broke, and increasingly frustrated by their manager, Katz, manipulating their career. They soon began playing at a few clubs without his approval, thereby gaining some recognition and income.
They also gained notice with a performance at the Sky River Rock Festival in Sultan, Washington over the 1968 Labor Day weekend — one of the first major multi-day rock festivals.
But then, in early October that year, they had another break. The rock group Cream was then in the midst of a Farewell Tour, but their opening act, Traffic, could not perform as singer Steve Winwood had fallen ill. Concert promoter Bill Graham then had to scramble for a replacement act and that’s when he contacted LaFlamme’s group to do the opening act.
At the Oakland Coliseum concert on October 4th, 1968, the crowds and critics loved what they heard in the substitute performance by It’s a Beautiful Day. Not long thereafter, they began to play at more clubs in San Francisco.
As their reputation grew in San Francisco with a number of appearances at the Fillmore and Avalon ballrooms, record producers began taking an interest. Among those who had contacted the group was Clive Davis of Columbia Records, who had signed Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and others. Lou Adler was also interested. Adler was then famous for his Dunhill Records label (Mamas & Papas and others), which about that time he sold to ABC, but continued his success with other labels, such as Ode Records (Carole King & others).
Linda Rudman LaFlamme, 1968.
“We walked into Lou’s house, and I still to this day have not experienced that kind of stopping at the door, gasping for air at the beautifulness of this house. The wood was sent over from Spain. You walked over this little bridge, then around the swimming pool, and then came to this very open-spaced living room. All wood. And sitting there is John Phillips [of the Mamas & Papas]. He left, we talked to Lou Adler, and it was a wonderful experience….”
David LaFlamme later met with Clive Davis after the group had performed at Whisky A Go Go, and he brought Davis’s proposal back to the group, and they agreed to sign with Columbia, basically because they were the bigger company
The first recordings by It’s A Beautiful Day for Columbia Records were produced by David LaFlamme at Columbia’s studios in Los Angeles, California,
First album by San Francisco group, It’s A Beautiful Day, 1969. Click for digital copies of 'White Bird,' other singles, or album.
The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 139 the week of June 14, 1969. By November of that year it peaked at No. 47 for two weeks, and would stay on that chart for 70 weeks, regarded by one reviewer as “pretty impressive for a one-song LP.” The album also reached No. 58 on the UK albums chart.
The album’s cover was designed by George Hunter and painted by Kent Hollister, based on the 1912 painting, Woman on the Top of a Mountain by Charles Courtney Curran. The cover, in fact, was rated at No. 24 on Rolling Stone‘s list of 100 greatest album covers.
“White Bird,” sung by David LaFlamme and Pattie Santos, did not crack the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, though it did reach No. 118. Since the song’s six-minute length ran up against the preferred three-minute A.M. radio length of most songs then, it was believed that a shortened version might do batter.
“White Bird” was then issued in a more radio-friendly 3:07 minute length, but was still ignored, though in early October 1969 it did rise to No. 3 on San Francisco’s KYA radio station and No. 5 on KFRC. It would be the song’s original album version – the longer version at 6:01 minutes – that became an FM radio staple, remaining so for several years. To this day, “White Bird” is still the song for which It’s a Beautiful Day are known.
 Record sleeve cover for “White Bird” single. |
 Radio promo version of 3:07 “White Bird”. |
The band’s second album, Marrying Maiden, rose to No. 28 on the album charts. But by then the LaFlammes had split up and would later divorce. David, it seems had fallen for someone else, as Linda, then with daughter, left the band and would later join another group. While full of praise for David’s musical abilities, Linda later explained, “I can’t say anything positive about David LaFlamme as a human being,” though adding,..“I can say very positive things about David as a musician. And that’s who he is. Because the rest of it is not good….”
David LaFlamme, co-author of “White Bird” and founder of It's a Beautiful Day rock group, shown here in a later performance.
In the early 1970s, It’s Beautiful Day would produce two more albums, Choice Quality Stuff/Anytime (1971) and It’s a Beautiful Day…Today (1973). But the group would not again reach the recognition it had achieved in 1969-70. David LaFlamme, in fact, was booted from his own group in 1973 over differences in royalties and management. Thereafter, he had something of a solo career for a time, producing his own version of “White Bird” that would crack the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 89 in 1976. He also had a long-running legal battle with Matthew Katz over the group’s name and other issues. In later years LaFlamme would also join others in various groups from time to time up until his death in 2023. Pattie Santos, the group’s other singer, had formed a group in 1977 with her then husband, but was later killed in a 1989 car crash in California.
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The Coin Flip David LaFlamme and It’s A Beautiful Day reportedly missed out on a Woodstock performance slot that might have sent their career soaring. Bill Graham had taken on management of the band at that point, and was negotiating with Woodstock organizer, Michael Lang, on which acts would appear (shown below, Lang left, Graham right).  Michael Lang & Bill Graham at Woodstock, 1969. Lang wanted the Grateful Dead to appear, but Graham pushed for two other acts that he managed – It’s A Beautiful Day and Santana. Lang had listened to tapes of both groups and liked what he heard in each case, but could only pick one group. So he reportedly flipped a coin to decide, and Santana won – that group performing to wide acclaim at Woodstock with endless gigs and fame thereafter. With similar exposure, LaFlamme and It’s a Beautiful Day might have soared to new heights as well. As it turned out, It’s A Beautiful Day would perform at Graham’s Fillmore West in San Francisco on several occasions, and in one case, yielding a double album from a July 1971 performance there. |
Over the years, “White Bird” has appeared on nine compilation albums and four more retrospective albums. A nearly 10-minute version of the song appeared on the 1972 live album, It’s a Beautiful Day at Carnegie Hall.
“White Bird” has also appeared in the soundtracks of several other films beyond those mentioned earlier, among them, Wolves At the Door (2016), Adult World (2013), and A Walk on The Moon (1999), the latter starring Diane Lane, Viggo Mortensen, Liev Schreiber, Anna Paquin – and according to one SongFacts.com visitor, used to “great effect” in that film.
The song was also used in the soundtrack of Uncharted Waters, a 2013 documentary about the life of surfer Wayne Lynch.
And in the 1980s, the song was also used in three episodes of the TV series Knight Rider, serving as something of a theme song for the relationship between main character Michael Knight and his one true love.
“White Bird” Kudos
“White Bird,” meanwhile, holds a special place among discerning music fans who have found the song to have lasting value and appeal. YouTube listeners commenting on video clips of the song, as well as some Amazon customer responses to CDs and albums, offer high praise for the song.
“The level of musicality in both the composition and the performance of this song is off the charts,” said one YouTube responder. Steve K., also at a YouTube posting wrote: “…As to this song specifically, what can I say about it: the beautiful power of the vocals & harmonies, the uniqueness of the tune, the wonderful professionalism of the instrumentation, the haunting feelings evoked by the lyrics, the perfection of the production – I could go on…” He said he intended to have the song played at his funeral.
YouTube’s “AquarianRealm,” who posted the full song, noted: “I adore this song…always sends me flying, then sailing…on a cloud of joy!” At that site, there are more than 1,000 visitors who posted comments on the song. among them, “christinespier500,” who noted, “This song has been my heart for 50 years. It is haunting, beautiful and uplifting…” And “cricketbat08″ calls it “an amazing song – timeless and beautiful.” Another adds “I’ve always loved this song. It’s so sad and beautiful at the same time. I think the white bird symbolizes the human spirit.”
Undated cover art for the song, “White Bird” by the group, ‘It’s A Beautiful Day.’ originally released in 1969.
As for the members of It’s A Beautiful Day, despite the hardships, misfortunes, legal difficulties and interpersonal traumas experienced and endured back in the late 1960s, the legacy of their creative enterprise survives in the music they made, and perhaps most beautifully in “White Bird.” The song has achieved “classic” status, and is a worthy survivor of the late 1960s San Francisco music scene, surely to be heard for many years to come.
See also at this website the “Annals of Music” page offering more than two dozen story choices on song histories and artist profiles, ranging from early Taylor Swift to late Frank Sinatra, as well as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Sting, Stevie Wonder, 1960s Girl Groups, Elton John, Tina Turner, Dion DiMucci, Louis Armstrong, Joni Mitchell, Ray Charles, and others. The “Music in Film” page also offers stories that profile soundtracks and movie themes, including those from: Blackboard Jungle, The Big Chill, Glory, Dr, Zhivago, Goldfinger, Stand By Me, Rocky, Soylent Green, Dirty Dancing, Platoon, Love Story, and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, among others.
Thanks for visiting — and if you like what you find here, please make a donation to help support the research, writing and continued publication of this website. Thank you. – Jack Doyle.
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Date Posted: 4 October 2024
Last Update: 1 December 2024
Comments to: jackdoyle47@gmail.com
BlueSky: jackdoyle.bsky.social
Article Citation:
Jack Doyle, “White Bird, 1969: Caged Gem Breaks
Free,” PopHistoryDig.com, October 4, 2024.
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Books & Film at Amazon.com…
 “The Music of 1969" - week-by-week survey, from “Let The Sunshine In” to ”Crimson & Clover.” Click for copy. |
 2021 book, “The Haight: Love, Rock, and Revolution,” w/ iconic sixties-era San Francisco photos. Click for copy. |
 “Last Days at the Fillmore,” 1971 concert film w/ “It’s A Beautiful Day” & other bands. Click for DVD. |
Sources, Links & Additional Information
 It’s a Beautiful Day on album cover, “Live in The Studio, San Francisco ‘71.” Click for CD. |
 It’s A Beautiful Day, Live at The Fillmore West, 2 CDs, July 1971. Click for Amazon. |
 “It's a Beautiful Day at Carnegie Hall,” 1972 concert album. Click for Amazon, CD or vinyl. |
“White Bird (song),” Wikipedia.org.
“It’s A Beautiful Day,” in Holly George-Warren and Patricia Romanowski (eds), The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Rolling Stone Press, New York, 3rd Edition, 2001, pp. 468-469.
“It’s A Beautiful Day – White Bird (1969),” YouTube.com, video posted by Aquarian Realm, May 7, 2012, with comments.
Peter Blecha, “It’s a Beautiful Day’s Seattle-Penned Song, ‘White Bird,’ Hits the Billboard Charts on October 4, 1969,” HistoryLink.org, Essay 8942, April 10, 2009.
“It’s a Beautiful Day,” ProgArchives.com (progressive rock music website).
Dan Taylor, “David LaFlamme Plays San Rafael; Rock Violinist David LaFlamme Turned 70 on Wednesday, But His Fans Still Want to Hear ‘White Bird,’ a Song He Recorded 42 Years Ago. Fans Will Get Their Chance this Weekend in San Rafael,” The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), May 6, 2011.
“It’s a Beautiful Day (album),” Wikipedia.org.
“White Bird by It’s a Beautiful Day,” Song Facts.com.
Dave Thompson, “It’s a Beautiful Day – Interview with David LaFlamme; There Was Never Another Band Like It’s a Beautiful Day, Even Amidst the Manic Fervor of Mid-Late Sixties San Francisco,” GoldMineMag.com, July 28, 2016.
Richie Unterberger, “It Was a Beautiful Day: The Original Linda Laflamme Remembers,” PleaseKillMe.com, October 21, 2020 (long story with early history about the group from the perspective of Linda Rudman LaFlamme, later known as Neska).
“Matthew Katz,” Wikipedia.org.
Charles Swanson, “David LaFlamme, Sonoma County Musician and ‘White Bird’ Songwriter, Has Died; the Pioneering Rock-Violinist, Whose ‘Immortal’ Song Captured the Spirit of 1960s San Francisco, Died Aug. 6 in Santa Rosa,” The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), August 23, 2023.
Alex Williams, “David LaFlamme, Whose ‘White Bird’ Captured a 1960s Dream, Dies at 82,” New York Times, August 26, 2023.
Brian Murphy, “David LaFlamme, Violin Innovator of 1960s With ‘White Bird,’ Dies at 82; Mr. Laflamme and His Wife Spent Two Hours on a Dreary Winter’s Day in Seattle Crafting the Classic ‘White Bird’,” WashingtonPost.com, August 10, 2023.
“It’s a Beautiful Day Album Review by Lindsay Planer,” AllMusic.com.
“The Story Behind the Song: White Bird > by It’s A Beautiful Day,” NorseLandsRock.com (Norway), October 3, 2020.
Peter Thelen, “A Beautiful Day in Mill Valley — The David and Linda LaFlamme Interview,” Expose.org, published, 2003-12-01.
Also at this website:
“White Rabbit: Grace Slick, 1960s” – Jefferson Airplane song propelled group; lyrics drew political fire. Click for story.
“Legend of A Mind, 1968” – Moody Blues song about the “Pied Piper” of psychedelia (Timothy Leary), and related cultural & political history. Click for story.
“The Santana Sound: Woodstock, 1969” – An unknown band playing Afro-Latin rock electrifies 400,000. Click for story.
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