Bombay Calling

Album: It's a Beautiful Day (1969)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Running to 4 minutes 25 seconds, this instrumental is the 5th track off the band's eponymous debut album. Written by Vince Wallace and David LaFlamme, it is widely acknowledged to be the inspiration or at least the partial inspiration for the Deep Purple song "Child In Time."

    According to Malcolm Dome in Deep Purple - A Critical Retrospective, Jon Lord admitted this openly, and was in fact dating It's a Beautiful Day's vocalist, Pattie Santos.

    Although "Child In Time" is an original song in every other sense of the word, successful lawsuits have been brought over less. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England

Comments: 2

  • Billy Bee from Dallas TxSssooo beautiful. I had forgotten this gem
  • Jan Worth from Costa RicaI bought this album in 1969 (this will give you a clue how old I am). Don't recall this song at all but I never did like all that much purely instrumental songs in the 1960s. Don't see that much resemblance to Child in Time, just the beginning.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles

Timothy B. Schmit of the EaglesSongwriter Interviews

Did this Eagle come up with the term "Parrothead"? And what is it like playing "Hotel California" for the gazillionth time?

80s Video Director Jay Dubin

80s Video Director Jay DubinSong Writing

Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Dino Cazares of Fear Factory

Dino Cazares of Fear FactorySongwriter Interviews

The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."