San Francisco [Import]

Scott Mckenzie | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 3, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Epic Europe
• ASIN: B000007224
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,161 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)

2. Celeste

3. It's Not Time Now

4. What's the Difference (Chapter 2)

5. Reason to Believe

6. Like an Old Time Movie

7. No, No, No, No, No

8. Don't Make Promises

9. Twelve Thirty

10. Rooms

11. What's the Difference (Chapter 1)

Editorial Reviews

Compilation featuring 11 of the greatest hits by the '60s popstar who later co-wrote 'Kokomo' with the Beach Boys, including his top five smash 'San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)' and the top 30 'Like An Old Time Movie'. Sony.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More than a one-hit wonder (or should have been), September 1, 2000

By 

Gregor von Kallahann - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: San Francisco (Audio CD)

There are "one-hit wonders" who deserved that status (and were lucky to reach that level) and then there are others about whom you can only scratch your head and ask why their careers stalled after scoring it big the first time. Scott McKenzie definitely belongs to the latter camp. "San Francisco" is a song that is still remembered fondly and continues to be played on oldies and some contemporary adult stations. Further commercial success eluded this talented singer however and after two albums recorded in the late 60s and early 70s, he pretty much dropped from sight. (He has toured in recent years with the reconstituted Mamas & Papas, but if any recorded work has been released, I am not aware of it.)

More's the pity, because Scott McKenzie was a fine singer who clearly had more to offer than one hit single (good as it was). As the other songs included on this re-release demonstrate, he had a rich warm voice and a fine sense of diction--a little huskier in places than the sweet singing of the title track would suggest, but never less than impressive. Tracks like "What's the Difference" (both "chapters") and "Like an Old Time Movie" display a folk-based sensibility that was comfortable with the reigning folk-rock and folk-pop styles of the time. "No No No No No," one of several John Phillips tunes on the album, sounds like a Mamas & Papas track without the female voices, and his version of "12:30," although similar to the M&P's hit version, actually gains a sense of intimacy as a solo performance that the original lacked. Perhaps the one mistake on this release was the focus on material clearly identified with other artists. The Tim Hardin and Donovan penned songs here already had definitive versions released by the songwriters. McKenzie might have done better to seek out less well known but equally deserving material.

The irony of "San Francisco" was that this gentle bit of folk rock served as a paean to the scene that was quickly replacing that genre. Many of the San Francisco groups, including the Dead and the Airplane, had strong folk roots as well but were trading that in for the psychedelia that was to be prevalent for a the next several years. Of course, the Airplane's Marty Balin was still singing songs that were as sweet and balladic as anything recorded by McKenzie, but even his work was seen as something of an anachronism by '68 or so. Within a few years,however, the singer-songwriter movement would become well established, and it's a shame that Scott McKenzie couldn't find renewed success in that era--if not on a James Taylor level, at least on par with Don McLean or, say, Kenny Rankin, a similar artist in many ways, who at least was able to record fairly consistantly throughout the years.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Taking us all back 40 years, January 12, 2002

By 

Michael Dardenelle "In The Kitchen with MD" (Sherman Oaks, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: San Francisco (Audio CD)

I saw Scott McKenzie as an opening act at the Hollywood Bowl where the Mamas and the Papas were performing. I dropped my jaw listening to this man sing. I bought the album immediately, have loved it and the music for a long time. When I found it released on CD, had to have it....but had to reconstruct the album cover (Thank you PhotoShop) to make it look like the original record...

"Celeste" is beautiful, "Rooms" is stirring...even both versions of "Whats the Difference" are great. Actually, there isnt a song on the album I don't like, and don't remember fondly.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Forever Classic, July 25, 2000

By 

Heidi S. (Atlanta. Ga) - See all my reviews

This review is from: San Francisco (Audio CD)

San Francisco is an album that will make you return to the sixties. (Even if you weren't born untill 1984 like myself!) Scott McKenzie has such an enchanting voice. Once heard it is impossible to forget. The classic song "San Francisco" featured on the album is one of the greatest songs ever made. If you enjoy classics from the 60s, or just like great music this is the album for you.