With The Beatles, John Lennon helped invent the concept of eclectic pop, taking influence from various artists across the musical spectrum to collate under one sonic umbrella. The Fab Four forever pushed boundaries and conjured up spellbinding songs that had no right to work on paper.
Lennon was blessed with an inquisitive mind relating to every aspect of his life, including music. Despite being a member of the most celebrated band on the planet, Lennon wasn’t a snob and got his kicks from absurdly unexpected genres.
While R&B was his first love, with artists such as Little Richard and Chuck Berry creating a blueprint that allowed The Beatles to thrive, Lennon wasn’t solely focused on that area of the musical spectrum. By the time The Beatles had risen to prominence, the doo-wop craze had reached its natural conclusion, largely due to the new wave of bands.
Although most had lost interest in this derelict scene, Lennon kept one song particularly close to his heart. The group in question is a one-hit wonder, but it’sthe B-side captured Lennon’s imagination, even though it likely meant little to many.
Lennon’s ability to find the magic in places where few can see beauty was one of his innate skills, which helped him become an iconic artist capable of painting majestic sonic soundscapes littered with love.
For most people who are familiar with Rosie and the Originals, they will only know ‘Angel Baby’. The track was released as their debut single in 1960, landing at five on the Billboard Hot 100, and plucked the group into fame from obscurity.
However, rather than the success of ‘Angel Baby’ creating a platform for Rosie and the Originals to become pop superstars, their next two singles failed to replicate the success. Before releasing an album, they were dropped by their record label but found a home with Brunswick, who shared their debut offering in 1962.
After Lonely Blue Nights failed to inspire the masses, singer Rosie Hamlin briefly toured as a solo artist before hanging up her microphone and focusing on her family. Despite her immense talent, Hamlin aborted her dreams of superstardom, but she did find a fan in Lennon.
In 1973, Lennon recorded a cover of ‘Angel Baby’, which eventually featured on the 1986 posthumous album Menlove Ave. In the liner notes, Lennon is credited as describing one of his favourite songs and says, “Send my love to Rosie, wherever she may.”
While ‘Angel Baby’ was a favourite, Lennon held even more love for the B-side, ‘Give Me Love’. In contrast to the A-side, a polished piece of pop perfection, ‘Give Me Love’ was hastily recorded, but Lennon found it remarkable despite being created on the fly.
When making ‘Give Me Love’, Rosie and the Originals only had one song to their name. Unlike many acts who are ready to release an album before recording a single song, ‘Angel Baby’ was the only song they had in their arsenal.
Bereft of ideas, Hamlin gave control to her bandmates and let them take the reins on ‘Give Me Love’. With limited time to get the track right, they were forced to adlib the verses, and while this should never have worked, it somehow did.
Lennon professed his love for ‘Give Me Love’ in 1969, telling Jonathan Cott: “This is really one of the greatest strange records, It’s all just out of beat, and everyone misses it. The A-side was the hit, ‘Angel Baby’— which is one of my favourite songs — and they knocked off the B-side in ten minutes. I’m always talking Yoko’s ear off, telling her about these songs, saying, ‘Look, this is this! This is this… and this… and this!’”
Eventually, Hamlin received some of the flowers she duly deserved and later returned to the music industry. In 2002, she participated in a series of revival shows, including at Madison Square Garden in New York, before retiring due to a medical condition. While it wasn’t quite the land of milk and honey, Hamlin was back where she belonged.
