Scott McKenzie Biography
Philip Blondheim, 10 January 1939, Jacksonville Beach, Florida, USA. McKenzie began his professional career in the Journeymen, a clean-cut folk group. He later recorded some undistinguished solo material before fellow ex-member John Phillips, then enjoying success with the Mamas And The Papas, invited the singer to join him in Los Angeles. Although the folk rock-inspired "No No No No No" failed to sell, the pairing flourished spectacularly on "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)" (later listed as "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair"). This altruistic hippie anthem, penned by Phillips, encapsulated the innocent wonderment felt by many onlookers of the era and the single, buoyed by an irresistible melody, reached number 4 in the US chart in 1967, but climbed to the dizzy heights of number 1 in the UK and throughout Europe. Meritorious follow-ups, "Like An Old Time Movie" and "Holy Man", failed to emulate such success, and although McKenzie briefly re-emerged in 1970 with the low-key, country-influenced Stained Glass Morning, he remained out of the public eye until the 80s, when he joined Phillips in a rejuvenated Mamas And The Papas. In 1988, he co-wrote the Beach Boys' hit single "Kokomo".
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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