"I Left My Heart in San Francisco" is a

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

song, written in the fall of 1953 in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, with music by George Cory (1920–1978) and lyrics by Douglass Cross and best known as the signature song of

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

. In 1962, the song was released as a single by Bennett on Columbia Records as the b-side to " Once Upon a Time", peaked at No. 19 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and was also included on the album '' I Left My Heart in San Francisco''. It also reached number seven on the Easy Listening chart. The song is one of the official anthems for the city of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".

Background

The music was written by George Cory, with lyrics by Douglass Cross, about two amateur writers nostalgic for San Francisco after moving to New York. Although the song was originally written for

Claramae Turner Claramae Turner (née Haas; October 28, 1920 – May 18, 2013) was an American operatic contralto, perhaps best known for her appearance in the film ''Carousel'' (1956), adapted from the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical of the same name. ...

, who often used it as an encore, she never got around to recording it. The song found its way to

through Ralph Sharon, Bennett's longtime

accompanist Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles of ...

and friends with the composers. Sharon brought the music along when he and Bennett were on tour and on their way to

's Fairmont Hotel. Before Tony Bennett heard it, the song was pitched to

Tennessee Ernie Ford Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – October 17, 1991), known professionally as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American singer and television host who enjoyed success in the country and western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Noted for h ...

, whom Claramae Turner suggested Cross take it to. Ford turned the song down. In December 1961, in the famous Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, Tony Bennett first sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco". In the audience that night were San Francisco mayor

George Christopher George Christopher (born George Christopheles; December 8, 1907 – September 14, 2000) was a Greek-American politician who served as the 34th mayor of San Francisco from 1956 to 1964. He is the most recent Republican to be elected mayor of San ...

and future mayor

Joseph L. Alioto Joseph Lawrence Alioto (February 12, 1916 – January 29, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 36th mayor of San Francisco, California, from 1968 to 1976. Biography Alioto was born in San Francisco in 1916. His father, Giuseppe ...

. From the 1960s through the 1980s, Bennett always sang the song at his appearances at the Venetian Room.

Recording history

Bennett first recorded the song at the

CBS 30th Street Studio CBS 30th Street Studio, also known as Columbia 30th Street Studio, and nicknamed "The Church", was an American recording studio operated by Columbia Records from 1948 to 1981 located at 207 East 30th Street, between Second and Third Avenues in Manha ...

on January 23, 1962; CBS released it as the b-side of "Once Upon A Time." The

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

received no attention, and DJs began flipping the record over and playing "San Francisco". It became a hit on the pop singles chart in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

and spent close to a year on various other charts, achieving

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

status. It then won the top prize of Grammy Award for Record of the Year, as well as for Best Male Solo Vocal Performance.

Legacy

In 2001 "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" was ranked 23rd on an RIAA/ NEA list of the most historically significant Songs of the 20th Century. It has often been performed in public by Bennett in concert as well as on special occasions. A statue of Tony Bennett was unveiled outside the Fairmont Hotel on 19 August 2016, in honor of his 90th birthday, the hotel performance, and the song's history with San Francisco. Two years later, the block of Mason Street was renamed Tony Bennett Way. The

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...

gave Bennett the Towering Performance Award for his vocal rendition of the song.

Rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

singer

Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack (; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing gui ...

released a version on

Minit Records Minit Records was an American independent record label, originally based in New Orleans and founded by Joe Banashak in 1959. Ernie K. Doe, Aaron Neville, Irma Thomas, and Benny Spellman were early artists on the label. Later artists included Bo ...

which peaked at No. 48 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart in 1969. On May 15, 1984, the song was adopted by the

City and County of San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

as one of its two official anthems, the other being the

title song A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

from the 1936 film ''

''. A slower-paced piano only version of the song appears as the intro theme to the Canadian television show '' Trailer Park Boys''. The

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

play the song after each victory at their home field, Oracle Park. Bennett has performed the song live at multiple Giants games, including the 1993 home opener at Candlestick Park and before games in the 2002 and 2010 World Series. At noon (PDT) on Saturday, April 25, 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and the shelter-in-place orders for people across the United States, San Franciscan residents sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" in unison from their residences and other places of sheltering as a tribute to the spirit of the city and its fight to keep the virus in check. Tony Bennett led the sing-along.

Notes

External links

San Francisco sing-along on April 25, 2020

I Left My Heart In San Francisco Songfacts

{{authority control 1954 songs 1962 singles Tony Bennett songs Andy Williams songs Jan and Dean songs Frank Sinatra songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Grammy Award for Record of the Year Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Songs about San Francisco 1969 singles Minit Records singles Bobby Womack songs Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) United States National Recording Registry recordings 1961 in San Francisco San Francisco Giants