"San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" | ||||
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![]() Side A of US vinyl single | ||||
Single by Scott McKenzie | ||||
from the album The Voice of Scott McKenzie | ||||
B-side | "What's the Difference" | |||
Released | May 13, 1967 | |||
Recorded | April 1967 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:58 | |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) | John Phillips[3] | |||
Producer(s) | ||||
Scott McKenzie singles chronology | ||||
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"San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" is an American pop song,[1] written by John Phillips, and sung by Scott McKenzie.[4] It 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.[5]
John Phillips played guitar on the recording and session musician Gary L. Coleman played orchestra bells and chimes. Bass guitar was supplied by session musician Joe Osborn. Hal Blaine played drums. The song reached the fourth position on the US charts and the number one spot on the UK charts. In Ireland, it 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 has been called "the unofficial anthem of the counterculture movement of the 1960s, including the Hippie, Anti-Vietnam War and Flower power movements." The song has also been widely regarded as a defining song of the Summer of Love along with the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love".