“San Francisco” Singer Dies

The artist who sang one of the biggest hits of the 1960s counter-culture movement has died. Scott McKenzie, whose song "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" was a hit in 1967, died last Saturday in Los Angeles following a long illness.  He was 73.

McKenzie was offered a spot with The Mamas and the Papas in the 1960s but turned it down in favor of a solo career.  Even so, the group's John Phillips gave McKenzie "San Francisco," which Phillips wrote.  The song peaked at #4 on the Billboard singles chart but topped the charts elsewhere in the world, becoming a million-seller and the de facto anthem of the so-called "Summer of Love."  McKenzie's follow-up single, "Like an Old-Time Movie," also written by Phillips, was a minor hit.

McKenzie soon stopped recording but not songwriting, co-authoring the 1988 Beach Boys #1 hit "Kokomo."  He also toured briefly in the 1980s with a road incarnation of The Mamas and the Papas.  In 2010, he was diagnosed with the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré Syndrome.