Music History Today: May 5, 2020

May 5, 1967: Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)" first appeared on the US singles chart. 

"San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)," despite the venom of many hippies in San Francisco it became a huge hit in the US vying with the likes of Respect, Light My Fire, and White Rabbit. 

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While it became the undisputed Summer Of Love song in the UK, it is now a ubiquitous part of folk history and often used to dismiss hippie culture.

Read more:  Happy Mag

May 5, 1968: After months of internal dissension, Buffalo Springfield played their final concert in Long Beach, California.

For a band that lasted less than three years, Buffalo Springfield had an absurdly outsized impact. 

Buffalo Springfield

Their core membership, of course, included two guys who need no introduction—Neil Young and Stephen Stills—as well as a third guitarist and vocalist, Richie Furay, who would go on to do great things with Poco, the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band and on his own. 

Read more:  Best Classic Bands

May 5, 1969: Creedence Clearwater Revival released "Bad Moon Rising." 

At the start of 1969 Dan Fogerty sat down to write the band’s next single. As the opening riff rolled from his fingers, a lyrical theme began to form in Fogerty’s head. “I’d come up with the chords and melody,” he recalls, “and I got the phrase ‘bad moon rising’ from this little book I’d kept song titles in since 1967. I didn’t even know what it meant, I just liked how the words sounded." 

Read more:  Louder Sound

May 5, 1979: Twenty-eight-year-old Suzi Quatro reached Number 5 on the Hot 100 with a duet with Chris Norman, the front-man for Smokie, called "Stumblin' In." 

Bass guitarist and vocalist Suzi Quatro, is best known for a series of hit singles in the 1970s and for her recurring role as “Leather” Tuscadero on the popular sitcom, Happy Days. 

Suzi Quatro

She released a studio album, No Control, in 2019, her first solo studio LP since 2011. Quatro continues her extensive tour calendar to support the album.  

Read more:  Best Classic Bands

San Francisco 
(Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair) 
Scott McKenzie