David LaFlamme (born May 4, 1941 in New Britain, Connecticut) is an American singer and

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists, notable violinists from the baroque era onwards * List of contemporary classical violinists, notable contemporary classical violinists * List of violinist/compose ...

best known for his longstanding association with the San Francisco band

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 ...

. LaFlamme's mother was from a

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...

family in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

, and when he was eight years old, the family moved there to be near her family. LaFlamme had been studying violin since moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

at the age of five, and in Salt Lake City he won a competition to perform as soloist with the

Utah Symphony Orchestra The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving c ...

. After briefly serving in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, he returned to the music scene in

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 ...

in 1962. During the 1960s he performed with a wide variety of notable San Francisco acts, such as Jerry Garcia and Janis Joplin. He first helped create the band Electric Chamber Orkustra, and later, an early version of

Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks Daniel Ivan Hicks (December 9, 1941 – February 6, 2016) was an American singer-songwriter known for an idiosyncratic style that combined elements of cowboy folk, jazz, country, swing, bluegrass, pop, and gypsy music. He led ″Dan Hick ...

. Then in summer 1967 he and his wife Linda formed

. The group's eponymous LP was released by Columbia Records in 1969, containing their biggest hit, " White Bird". The album was produced by David LaFlamme. The group's second album, '' Marrying Maiden'', was released the following year. It was their most successful on the

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tab ...

, reaching number 28 in the U.S. and number 45 in the U.K. After two additional albums, ''Choice Quality Stuff/Anytime'' and ''Live at Carnegie Hall'', LaFlamme left the group in 1972 over disputes regarding the direction and management of the band. For a time he performed with the groups Edge City and Love Gun in the Bay Area before going solo. In 1976, he released the album ''White Bird'' on Amherst Records. His remake of the song "White Bird" cracked the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at No. 89 that same year. This was followed by the album ''Inside Out'' in 1978, also on Amherst Records. Both project releases were co-produced by David LaFlamme and

Mitchell Froom Mitchell Froom (born June 29, 1953) is an American musician and record producer. He was a member of the bands Gamma and Latin Playboys, and is currently the keyboardist for Crowded House. He has produced albums for several artists, including R ...

. After years of legal wrangling over ownership of the band's name, LaFlamme resumed formal use of It's a Beautiful Day when former 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 ...

let the trademark of the name go unrenewed. Since 2000, he has been performing with the reconstituted band, which includes his wife Linda Baker LaFlamme and original drummer Val Fuentes. He has also appeared on the television shows ''

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee (as Grub ...

'', ''

Ellen Ellen is a female given name, a diminutive of Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena and Helen. Ellen was the 609th most popular name in the U.S. and the 17th in Sweden in 2004. People named Ellen include: * Ellen Adarna (born 1988), Filipino actress * Elle ...

'', and ''

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

'', as a strolling violinist who stands right at the table in a restaurant, playing loudly or annoyingly.

Discography

With It's a Beautiful Day

*''

'' (Columbia Records, 1969) US Album Chart No. 47 / UK Album Chart No. 58, 1970 (US: Gold) *'' Marrying Maiden'' (Columbia Records, 1970) US Album Chart No. 28 / UK Album Chart No. 45, 1970 *''Choice Quality Stuff/Anytime'' (Columbia Records, 1971) US Album Chart No. 130, 1971 *''It's a Beautiful Day at Carnegie Hall'' (Live) (Columbia Records, 1972) US Album Chart No. 144, 1972 *''1001 Nights'' (Compilation) (Columbia Records, 1974) *''The Columbia Years 1969-1973'' (Compilation Box Set) (Muskrat Records, 2008) *''Girl With No Eyes'' (Hookah Records, 2013) *''Live at the Fillmore '68'' (Live) (Classic Music Vault, 2013), with DVD ''The David LaFlamme Story''

Solo albums

*''White Bird'' (Amherst Records, 1976) *''Inside Out'' (Amherst Records, 1978) *''Workin' the Gold Mine'' (Live) (It's About Music, Classic Music Vault, 2000) *''Beyond Dreams'' (Repertoire Records, Classic Music Vault, 2003) *''Hot Summer Days - San Francisco Nights'' (Non-labeled, 2004) *''Live in Seattle'' (Live) (It's About Music, 2004) *''Misery Loves Company'' (It's About Music, 2005)

References

Interview with David LaFlamme (1998)

External links

David LaFlamme homepage
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laflamme, David Living people 1941 births American male violinists American male television actors American rock musicians American rock violinists People from New Britain, Connecticut American rock singers People from San Francisco American male singers People from Sebastopol, California 21st-century American violinists 21st-century American male musicians The Dinosaurs members