Choice Quality Stuff/Anytime/...Today

Very good CD of two albums ,choice quality stuff is the better of the two.

Ordered for my grandchildren. They absolutely love it!!!

Great cd

these were 2 of my favorite vinyl purchases in there day what a awesome tribute to find them both in 1 package today! some of the best music i recall from that era sounds like

ANOTHER CD WHICH WAS A 2 FOR 1 BUY AND HAD TOOO A CD I WAS SEARCHING FOR

This is a must for all IABD fans. It's their third album and widely overlooked.Terrific changes of tempo and mood and love David LaFlammes' searing violin.

Many people highly regard their 1969 debut with "White Bird", and it's easy to see why, and many feel it was nothing but downhill after. Certainly Marrying Maiden doesn't quite live up to the greatness of their debut, but even the 1971 followup, Choice Quality Stuff/Anytime isn't that bad. The front cover names the bands as It's a Big Bad Beautiful Day, but in reality, they were still It's a Beautiful Day, even if they started witnessing some drastic lineup changes (let's not forget their manager, Matthew Katz didn't exactly make life easy for the band). This time around, they gave the two halfs of the albums separate names, the first half being Choice Quality Stuff (side one, if you own the LP) and the second half being Anytime (side two). Almost like two EPs that make up one full-length album. This album finds the band doing some new styles, in fact the Choice Quality Stuff half of the album finds the band exploring hard rock. "Creed of Love", and the Latin-influenced "Words" are prime example what I'm talking about, in fact the latter featured two Santana percussionists (Coke Escovedo and Jose Chepito Areas) as guests (meaning that song has a strong Santana-like feel to it, which is unusual for this band). The band was starting to have lineup difficulties at this point, and they even included Tom Fowler, who would later appear on Frank Zappa's Mothers (like on Over-Nite Sensation). Luckily violinist/vocalist David LaFlamme and vocalist Patti Santos are still here. "No Words For Glad" features some nice use of flute, perhaps the one song most point to their old sound, with hippie-oriented lyrics. The second half of the album has mellower pieces, like "Place of Dreams", "Anytime", and "Misery Loves Company". "Oranges and Apples" is an instrumental piece not unlike "Bombay Calling", although not quite as good. "Bitter Wine" is another great piece, and additional violin was provided by Sid Page, who was a member of Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks (LaFlamme was briefly a member of this group before It's a Beautiful Day formed). Certainly there's a couple songs I can live without, like the boogie-influenced "Bye Bye Love" and "Anytime", but there's enough great stuff here to make it worth having. To be honest, this album isn't bad at all. In fact, you'll be surprised how much of this album rocks.In 1972 they followed Choice Quality Stuff with Live at Carnegie Hall, but then the group pretty much fell apart, David LaFlamme, pretty much the guy giving IABD it's distinct characteristic, like his voice and violin, had left. Now for many people think IABD was through without his presence. The group now included future Pablo Cruise member Budd Cockrell with violinst Gregory Bloch. Bloch would later find himself with Italian proggers PFM (on their 1977 album Jet Leg during that group's brief stay in Los Angeles). The only IABD member left was Pattie Santos.Now this 1973 studio followup, called It's a Beautiful Day... Today gets highly maligned even for the few that defend Choice Quality Stuff. For one thing, the vocals aren't as pleasant as LaFlamme's. But musically the album isn't bad. The music is now firmly in the post-psychedelic style, with a strangely Southern Rock feel in many of the cuts, like "Mississippi Delta". I hear elements of folk and even soul in many of the pieces. Really, it sounds like a whole new band calling itself It's a Beautiful Day. Listen to their 1969 debut with "White Bird", then listen to this, you can't believe it's the same band, since it really isn't the same band, aside from Pattie Santos. I wouldn't hesitate to give ...Today a four star rating. I didn't find any of the music offensive, and actually many of the songs quite enjoyable.Of course these albums aren't as good as their 1969 debut, but not as bad as their reputation have them to be.

Choice Quality Stuff/Today  This is a very bad recording of a Great Band, I wish I could Get my money back.

For those who remember them: It's A Beautiful Day. Nice combination of two rare records.

Todo bien

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