"White Bird" is a 1969 song by
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
rock group
It's a Beautiful Day
It's a Beautiful Day is an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1967, featuring vocalist Pattie Santos along with violinist David LaFlamme and his wife, Linda LaFlamme, on keyboards.
David LaFlamme, who as a youth had once p ...
, written by members David and Linda LaFlamme.
Background and arrangement
"White Bird" was written in December 1967, in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. Manager
Matthew Katz
Matthew Katz (born 1929) is an American music manager and producer, most notably as the former manager of Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape and It's a Beautiful Day. He is the owner of the record label San Francisco Sound, and the owner of Matthew ...
had moved the band there to polish their act at a Seattle venue before booking them into
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
nightclubs. Living in the attic of a
Victorian house across the street from
Volunteer Park, the band had inadequate food and no transportation during a rainy and cloudy Seattle winter. The song evolved from the depression of the band's circumstances and yearning to be free.
The song's repeated chorus is, "White bird must fly or she will die."
In a later interview, 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.
The song was arranged and produced by David LaFlamme and sung as a duet between him and group member Patti Santos. A prominent stylistic feature of the song's original arrangement are multiple violin parts
overdubbed
Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...
by LaFlamme.
Release and reception
It was first released on the band's 1969 eponymous debut album ''
It's a Beautiful Day
It's a Beautiful Day is an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1967, featuring vocalist Pattie Santos along with violinist David LaFlamme and his wife, Linda LaFlamme, on keyboards.
David LaFlamme, who as a youth had once p ...
'' by
Columbia Records.
The song quickly became the band's signature tune and a staple of
FM Album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock.
Album-orien ...
radio.
The album rose to Number 47 on the
Billboard 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of ar ...
album chart. Following the popularity of the album track, a single version was edited and remixed for radio play, with a running time of 3:02, and released on October 4, 1969. It rose to as high as Number 3 the week of October 18, 1969 on San Francisco radio station
KYA. The single never reached a wide national audience and only made it to Number 118 on ''Billboard's''
Bubbling Under the Hot 100
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...
chart.
Adult Contemporary No. 10
A nearly 10-minute-long version also appeared on the 1972 live album ''It's a Beautiful Day at Carnegie Hall.'' It later appeared on nine compilation albums and four more retrospective albums.
Legacy
The song was prominently featured in the surf movie ''Winds of Change'' in 1970 (retitled ''The Sunshine Sea'' the following year), produced by filmmakers Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman.
David LaFlamme remade "White Bird" as the title cut for his 1976 solo album debut, with his second wife Linda Baker - credited as Dominique Dellacroix - providing the backing vocal. Released as a single, this version brought the song to the
Hot 100 of ''
Billboard'' for the first time, its chart peak being #89.
The song is featured in the first season of ''
Knight Rider
''Knight Rider'' is an American entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three television series: the original ''Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequel series '' Team Knight Rider'' (1997–1998) ...
'' in the episode of the same name (Season 1, Episode 19, 4 March 1983). The song also featured in two further episodes of ''Knight Rider'': "Let it Be Me" (Season 2, Episode 23, 13 May 1984) and "The Scent of Roses" (Season 4, Episode 12, 3 January 1986). In all three episodes, it represented the love theme between the characters of
Michael Knight and Stephanie 'Stevie' Mason (who had the surname alias of March in the second season episode).
It was also used in the soundtrack of ''
A Walk on the Moon
''A Walk on the Moon'' is a 1999 drama film starring Diane Lane, Viggo Mortensen, Liev Schreiber and Anna Paquin. The film, which was set against the backdrop of the Woodstock festival of 1969 and the United States's Moon landing of that year, w ...
'', a 1999 American drama about a married woman's infidelity, including
Woodstock Music Festival
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aquari ...
scenes.
Love Battery
Love Battery was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington.
History
Love Battery was formed in 1989 by former rock band Room Nine leader Ron Nine (b. Ron Rudzitis), guitarist Kevin Whitworth (ex-Crisis Party), bassist Tommy "Bonehead" S ...
recorded "White Bird" in 1995, their version being featured on the multi-artist album ''Star Power!''
A version of "White Bird" by violinist
Vanessa-Mae
Vanessa-Mae (陈美 Chén Měi; born 27 October 1978) also called Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, is a Singaporean-born British violinist with album sales reaching several million, having made her the wealthiest entertainer under 30 in the Uni ...
was released in 2001, and reached number 66 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
Sam Bush
Charles Samuel Bush (born April 13, 1952) is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Reviva ...
covered the song on his 2006 ''
Laps in Seven
''Laps in Seven'' is the title of a 2006 album by the progressive bluegrass artist Sam Bush, on the Sugar Hill Records (bluegrass), Sugar Hill label.
Reception
In his Allmusic review, music critic Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. called the album "an ...
'' album.
The Strangelings recorded "White Bird" for their 2007 album ''Season of the Witch''.
Judy Collins recorded "White Bird" as a new track on her 7 May 2021 compilation album release ''White Bird - Anthology of Favorites''.
The song was also used in ''
Adult World
''Adult World'' is a 2013 American comedy-drama film directed by Scott Coffey and written by Andy Cochran. The film stars Emma Roberts, Evan Peters, and John Cusack. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2013, and was released t ...
'', a 2013 American film comedy starring
Emma Roberts
Emma Rose Roberts (born February 10, 1991 Additional on October 9, 2016) is an American actress. Known for her work in film and television projects of the horror and thriller genres, she has received various accolades, including a Young Arti ...
,
Evan Peters
Evan Thomas Peters (born January 20, 1987) is an American actor. He is known for his multiple roles on the FX anthology series '' American Horror Story''; as Detective Colin Zabel in the HBO crime drama limited series '' Mare of Easttown'', w ...
, and
John Cusack
John Paul Cusack (; born June 28, 1966)(28 June 1996)Today's birthdays ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', ("Actors John Cusack is 30") is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and political activist. He is a son of filmmaker Dick Cusack, and his ol ...
.
Most recently it was used in the 2015 film ''
Focus
Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to:
Arts
* Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film
*''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore
* ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...
'', starring
Will Smith
Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...
and
Margot Robbie
Margot Elise Robbie (; born 2 July 1990) is an Australian actress and producer. Known for her work in both blockbuster and independent films, she has received several accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four Golden Glob ...
, and in 2017, the premiere PBS-TV episode of ''
Prime Suspect: Tennison''.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1969 singles
1969 songs
Columbia Records singles