"I Left My Heart in San Francisco" is a popular song, written in 1954, and most known as Tony Bennett's signature song, from his 1962 album of the same name.
The music was written by George Cory, with lyrics by Douglass Cross. Although the song was originally written for Claramae Turner, who often used it as an encore, she never got around to recording it. The song found its way to Tony Bennett through Ralph Sharon, Bennett's longtime accompanist and friends with the composers. It was Sharon who brought the music along when he and Bennett were on tour and on their way to San Francisco.
The first recording of the song was by Tony Bennett and became a chart hit in 1962. It reached number 19 on the U.S. pop singles chart and spent close to a year on various other charts, achieving gold record status. It then won the top prize of Grammy Award for Record of the Year, as well as for Best Male Solo Vocal Performance. In 2001 it was ranked 23rd on an RIAA/NEA list of the most historically significant Songs of the 20th Century. The song was also covered in 1969 by now legendary R&B recording artist Bobby Womack for Minit Records, on the album My Prescription. it peaked at #48 on the Billboard R&B charts that year.
The song was adopted by the City and County of San Francisco as one of its two official anthems (the other being the title song from the 1936 film San Francisco). It has often been performed in public by Bennett in concert as well as on special occasions, most notably in the final National Football League game at Kezar Stadium featuring the San Francisco 49ers, game three of the 2002 World Series in San Francisco, and at the reopening of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge after sections of the bridge were damaged by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Bennett's recording of the song is also played over the public address system at AT&T Park after all San Francisco Giants home game victories.
In his concerts in the 2000s, Bennett typically performs the song mid-way through his set, after which the house lights are turned up while the audience engages in extended applause. When that finally subsides, the house lights go down and the show resumes. On November 8, 2006, Bennett performed "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He stated that his first performance of that song was also on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson when the song was first released in 1962, on Johnny Carson's first night on the show.
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