San Franciscan Nights
Encyclopedia
"San Franciscan Nights" is a 1967 song performed by Eric Burdon and The Animals, with words and music by the group's members, Eric Burdon
, Vic Briggs
, John Weider
, Barry Jenkins
, and Danny McCulloch
. A paean
to San Francisco, it was the biggest hit that the new band — as opposed to the first-incarnation Animals of the mid-1960s — would have, reaching a peak position of number 1 on the Canadian RPM
charts, number 9 on the U.S. pop singles chart
and number 7 on the UK pop singles chart
.
The band wrote this song themselves, which takes a stand against the Vietnam War
. Looking back on the song in a 2010 interview with Songfacts, Burdon said:"The 'Love Generation' helped the anti-war stance in the States. It certainly turned a lot of soldiers' heads around, making them wonder why they had to be out fighting a war when back home their girlfriends were frolicking around and it caused a lot of anguish on that level. Maybe it helped politically with the so-called enemy. I'm not sure."
The song opens with a brief parody of the Dragnet theme. This is followed by a spoken word dedication by Burdon "to the city and people of San Francisco, who may not know it but they are beautiful and so is their city," with Burdon urging European residents to "save up all your bread and fly Trans Love Airways to San Francisco, U.S.A.," to enable them to "understand the song," and "for the sake of your own peace of mind."
The melody then begins with lyrics about a warm 1967 San Franciscan night, with hallucinogenic images of a "strobe light's beam" creating dreams, walls and minds moving, angels singing, "jeans of blue," and "Harley Davidsons too," contrasted with a "cop's face is filled with hate" (on a street called "Love") and an appeal to the "old cop" and the "young cop" to just "feel all right." Pulling in as many 1960s themes as possible, the song then concludes with a plea that the American dream include "Indians too."
The flipside of the UK version of this single was a song called "Gratefully Dead", another nod from the Animals to the San Francisco scene
.
Burdon's notion that San Francisco's nights are warm drew some derision from Americans more familiar with the city's climate – best exemplified by the apocryphal Mark Twain
saying "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco" – and music writer Lester Bangs
thought Burdon's notion "inexplicable".
At a concert in Naperville, Illinois
in 2010, Burdon said the song was written about an evening with Janis Joplin
in San Francisco.
band Sfinx
recorded in 1967 a cover version
of the song with a totally different set of lyrics. It was never released on disc and is now known both as "Toamna" (ro.
"Autumn") and "Nu mai sunt flori de mai" (ro. "No more flowers of May"). The guitar riff in the song's original version is doubled by the French horn, played by hornist Petre Iordache. Lead vocals are sung by guitarist Octav Zemlicka.
Japanese Psychedelic Rock band The Mops
released a cover in 1968 on their debut album Psychedelic Sounds in Japan.
The song was covered by Harpo
and later by Vktms.
The Hip Hop
group by the name of People Under The Stairs
sampled a version of this song as performed by Gábor Szabó
& The California Dreamers from the 1967 album Wind, Sky, And Diamonds.
On The Drew Carey Show
, Drew and his band (featuring Joe Walsh
) covered this song with new lyrics about Cleveland, Ohio
.
Eric Burdon
Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer-songwriter best known as a founding member and vocalist of rock band The Animals, and the funk rock band War and for his aggressive stage performance...
, Vic Briggs
Vic Briggs
Victor Harvey Briggs III is a former blues and rock musician, best known as the lead guitarist with Eric Burdon and The Animals during the 1966-1968 period...
, John Weider
John Weider
John Weider is a rock musician who plays guitar, bass, and violin. He is best known as the bass player for the British band, Family from 1969 to 1971.-Biography:...
, Barry Jenkins
Barry Jenkins
Colin Ernest "Barry" Jenkins is an English musician, who is best known for being a drummer for The Animals during both of that 1960s group's incarnations....
, and Danny McCulloch
Danny McCulloch
Daniel Joseph 'Danny' McCulloch is an English musician, best known for having been the bassist of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Eric Burdon & The Animals....
. A paean
Paean
A paean is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In classical antiquity, it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice...
to San Francisco, it was the biggest hit that the new band — as opposed to the first-incarnation Animals of the mid-1960s — would have, reaching a peak position of number 1 on the Canadian RPM
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...
charts, number 9 on the U.S. pop singles chart
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and number 7 on the UK pop singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
The band wrote this song themselves, which takes a stand against the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Looking back on the song in a 2010 interview with Songfacts, Burdon said:"The 'Love Generation' helped the anti-war stance in the States. It certainly turned a lot of soldiers' heads around, making them wonder why they had to be out fighting a war when back home their girlfriends were frolicking around and it caused a lot of anguish on that level. Maybe it helped politically with the so-called enemy. I'm not sure."
The song opens with a brief parody of the Dragnet theme. This is followed by a spoken word dedication by Burdon "to the city and people of San Francisco, who may not know it but they are beautiful and so is their city," with Burdon urging European residents to "save up all your bread and fly Trans Love Airways to San Francisco, U.S.A.," to enable them to "understand the song," and "for the sake of your own peace of mind."
The melody then begins with lyrics about a warm 1967 San Franciscan night, with hallucinogenic images of a "strobe light's beam" creating dreams, walls and minds moving, angels singing, "jeans of blue," and "Harley Davidsons too," contrasted with a "cop's face is filled with hate" (on a street called "Love") and an appeal to the "old cop" and the "young cop" to just "feel all right." Pulling in as many 1960s themes as possible, the song then concludes with a plea that the American dream include "Indians too."
The flipside of the UK version of this single was a song called "Gratefully Dead", another nod from the Animals to the San Francisco scene
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
.
Burdon's notion that San Francisco's nights are warm drew some derision from Americans more familiar with the city's climate – best exemplified by the apocryphal Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
saying "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco" – and music writer Lester Bangs
Lester Bangs
Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist, author and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock 'n' roll criticism....
thought Burdon's notion "inexplicable".
At a concert in Naperville, Illinois
Naperville, Illinois
Naperville is a city in DuPage and Will Counties in Illinois in the United States, voted the second best place to live in the United States by Money Magazine in 2006. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 141,853. It is the fifth largest city in the state, behind Chicago,...
in 2010, Burdon said the song was written about an evening with Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
in San Francisco.
Cover versions
Romanian rockRomanian rock
Romanian rock is a genre of popular music in Romania. It was influenced by changes in Romanian politics to such an extreme, that both the themes and styles of musicians, and the tastes and interests of listeners, changed dramatically with every major event in Romania's internal politics.As a...
band Sfinx
Sfinx (band)
Sfinx was one of the most appreciated Romanian rock acts in the 1970s, along with Phoenix.-The early years :The band was formed in 1963, in Bucharest. It was singer and guitarist Octav Zemlicka who had the idea to start the band...
recorded in 1967 a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the song with a totally different set of lyrics. It was never released on disc and is now known both as "Toamna" (ro.
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
"Autumn") and "Nu mai sunt flori de mai" (ro. "No more flowers of May"). The guitar riff in the song's original version is doubled by the French horn, played by hornist Petre Iordache. Lead vocals are sung by guitarist Octav Zemlicka.
Japanese Psychedelic Rock band The Mops
The Mops
The Mops were a Japanese psychedelic rock/garage rock group active in the late 1960s and early 1970s.-History:The Mops were formed in 1966 by a group of high schoolers: Mikiharu Suzuki , Taro Miyuki , Masaru Hoshi , and Kaoru Murakami...
released a cover in 1968 on their debut album Psychedelic Sounds in Japan.
The song was covered by Harpo
Harpo (singer)
Harpo is a Swedish pop star known under the stage name Harpo. He was popular in Sweden and around Europe in the 1970s and is best known for his worldwide hit "Moviestar", which reached number 24 in the UK Singles Chart, and number 2 in the Australian Singles Chart in 1976...
and later by Vktms.
The Hip Hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
group by the name of People Under The Stairs
People Under the Stairs
People Under the Stairs is a hip hop group from Los Angeles, California formed in 1997 by Thes One and Double K. The group has released eight critically acclaimed full-length albums and performed on every continent except Antarctica. It is estimated that the group has performed well over 1,000 sold...
sampled a version of this song as performed by Gábor Szabó
Gábor Szabó
Gábor Szabó was a Hungarian jazz guitarist, famous for mixing jazz, pop-rock and his native Hungarian music.-Biography:...
& The California Dreamers from the 1967 album Wind, Sky, And Diamonds.
On The Drew Carey Show
The Drew Carey Show
The Drew Carey Show is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from 1995 to 2004. The show was set in Cleveland, Ohio, and revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalized version of the actor....
, Drew and his band (featuring Joe Walsh
Joe Walsh
Joseph Fidler "Joe" Walsh is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has been a member of three commercially successful bands, the James Gang, Barnstorm, and the Eagles, and has experienced notable success as a solo artist and prolific session musician, especially with B.B...
) covered this song with new lyrics about Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
.
External links
- Listen to the cover version by Sfinx