Let's Go to San Francisco

"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]

"Let's Go to San Francisco"
CD compilation titled after the song
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)"
Released4 August 1967
GenrePsychedelic pop
Length3:16 (Part 1)
2:40 (Part 2)
LabelDeram
Songwriter(s)John Carter and Ken Lewis
Producer(s)John Carter and Ken Lewis
The Flower Pot Men singles chronology
"Let's Go to San Francisco"
(1967)		 "A Walk in the Sky"
(1967)

Reception

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 and Burrows 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]

Compilation album usage

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]

In 1987 Dino Music released a cover version of "Let’s Go to San Francisco" by German pop group Musicbox. The band produced a video clip for television release containing several original 1960s cars, typical hippie clothing, and a small airplane. Musicbox was successful in the German, Austrian, and Swiss markets with cover versions of so-called "one hit wonders." [11]

Italian covers

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.

Other covers

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 with the above band Vanessa White Smith on the Compilations 'Femme Fatales of music Vol.1 & 2. All releases were on Future Legend Records and out on iTunes etc.

References
  1. "The Flower Pot Men* - Let's Go To San Francisco (Parts 1 & 2)". Discogs.com. 4 August 1967. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  2. The Flower Pot Men - Let's Go To San Francisco (1967), retrieved 23 November 2022
  3. Let's Go To San Francisco - Feat. JOHN CARTER [Music Video], retrieved 23 November 2022
  4. "The California Sound of the 60's". Allmusic.
  5. "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  6. Hung, Steffen. "australian-charts.com - The Flower Pot Men - Let's Go To San Francisco". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  7. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 206. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  8. "Though they were extremely derivative of the then-au courant West Coast sound (especially the post-surf Beach Boys), the group managed to come up with some worthwhile tracks[.]" Michael Ribas, All Music Guide, Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  9. The song has been called a "Pet Sounds-influenced [...] track". Michael Ribas, All Music Guide, Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  10. "Shazam". Shazam.com. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  11. "Musicbox - the First Project - A Tribute to the 60's Album".
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