San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)

"San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)"
Single by Scott McKenzie
from the album The Voice of Scott McKenzie
B-side "What's the Difference"
Released May 13, 1967 (1967-05-13)
Format 7-inch single
Genre
Length 2:58
Label
Songwriter(s) John Phillips[1]
Producer(s)
Scott McKenzie singles chronology
"No, No, No, No, No"
(1966)		 "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)"
(1967)		 "Look in Your Eyes"
(1967)

"San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" is an American pop music song, written by John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, and sung by Scott McKenzie.[2] The song was produced and released in May 1967 by Phillips and Lou Adler, who used it to promote their Monterey International Pop Music Festival held in June of that year.[3]

John Phillips played guitar on the recording and session musician Gary L. Coleman played orchestra bells and chimes. The bass line of the song was supplied by session musician Joe Osborn. Hal Blaine played drums. The song became one of the best-selling singles of the 1960s in the world, reaching the fourth position on the US charts and the number one spot on the UK charts. In Ireland, the song was number one for one week, in New Zealand the song spent five weeks at number one, and in Germany it was six weeks at number one.

McKenzie's version of the song has been called "the unofficial anthem of the counterculture movement of the 1960s, including the Hippie, Anti-Vietnam War and Flower power movements."[4]

Writing

"...local authorities in Monterey were starting to get cold feet over the prospect of their town being overrun by hippies. To smooth things over, Phillips wrote a song, "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)."

Phillips reported writing the song in about 20 minutes.[5]

The song, which tells the listeners, "If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair",[2] is credited with bringing thousands of young people to San Francisco, California, during the late 1960s.

Reception

Released on May 13, 1967, the song was an instant hit. By the week ending July 1, 1967, it reached the number four spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, where it remained for four consecutive weeks.[6] Meanwhile, the song rose to number one in the UK Singles Chart,[1] and most of Europe. The single is purported to have sold over seven million copies worldwide.[7] In Central Europe, young people adopted "San Francisco" as an anthem for freedom, and it was widely played during Czechoslovakia's 1968 Prague Spring uprising.

The song has been featured in several films, including Frantic, The Rock, and Forrest Gump. It was also played occasionally by Led Zeppelin as part of the improvised section in the middle of "Dazed and Confused". U2's Bono also led the audience in singing this song during their PopMart performances in the San Francisco Bay Area on June 18 and 19, 1997. New Order covered the song on July 11, 2014, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.[8]

The Bee Gees song "Massachusetts" is a reaction to this song. The Bee Gees' song is about someone who has been to San Francisco but is now homesick for Massachusetts.

The song was featured in the final story scene of the 2016 game Watch Dogs 2.

2 successive missions in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, namely "Are You Going To San Fierro?" and "Wear Flowers in Your Hair" are inspired by the song.

Personnel

Chart history

Johnny Hallyday version

"San Francisco"
Single by Johnny Hallyday
from the album Johnny au Palais des sports
Released 1967 (1967)
Label Philips
Songwriter(s)
Johnny Hallyday singles chronology
"Petite fille"
(1967)		 "San Francisco"
(1967)		 "L'histoire de Bonnie and Clyde"
(1968)

French singer Johnny Hallyday recorded the song in French, with the title "San Francisco". His version reached number five in Wallonia (French Belgium) in 1967.[25]

Track listings

7" single Philips B 370.454 F (1967)

  1. "San Francisco" (3:10)
  2. "Mon fils" (4:00)[25]

7" EP Philips 437.380 BE (1967)

A1. "San Francisco" (3:10)
A2. "Fleurs d'amour et d'amitié" (2:39)
B1. "Mon fils" (3:58)
B2. "Psychédélic" (3:20)[25]

Charts

"San Francisco" / "Mon fils"[25][26]
Chart (1967–68) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[25] 5

Other covers and samples

Bovic Shamar sang a cover in pidgin English, released by African Fiesta Sukisa as Sukisa 88b in 1967.

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 110. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  2. 1 2 Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 42 – The Acid Test: Psychedelics and a sub-culture emerge in San Francisco. [Part 2]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
  3. ↑ Davis, Clive (February 19, 2013). "8: Monterey Pop". The Soundtrack of My Life. Simon & Schuster. pp. 62–64. ISBN 9781476714790.
  4. ↑ "Scott McKenzie, 1960s counter-culture singer, dies at 73". Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  5. ↑ John Phillips interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
  6. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 415.
  7. ↑ Carson, Jim (August 5, 2011). "Did You You: "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" By Scott McKenzie". CBS Radio. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  8. ↑ Youtube - New Order***Full Concert***Live at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, SF, CA, July 11, 2014
  9. ↑ Go-Set National Top 40, 26 July 1976
  10. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Scott McKenzie – San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Scott McKenzie – San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Scott McKenzie – San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Scott McKenzie – San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Scott McKenzie – San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Musicline.de – Scott McKenzie Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  16. ↑ Flavour of New Zealand, 20 October 1967
  17. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Scott McKenzie – San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)". VG-lista. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Scott McKenzie – San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Scott McKenzie: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  20. ↑ "Scott McKenzie Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  21. ↑ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, July 22, 1967
  22. ↑ RPM Top 100 Singles of 1967
  23. ↑ Musicoutfitters.com
  24. ↑ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 23, 1967
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ultratop.be – Johnny Hallyday – San Francisco" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  26. ↑ "ultratop.be - Johnny Hallyday - Mon fils". Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  27. ↑ Discogs: Scott McKenzie – San Francisco (Remix '89)

Bibliography

  • Guinness Book of British Hit Singles – 19th Edition – ISBN 1-904994-10-5
  • The Book of Golden Discs – 2nd Edition – ISBN 0-214-20512-6
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