David LaFlamme arrived in California in 1962. He was twenty-one years old; he had been playing violin since he was five. During the Sixties he picked up all manner of musical influences: he played jazz with John Handy, he jammed with the band that would eventually become Big Brother and the Holding Company, and he was one of Dan Hicks' very first Hot Licks. Some time during all this activity, he fronted a band called Orkustra, which at one time also included the legendary Bobby Beausoleil; their one and only album is apparently lost to history.

In 1967, Matthew Katz signed up what remained of Orkustra; the new group was christened "It's A Beautiful Day", and they made a trek to Seattle in November to appear at a recycled Twenties ballroom that was newly devoted to, and named for, the San Francisco Sound, a name later adopted by Katz for his record label. Their debut LP, issued by Columbia, was a startling amalgam of folk and psychedelia, driven by David LaFlamme's electrified five-string violin playing off Hal Wagenet's guitar, and anchored by David's wife Linda, who provided sterling keyboard work. "White Bird", the first track, established itself at once as an FM-radio staple, although as a single (Columbia 4-44928) it never bubbled above #118 in Billboard. Other tracks got airplay as well, notably the raveup "Wasted Union Blues" and the atmospheric instrumental "Bombay Calling"; "Hot Summer Day", which intertwined vocals by David LaFlamme and Pattie Santos, is reminiscent of the early, non-political Jefferson Airplane. The set ends with the tumultuous "Time Is", a LaFlamme setting of a 1904 poem by Henry Jackson Van Dyke.

A revamped IABD — Linda had split from the band and from David — issued a second LP in 1970 (Marrying Maiden, with a cameo appearance by Jerry Garcia and a song dedicated to the legendary Don "Sugarcane" Harris), but by then things were already starting to unravel. The LaFlammes' divorce and seemingly endless personnel changes took their toll on IABD, until you practically couldn't tell who was in the band anymore, a situation no doubt noticed by Matthew Katz, who claimed that he owned the rights to the name "It's A Beautiful Day". Litigation ensued. Litigation, in fact, continues to this day; in 1993, Columbia's Legacy label was scheduled to release a two-CD IABD compilation (on C2K 53038; don't ask them when it's going to show up), presumably comprising tracks from all six IABD albums, produced by reissue ace Bob Irwin with David LaFlamme consulting, but Sony and Matthew Katz couldn't come to any agreement. As of this writing, they still haven't; Katz has also apparently been upset with Napster. Presently Katz sells It's a Beautiful Day (SFS 11790) and Marrying Maiden (SFS 04800) through his