San Francisco Is a Lonely Town

"San Francisco Is a Lonely Town" is a song written in 1969 by the 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]

Review

The novelist and 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."[3]

Other versions

Other versions of the song released in 1969 and after, were by:

• Roberta Sherwood (single)
• Mel Carter (single),[4]
• Eddy Arnold on his album The Warmth of Eddy,[5]
• Fred Hughes on his album Baby Boy,[6]
• Charlie Rich on his album The Fabulous Charlie Rich,[7] The Charlie Rich version was remixed by the French group Nouvelle Vague on the 2007 remix album Late Night Tales: Nouvelle Vague.[8]
• O. C. Smith on his album O.C. Smith at Home.[9]
• Linda Martell, the African-American country artist, recorded the song on her 1970 album Color Me Country.[10]
• Vikki Carr put the tune on her 1971 album The Ways to Love a Man.[11]
• Glen Campbell recorded it on his 1976 album Bloodline,[12]
• Jimmy "Orion" Ellis on his 1979 album Sunrise.[13]
• Nick Nixon, a country musician whose cover reached #86 on the country charts in 1979.[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. Alice Randall review of Color Me Country Archived 2 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine
4. Amazon.com listing for published version of song
5. Allmusic entry for The Warmth of Eddie
6. Discogs listing for Baby Boy
7. Allmusic entry for The Fabulous Charlie Rich
8. Track information for Late Night Tales: Nouvelle Vague
9. Allmusic entry for O. C. Smith at Home
10. Alice Randall review of Color Me Country Archived 2 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine
11. Track listing for Ways to Love a Man
12. Allmusic entry for Bloodline
13. Allmusic entry for Sunrise
14. Music VF listing for the Nixon version