IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY

This is my pot. Being grown up in the 60s I'm still fascinated by the hippy flavor. The fact that the songs are well built-up, never trivial, skillfully played and longer than the standard radio- size makes it very interesting.

This is mainly a flower-power psychedelic band, I think the reason why it's classified as proto-prog is mainly in the use of violin and the strong presence of organ so technically speaking a sort of instrumentation that appears more British than American.

What I consider being the most progressive track is "Girl With No Eyes". It's a folk tune to which harpsichord, violin and the vocals of David LaFlamme and Patti Santos give a medieval mood. Very hippy but also very prog, ut let's go track by track.

The opener "White Bird" can be considered a hippy song, but I think it's not much different in the style from early Renaissance, I mean the first two albums.

"Hot Summer Day" proceeds on the same line plus the wah-wah, the vibrato organ and some harmonica which make it bluesy.

"Wasted Union Blues" is heavy psychedelic. In the beginning the lead guitar is very acid so while the theme is typically blues it sounds Hendirxian. David's violin is not so much different from the cello of Caravan's Geoff Richardson when it plays the solo parts. The song is chaotic and acid, It's curious that it recalls to my mind the three 'J's Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin.

I've already said of Girl with no eyes so let's move to the most famous song of this album. "Bombay Calling" is Deep Purple's Child in Time. I opened a thread on the forum about this without knowing that another one had been opened before. The story is quite complicated and effectively also this song was originally written by an old bluesman, Vince Wallace in 1962 and "stolen" by David LaFlamme. I don't know much of this story that I've learned from PA.

However it fades seamlessly into "Bulgaria" which has a very psychedelic opening which initially reminds to early Pink Floyd. "Set The Control For The Heart Of The Sun" as reference. It has the same oriental mood increased by the violin as lead instrument.

To be honest, also the closer "Time Is" reminds me to something already listened, but I can't identify it. However it's a very good long song and an excellent closer almost psychedelic with some relations to the Doors, but I think it's good for Krautrock fans, too. In few words other than being an interesting document of a period and a place it's first of all a good album which deserves to be included in a prog collection.