|
|
|
|
After his hit song and the subsequent album, The Voice of Scott McKenzie, Scott released an album of his own songs, called Stained Glass Morning.
Official Information
on the Single "San Francisco" San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair) was recorded in an all night session at the L.A. Sound Factory. John Phillips, who wrote the song, played guitar on the track and also doubled as co-producer with Lou Adler. With the line ...For those who go to San Francisco, summertime will be a love-in there, it was to serve as the ultimate advertisement for the upcoming Monterey Pop Festival. The song was being played by coastal radio stations within days of its recording, with station KRLA playing the song six straight times when it first arrived. When the song was officially released in May of 1967 it was an instant hit going as high as #4 on the charts. Billboard Review: Top 20 Pop Spotlights (5/13/67) SCOTT MCKENZIE -- San Francisco (Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair) (Prod. John Phillips & Lou Adler) (Writer: Phillips) (Trousdale, BMI) Composed by John Phillips who co-produced it with Lou Adler, this sensitive, emotional ballad based upon the West Coast love movement will fast put the Ode label at the top of the Hot 100. Should also prove a starmaker for the former Journeyman singer. Excellent disk for a summer smash. Flip: What’s the Difference (Hollenbeck, BMI). In answer to who the musicians were that played on San Francisco, this is Scott's response. The bass player was Joe Osborne, a member of "The Wrecking Crew", a trio of studio musicians who are, I believe, the only sidemen ever inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame, which invented the "sidemen" category mainly for them. The other two members were its leader, drummer Hal Blaine, who has since written at least one book about those days, and keyboardist Larry Knechtel, who became part of Bread with singer David Gates. Knechtel's nickname was "three hands". Osborne's bass playing was truly unique; he invented the style of using a flat pick rather than his fingertips to strike the strings, resulting in the unmistakable crisp sound. He also played many guitar tracks. In the sixties the guitar player who often made up a fourth member of The Wrecking Crew was named Glen Campbell. Joe, Hal and Larry played innumerable hit singles -- for the Everly Brothers, Sam Cooke, Sinatra, the M's & P's, Simon and Garfunkle (listen to the piano on Bridge Over Troubled Water), most of producers Phil Spector's and Lou Adler's records, etc, etc, etc. Their collective and individual sounds were original and became unmistakable. Drummers, keyboardists and bassists have studied their styles for decades. Scott had recorded two singles, no album for Capital Records in 1964. Also prior to San Francisco he recorded "No No No No No", an English lyric to a French song and another John Phillips song called "Holy Man" John Phillips sang uncredited with Scott on "No No No No No", the Wrecking Crew played on both.
What's The Difference From time to time over the years people have asked that I post the lyrics to "What's the Difference". I started writing "What's the Difference" when I was 24 years old. I'd had a few beers and was sitting alone on the floor of a hallway in New York. I wanted to escape to somewhere, but I didn't know what it was I wanted to escape from, and I didn't know where I could go to escape from it. I just knew I had to go, or be forever caught in a huge city that was about to devour this country boy from the North Carolina mountains. Of all places, I ended up in another huge city, where I recorded "San Francisco", and where I also almost didn't survive. No, it was not San Francisco; San Francisco is not a huge city. It was Los Angeles. The first version of "What's the Difference" was on the other side of the "San Francisco" single. For you younger readers, this was in the days when people actually recorded 45 RPM vinyl singles, which had one song on each side. In the decades since I have found myself adding verses to "What's the Difference". Some years ago I realized it was my own personal folk song. The lyrics here are my favorite, especially the last verse, which I did not write. John Phillips wrote it in 1984, when the two of us had finally reunited after 16 years of not speaking. I was visiting him in his studio apartment in an area of Manhattan called Soho. When I started playing the song, he listened for a few moments and said "Try this," which I did. We both loved it, and it seemed to sum up the song quite nicely. Sometimes now, over twenty years later, I pick up my guitar and sing "What's the Difference," just so I can sing this verse, because I know that when I do I will be able to see John Phillips clearly again, still standing in the doorway of his Soho kitchenette in a bedraggled bathrobe, holding a colander full of freshly drained pasta, looking at me and saying, "Try this." At some point, when I find the courage, I will add a verse about how John was so much better a friend to me than I was to him. I owe him that much, and more. Much, much more.
We've Been Asking Questions At the end of the program Scott sings a song that is unannounced. It's called "We've Been Asking Questions" and is one of the last songs written by John Phillips before his death in 2001. "We've Been Asking Questions" is a timely song, here is some comments from Scott. Thank you again for all the messages you have left in Gary Hartman's Scott McKenzie Guestbook. I continue to be touched and amazed by how many people take the time to express their feelings about "San Francisco" Recently I participated in a 60's music program called "My Generation---The '60's Experience". Part of the "My Music" series on PBS, this concert is being televised in America during the month of March. I sing "San Francisco" in the second segment of the concert. However, at the very end of the program, I also sing a song called "We've Been Asking Questions", which is one of the last songs written by John Phillips before his death in 2001. Incidentally, you will not hear the song announced by anyone on the program. It appears at the close of the program and segues into the 60's footage of Joan Baez singing "We Shall Overcome." This is the first time a new song has been included in the "My Music" series of programs on PBS, which are usually devoted to established hits. "We've Been Asking Questions" is a timely song. I hope all of you in America will look for it at the end of "My Generation---The '60's Experience" on your local PBS station. Thanks again for your messages. Peace, Download "We've Been Asking Questions"
Buy Scott's Music
|
