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)

Loading the ABLYAM player...(Might not work on mobile devices)

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

Scott McKenzie - No, No, No, No, No (1967)

Growing up in New York in the mid-1950s, Scott McKenzie’s first group was The Singing Strings with Tim Rose. Later, with his childhood friend John Phillips, he formed a doo wop group called The Abstracts and recorded two singles. Sticking with his friend Phillips, they would later form The Journeymen, which recorded three albums. Disbanding in 1964, McKenzie wanted to move forward with a solo career. Phillips moved to Los Angeles and formed The Mamas and The Papas, whereas McKenzie would follow two years later and release “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers In Your Hair),” which you can read about and hear on our site.

Although primarily remembered for his worldwide hit mentioned above, McKenzie would find marginal success with his next single release, “Like an Old Time Movie.” Compiling his two hits with other recordings he had been working on, he released his first album, The Voice of Scott McKenzie, in 1967. This song comes from that album.



Scott McKenzie - No, No, No, No, No (1967)

Loading the ABLYAM player...(Might not work on mobile devices)

Lyrics:

She is like the doll
She says, “No, no, no, no”
And though she’d like to fall
She says, “No, no, no, no”
She says, “You are just a friend to me”
“You’re no more than a friend to me”

She is the doll
Who says, “No, no, no, no”
And though she tries to fall
She says, “No, no, no, no”
I know she tries to hide from me
And hopes that I won’t see

Without even hearing
She says, “No, no, no”
Without even looking
She says, “No, no, no, no”
I know- I know she is afraid with me
Afraid she might say ‘yes’ to me

Yes, she is the doll
Who says, “No, no, no, no”
And though she’d like to fall
She says, “No, no, no, no”

“No, no, no, no”
“No, no, no, no”
She says, “No, no, no, no”