San Francisco Is a Lonely Town

"San Francisco Is a Lonely Town" is a song written in 1969 by Nashville songwriter Ben Peters. Two versions of the song charted in 1969 – one by Ben Peters himself (#46 country, Peters' only charting hit),[1] and the single by Joe Simon, which reached #79 on the US pop charts, #29 on the R&B charts.[2]

Other versions of the song released in 1969 were by Roberta Sherwood (single), Mel Carter (single),[3] Eddy Arnold on his album The Warmth of Eddy,[4] Fred Hughes on his album Baby Boy,[5] Charlie Rich on his album The Fabulous Charlie Rich,[6] and O. C. Smith on his album O. C. Smith at Home.[7]

African-American country artist Linda Martell covered the song on her 1970 album Color Me Country.[8] Vicki Carr put the tune on her 1971 album The Ways to Love a Man.[9] Glen Campbell covered it on his 1976 album Bloodline,[10] and Jimmy "Orion" Ellis on his 1979 album Sunrise.[11]

The most recent version to chart was that of Nick Nixon, a country musician whose cover hit #86 on the country charts in 1979.[12]

The Charlie Rich version was remixed by the French group Nouvelle Vague on the 2007 remix album Late Night Tales: Nouvelle Vague.[13]

Review

Novelist/songwriter Alice Randall reviewed Linda Martell's album Color Me Country in 2010, and wrote, "The second cut, the Ben Peters–penned "San Francisco Is a Lonely Town," is a variation on the Harlan Howard masterpiece "Streets of Baltimore." Here a young couple sets off on a Greyhound for San Francisco, only to discover the distractions of the big city dilute love. Peters, who wrote a signature song for country legend Charley Pride ("Kiss an Angel Good Morning"), captures the spunk and sorrow of the adventure—but more interestingly, Martell's performance captures a bit of San Francisco few have seen—the kids who arrived not in beat-up Volkswagens but on the bus; the kids who weren't white, who were brown; the kids who came not from Eastern cities, but from Southern towns. Linda Martell portrays just such a girl-woman convincingly."[14]

References

  1. ↑ Joel Whitburn Presents Across the Charts: The 1960s, Joel Whitburn, 2008, p. 296
  2. ↑ Allmusic, charting singles from the 1969 Joe Simon album The Chokin' Kind
  3. ↑ Amazon.com listing for published version of song
  4. ↑ Allmusic entry for The Warmth of Eddie
  5. ↑ Discogs listing for Baby Boy
  6. ↑ Allmusic entry for The Fabulous Charlie Rich
  7. ↑ Allmusic entry for O. C. Smith at Home
  8. ↑ Alice Randall review of Color Me Country
  9. ↑ track listing for Ways to Love a Man
  10. ↑ Allmusic entry for Bloodline
  11. ↑ Allmusic entry for Sunrise
  12. ↑ Music VF listing for the Nixon version
  13. ↑ Track info for Late Night Tales: Nouvelle Vague
  14. ↑ Alice Randall review of Color Me Country