"If You're Going To San Francisco...

... be sure to wear some flowers in your hair..." - John Phillips, "San Francisco"

San Francisco was THE place to be from 1965-1970, particularly in '67 -the Summer of Love- where it was the center of the hippie revolution. The revolution all started with the first human "be-in"-- a gathering of hippies in January, and that summer they converged into a crowd of around 100,000 to the city. They had psychoactive drugs, free love, and some amazing music, straight from the nearby Monterey Pop Festival: the Byrds, Janis Joplin with Big Brother and Holding Company, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, and many more from what is known as the "San Francisco Sound." Even the British visited-- George and Pattie Harrison (Beatle and model) dropped in to see the LSD capital of the world, and Brian Jones (Rolling Stones) was at Monterey with Nico. The Summer of Love ended officially in October with the "Death of the Hippie" ceremony, but the Flower Children live on.

(Photos from: Charles W. Cushman, Summer of Love Gallery, and Hippie Life.)