"Let's Go to San Francisco" | ||||
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Single by The Flower Pot Men | ||||
A-side | "Let's Go to San Francisco (Part 1)" | |||
B-side | "Let's Go to San Francisco (Part 2)" | |||
Released | 4 August 1967 | |||
Genre | Psychedelic pop | |||
Length | 3:16 (Part 1) 2:40 (Part 2) | |||
Label | Deram | |||
Songwriter(s) | John Carter and Ken Lewis | |||
Producer(s) | John Carter and Ken Lewis | |||
The Flower Pot Men singles chronology | ||||
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"Let's Go to San Francisco" is the only UK-charting single by the British pop group The Flower Pot Men. The song was written and produced by John Carter and Ken Lewis, engineered by John Mackswith and released in 1967 on 7" single format. [1] Carter also sang the lead vocal in the recording. [2] [3] It is regarded as a work of the 1960s California Sound. [4]
The song was a Top 10 hit single in a number of countries. It peaked at No. 12 in New Zealand, [5] No. 9 in Norway, [6] No. 8 in Ireland and No. 4 in the United Kingdom. [7]
Carter was joined in harmonies by Tony Burrows; both were part of The First Class' single "Beach Baby," which quotes the melody of "Let's Go To San Francisco" at the end.
A light-hearted pastiche of the work of Brian Wilson, the song achieved a similar musical level and has remained popular. The song could be mistaken for a Beach Boys single. [8] [9]
The song has since appeared on many "best of the '60s" compilation albums since its release, such as the 1997 Polygram TV release The First Summer Of Love: SIXTIES. [10]
There were two different versions with different texts written in Italian; the more famous was "Inno," performed by the Milanese band Dik Dik. There was also "Trovare un mondo" ("To find a world"), sung by a little-known artist, Mimmo Diamante, and published by ARC, a subsidiary label of RCA Italiana.
British band Psykick Holiday did a cover in 2017 to mark the 50th anniversary of peace & Love & song. It was a double 'A' single with Scott McKenzie's 'San Francisco' being the other track. The band also did a summer of love EP featuring French & Spanish version of the two songs.
In 2020 & 2022 the English tracks came out under main vocalist Vanessa White Smith, of Psykick Holiday, on the Compilations' Femme Fatales of Music Vol.1 & 2. All releases were on Future Legend Records.
Cake is an American rock band from Sacramento, California, consisting of singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore, guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Daniel McCallum, and drummer Todd Roper. The band has been noted for McCrea's sarcastic lyrics and deadpan vocals, and their wide-ranging musical influences, including norteño, country music, mariachi, disco, rock, funk, folk music, and hip hop.
The Flower Pot Men were an English pop group created in 1967 as a result of the single "Let's Go to San Francisco", recorded by session musicians, which became a major UK Top 20 and Continental Europe hit in the autumn of 1967. The group's sound was characterised by rich, three-part vocal harmonies.
The Matches are an American rock band from Oakland, California, active from 1997 to 2009. Formed as the Locals, the group changed their name after five years to avoid conflict with a Chicago band of the same name. As the Matches, they self-released their debut album E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals in 2003, then signed to Epitaph Records who re-released it the following year. Decomposer followed in 2006, seeing the band move from their pop punk roots in a more idiosyncratic direction with contributions from nine different record producers; it reached no. 18 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart. With their third album, A Band in Hope (2008), their sound became even more heavily layered and experimental; it was their only release to chart on the Billboard 200, reaching no. 179.
Anthony Burrows is an English pop singer and recording artist. As a prolific session musician, Burrows was involved in several transatlantic hit singles throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, most of which were one-hit wonders, including "Love Grows " by Edison Lighthouse, "United We Stand" by Brotherhood of Man, "My Baby Loves Lovin'" by White Plains, "Gimme Dat Ding" by The Pipkins and "Beach Baby" by The First Class. During 1970, four singles by four different acts with whom he performed all charted at or near the top of the UK Singles Chart and additionally reached the top 20 in the United States.
The First Class were a British pop music studio-based group, put together by songwriter and record producer John Carter. They are best known for their hit song "Beach Baby," a top 20 hit in both the US and UK, and #1 in Canada..
Carter-Lewis and the Southerners were an early-1960s rock band, formed by the Birmingham-born musicians Ken Lewis and John Carter.
"Do You Want to Dance" is a song written by American singer Bobby Freeman and recorded by him in 1958. It reached number No. 5 on the United States Billboard Top 100 Sides pop chart and No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart. Cliff Richard and the Shadows' version of the song reached No. 2 in the United Kingdom in 1962, despite being a B-side. The Beach Boys notably covered the song in 1965 for their album The Beach Boys Today!. Retitled "Do You Wanna Dance?", their version reached No. 12 in the United States. A 1972 cover by Bette Midler with the original title restored reached No. 17.
"Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)" (also known as In Them Old Cotton Fields Back Home) is a song written by American blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly, who made the first recording of the song in 1940.
Idea is the fifth album by the Bee Gees. Released in September 1968, the album sold over a million copies worldwide. The album was issued in both mono and stereo pressings in the UK. The artwork on the Polydor release designed by Wolfgang Heilemann featured a "beehive" neon lightbulb with a group photo in its base, while the North American ATCO release designed by Klaus Voormann featured a composite head made from each band member. It was their third internationally released album – the first two albums being released only in the Australian market.
John Nicholas Shakespeare, known as John Carter, is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer.
"San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" is an American pop song, written by John Phillips, and sung by Scott McKenzie. 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.
Nocera, also known as Lulu Nocera, is a Sicilian-American club DJ and a trip hop, pop and freestyle singer. She is probably best known for her 1986 freestyle hits "Summertime Summertime" and "Let's Go".
"Spill the Wine" is the debut single by singer Eric Burdon and the band War, released in May 1970. It was backed by the non-album track "Magic Mountain", and was War's first Billboard chart hit.
André Tanneberger, better known by his stage name ATB, is a German DJ and producer of trance music. According to the official world DJ rankings governed by DJ Magazine, ATB was ranked No. 11 in 2009 and 2010, and No. 15 in 2011. In 2011, he was ranked as world No. 1 according to "The DJ List". He is best known for his 1998 single "9 PM ", which was a No. 1 single in the United Kingdom. The song's hook would later be reworked into "Don't Stop!" in 1999 for his debut album, Movin' Melodies, becoming a hit in its own right.
Kenneth Alan James Hawker known as Ken Lewis, was an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered one of the more successful songwriters of the 1960s as a result of his collaborations with John Carter. His biggest success was "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", which was a 1965 US number 2 hit single for Herman's Hermits.
"Beach Baby" is a song by the British band The First Class. Written by John Carter and his wife, Gillian (Jill) Shakespeare, the song became the band's only substantial hit. The subject of the lyrics is not holiday love, but a broken love relationship between two high school students in Los Angeles in the 1950s.
"Cherry Blossom Clinic" is a song by British rock band The Move, written by their lead guitarist, vocalist, and primary songwriter Roy Wood, intended as the follow-up single to their hit "Flowers in the Rain", which reached number two in the Record Retailer chart. Like many of Wood's other songs, "Cherry Blossom Clinic" deals with clinical insanity and loneliness, and makes several pop culture references throughout, which he largely credits to an ambition for writing a children's book. The track was initially recorded in August 1967 at Advision Studios, but was abandoned for three months before being re-recorded in November of that year, and lacks a production credit.
Neil Landon was an English singer, who has been credited with singing on a number of hits in the UK Singles Chart. In addition, he was a singer and songwriter with the band Fat Mattress, which he co-founded with guitarist/singer Noel Redding.
The Ivy League were an English vocal trio, formed in 1964, who enjoyed two top 10 hit singles on the UK Singles Chart in 1965. The group's sound was characterised by rich, three-part vocal harmonies.
"Surfin' U.S.A." is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys, credited to Chuck Berry and Brian Wilson. It is a rewritten version of Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" set to new lyrics written by Wilson and an uncredited Mike Love. The song was released as a single on March 4, 1963, backed with "Shut Down". It was then placed as the opening track on their album of the same name.