American singer and violinist.
Born May 4, 1941 in New Britain, Connecticut, U.S.A.
Died August 6, 2023 in Santa Rosa, California, U.S.A.
David LaFlamme grew up in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. He started playing the violin at age 5 and later joined the Utah Symphony Orchestra. He served in the Army and moved to San Francisco after his discharge in 1962. There he met his first wife, Linda, a keyboardist, and they formed It’s a Beautiful Day in 1967. The band was part of the Haight-Ashbury scene and opened for Cream in 1968. Their debut album, released in 1969, featured their most famous song, “White Bird,” which they wrote while living in Seattle. The song became a classic of the hippie era and an FM radio hit. The band released three more albums before breaking up in 1973. Mr. LaFlamme continued to make music as a solo artist and with various lineups of It’s a Beautiful Day. He also recorded a disco version of “White Bird” in the mid-1970s. He married Linda Baker, his third wife, in 1982.