Scott McKenzie - San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) (1967)

As mentioned in our previous post featuring this artist, Scott McKenzie grew up in New York where he frequently collaborated with John Phillips. One of their later groups, The Journeymen, was a folk trio along with Dick Weissman that performed around the Greenwich Village area of New York during the folk revival and craze. After The Beatles became popular in 1964 and kicked off The British Invasion, The Journeymen broke up. McKenzie then became a solo artist, hoping to make it on his own, but not before he had turned down an invitation to join Phillip’s newest endeavor: The Mamas and The Papas. Phillips and his band moved out to California in 1964 and McKenzie followed two years later. Once in California, Phillips wrote McKenzie’s biggest hit song, heard below, and co-produced it for him.

Released on May 13th, 1967, this song has become one of the most recognizable and iconic songs from the 1960s. The song inspired thousands of youths to move to San Francisco in the late 1960s, effectively making San Francisco a “hippie haven” and mecca for drugs, free love, and various movements. The song was actually written with the intentions to promote the Monterey Pop Festival taking place June 16-18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in San Francisco, California. Although it only reached number four in the United States, the song went to number one in the UK, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and others. Since, the song has gone hand-in-hand with ‘60s themed movies and television shows, perhaps most notably heard in Forrest Gump in 1994.



Scott McKenzie - San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) (1967)

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Lyrics:

If you're going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you're going to San Francisco
You're gonna meet some gentle people there

For those who come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there
In the streets of San Francisco
Gentle people with flowers in their hair

All across the nation
Such a strange vibration
People in motion
There's a whole generation
With a new explanation
People in motion
People in motion

For those who come to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there

If you come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there