George C. Cory Jr. (August 3, 1920 – April 11, 1978) was an American pianist and composer whose most notable work was the music to the song "

I Left My Heart in San Francisco "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" is a popular song, written in the fall of 1953 in Brooklyn, New York, with music by George Cory (1920–1978) and lyrics by Douglass Cross and best known as the signature song of Tony Bennett. In 1962, the ...

". His partner, Douglass Cross, wrote the lyrics. When the song was written in 1953, Cory and Cross were amateur

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

s who had moved to New York following military service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and had become homesick for the West Coast. After pitching the song unsuccessfully to other artists for about eight years, the song was picked up by

Ralph Sharon Ralph Simon Sharon (September 17, 1923 – March 31, 2015) was a British-American jazz pianist and arranger. He is best known for working with Tony Bennett as his pianist on numerous recordings and live performances. Biography Ralph Sharon was bo ...

, Tony Bennett's musical director, who suggested to Bennett that it would be a good song for a 1962 "Happy New Year" engagement scheduled at the Fairmont Hotel in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Mayor

George Christopher George Christopher (born George Christopheles; December 8, 1907 – September 14, 2000) was a Greek-American politician who served as the 34th mayor of San Francisco from 1956 to 1964. He is the most recent Republican to be elected mayor of San ...

and future mayor

Joseph L. Alioto Joseph Lawrence Alioto (February 12, 1916 – January 29, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 36th mayor of San Francisco, California, from 1968 to 1976. Biography Alioto was born in San Francisco in 1916. His father, Giuseppe ...

were in attendance. After a good response to the song, Bennett recorded it shortly thereafter and released it in February 1962. The song became an enduring hit and in 1969 was named as the official song of San Francisco. The two authors were present at the meeting when the city's board of governors selected it by a unanimous decision.

Early career

Cory grew up in the San Francisco area and attended Old Mill School in

Mill Valley Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

. He attended Tamalpais High, class of 1937. He studied music at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

, then enlisted in the army on September 14, 1942. While in the army, he met Douglass Cross who was also in the service at the time. Cross had been a baritone soloist (and youngest member) of the San Francisco Opera Company in 1941 when his career was interrupted by the war. During the war, Cory and Cross collaborated on musical shows for servicemen. After military service, the two moved to Brooklyn, New York, to make a career of songwriting and met with mixed success. They wrote over 200 songs together, but only 30 were published. The song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" was their only commercial success. The song provided them income for life when it became an international hit. In 2003, authors Cory and Cross received the "Towering Song Award" for the song, given by the Songwriters Hall of Fame and presented at the National Academy of Popular Music's 34th annual induction ceremony. Tony Bennett received the "Towering Performance Award" for his trademark rendition of the song.

Later life

Cory died in his San Francisco apartment on April 11, 1978. He had been despondent in previous weeks over failing health, according to the coroner's office. He was 57.

Early career

Later life

References

Further reading