14 JANUARY 1966
Tony Bennett’s landmark hit ‘I Left My Heart in San Francisco’ was at its peak UK chart position of #25. It was a bit of a slow burner, having been released there about six months earlier. If Tony ever dies - and I’m not convinced that he will - you can bet that this song will feature prominently in the news bulletins.
This song had been written back in 1953 by Cory and Cross in Brooklyn, New York, but it was not recorded and released until 1962 (by Bennett), when it reached #7 in the US charts. This 'Adult Contemporary' track was a nice enough bit of tinkly-piano crooning from Bennett, but sounded like it could easily have been released ten years earlier.
This is just one of dozens of songs about the city (the name does roll nicely off the tongue), with quite a few being hits emerging in the late 1960s as San Francisco famously became the centre of the hippy movement.
B-side: 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco'
Recorded: 23 January 1962
Released: 2 February 1962
Released: 2 February 1962
Highest chart position: #25 (UK, 1966), #7 (US, 1962)
Length: 2:52
Label: Columbia
Writers: George Cory, Douglass Cross
Producer: Ernie Altschuler
