It's A Beautiful Day - Plak

ENGLISH

Did he or didn't he? – »Of course he did!« maintain the most faithful It's A Beautiful Day fans with utter conviction. They are quite sure that the master of the Hammond organ, Jon Lord, was guilty of having 'stolen' the theme tune of the spicy Indian-sounding 'Bombay Calling', when composing his Deep Purple hit 'Child In Time'. Lord however shrugged the criticism off and in typically British fashion made no secret of the fact that he was a great fan of the group. And with good reason. Because this group, with its trivial name, turned upside down the normal balance of instruments used in hippy-style music. Not the usual guitar but a violin was used as a solo instrument, hushed yet poignant organ sounds were employed to produce shadowy effects, and the ears were bombarded with distorted amplified notes as in 'Wasted Union Blues'.

But right at the centre of the sound were the brilliant violin playing and wonderfully harmonizing vocal duo with its feather-light rhythmic parts, which bask in the light of the Flower Power movement. Peaceful, yet with a clear militant quintessence to indicate the group's otherness, this LP is an authentic testimonial to musical social history during the wild Sixties.

Recording: 1968 at Columbia Recording Studios, Hollywood, by Bryan Ross Myring

Production: David Laflamme