The song of the day for Sunday, March 1, 2020, is “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
About This Song
“I Left My Heart In San Francisco” was written in 1953 by George Cory and Douglass Cross. They were songwriters from San Francisco and wrote it while homesick. As Bennett’s musical director, songwriters were constantly giving Ralph Sharon copies of their songs. Cross and Cory had done that and Sharon had stuck the song in a drawer and forgotten all about it. In 1961, he and Bennett were heading out on tour, which included a stop in San Francisco at The Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill. Sharon came across the music and thought it might be a nice local number for the San Francisco audience.
About This Version
In 1962 when Bennett sang “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” at the White House Sessions concert, the song was relatively new in Bennett’s repertoire. The single was released in February 1962 and by the summer of that year, it had become quite popular, though it was not yet his signature song. It’s a really lovely recording, captured on Bennett/Brubeck: The White House Sessions, Live 1962.
“I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” as well as Bennett/Brubeck: The White House Sessions, Live 1962, is available from iTunes.