- Scott McKenzie
Scott McKenzie (born Philip Blondheim on
January 10 1939 , Jacksonville,Florida ) is an Americansinger , best known for his 1967hit single and generational anthem, "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) ".Life and career
McKenzie, as young Blondheim, grew up in
North Carolina andVirginia , where he became friends with theson of one of hismother 's friends, John Phillips. In the mid 1950s, he sang briefly withTim Rose in ahigh school group called The Singing Strings, and later with Phillips, Mike Boran and Bill Cleary formed adoo wop band, The Abstracts. In New York, The Abstracts became The Smoothies and recorded two singles withDecca Records , produced byMilt Gabler . In 1961 Phillips and McKenzie met Dick Weissman and formed The Journeymen, which recorded threealbum s forCapitol Records . After disbanding The Journeymen in 1964, they discussed forming a group calledThe Mamas & the Papas . McKenzie wanted to perform on his own, so Phillips formed the group withDenny Doherty ,Cass Elliot andMichelle Phillips , his second wife. The group soon moved toCalifornia . Two years later, McKenzie followed from New York and signed withLou Adler 's Ode Records. Phillips wrote and produced "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)" for McKenzie, which was released in 1967. John Phillips playedguitar on the recording and Michelle Phillips played bells. The bass line of the song was supplied bysession musician Joe Osborn . It became a Top 10 hit in theUnited States and a number one in many other countries."San Francisco" became a
hippie anthem in theUnited States and was popular around the world. It was played during theSummer of Love in San Francisco. McKenzie followed it with "Like An Old Time Movie", also written and produced by Phillips, which was a minor hit. His first album, "The Voice of Scott McKenzie" was followed with an album called "Stained Glass Morning". He stopped recording in the early 1970s and lived in Joshua Tree,California andVirginia Beach .In 1986, he started singing with a new version of The Mamas and the Papas. In 1988 McKenzie co-wrote the
Beach Boys hit "Kokomo" with Phillips,Mike Love andTerry Melcher ; as featured in theTom Cruise movie, "Cocktail".By 1998 he had retired from the road version of The Mamas and Papas, and currently resides in Los Angeles.
External links
* [http://www.scottmckenzie.info Scott McKenzie Web Site]
*imdb name|0571609
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.