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Scott McKenzie sadly passed away on Saturday (August 18) aged 73. The singer, best known for the 1967 smash hit “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair),” had been in and out of hospital since being diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome in 2010.

A message on Scott McKenzie’s official website reads:

Born Philip Wallach Blondheim in Jacksonville, Florida on January 10, 1939, he began performing with a high school group called The Singing Strings before forming the doo-wop group The Abstracts with John Phillips. The Abstracts soon changed their name to The Smoothies and released a couple of singles, but neither were successful. It was in this period that Blondheim changed his name to Scott McKenzie, which he thought would be more memorable for a pop audience.

The next career move was to form the folk group The Journeymen with John Phillips and Dick Weissman. The trio lasted several years, producing three albums and seven singles. The two songs below highlight how the group benefited greatly from McKenzie’s accomplished lead vocals.

“500 Miles” – The Journeymen

“No One to Talk My Troubles To” – The Journeymen

After The Journeymen disbanded, McKenzie and Weissman took a shot at becoming solo artists, and Phillips formed the hugely successful Mamas and the Papas. McKenzie’s association with John Phillips was not over though as it was Phillips who penned McKenzie’s signature song “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” in 1967. The song was written to promote the Monterey Pop Festival and would become an anthem for the so-called Summer of Love and 1960s counterculture.

“San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” – Scott McKenzie

“San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” appeared on McKenzie’s debut album “The Voice of Scott McKenzie,” along with the minor hit “Like An Old Time Movie”. McKenzie’s second and final solo album followed in 1970, titled “Stained Glass Morning,” but he did not recapture the success of the summer of 1967.

“Like An Old Time Movie” – Scott McKenzie

After more than a decade away from the music business, McKenzie teamed up with John Phillips in the mid-1980s on a new line-up of the Mamas and the Papas, which also featured original member Denny Doherty, John Phillips’ daughter Mackenzie, and Elaine “Spanky” McFarlane. McKenzie was originally a backing member of the group, but took Denny’s place when he left.

In 1988, McKenzie co-wrote the Beach Boys’ number one hit “Kokomo” with John Phillips, Mike Love and Terry Melcher.

McKenzie retired from the Mamas and the Papas in 1998, but still performed occasionally over the next decade, including on a couple of popular PBS specials.

Scott McKenzie did not have the most noteworthy career in the history of popular music, but he had a very fine voice and the distinction of leaving the world with a song that became emblematic of an era. For those reasons, his musical contribution will not be forgotten.