Hi all, I just heard that rosie hamlin of rosie and the originals has passed
away at age 71, and she passed
today so I will paste an article I just got about this.
Multiple Sources but no publications yet.
Rosie Hamlin of Rosie & the Originals, Angel Baby, has died. Following is an
edited Wiki bio...
Rosie and the Originals were an American 1960s group best known for their
single, "Angel Baby." Fronted by lead singer Rosie Hamlin, the group produced
two singles (including "Angel Baby") for Highland Records and, like many other
artists of the era, ended up in protracted legal battles with their record
label over royalties and credits.
Rosalie "Rosie" Méndez Hamlin was born in Klamath Falls, Oregon, on July 21,
1945, to a Mexican mother and an Anglo-American father. She spent part of her
childhood between Anchorage, Alaska and California, before her family moved to
National City, California. She started singing with a band at thirteen. She
wrote the lyrics for "Angel Baby" as a poem for "my very first boyfriend" when
she was 14 years old, still attending Mission Bay High School in San Diego,
California. When she was 15, she and some friends rented the only recording
studio they could find within 100 miles of San Diego located in San Marcos,
California, to record the song. The studio was owned by an airplane mechanic
who had taken part of his hangar to make it. The resulting record had a very
simplistic sound, and, in fact, was eventually slightly damaged from excessive
playing, so the group was unable to find a record label to distribute
it.[citation needed] Finally, after taking the master to a department store,
they convinced a manager to play it in the listening booth of the store's music
department. The song received positive reactions from teenage listeners, and a
scout from Highland Records offered the group a recording contract, under the
condition that the company take possession of the master recording, and that
David Ponce be named as the author of the song, as he was the eldest member of
the group.
"Angel Baby" made its radio debut in November 1960, before the group had even
received their contract. When the contract finally came, Hamlin found that she
was ineligible to collect record royalties from the song because she was not
listed as the songwriter. This led to the group's break-up, and although Hamlin
secured the copyright to her music in 1961, decades of battles over royalties
followed.
In 1961, "Angel Baby" was also released in Canada on the Zirkon label and in
Australia and England on London Records. The British release slightly edited
the intro.
After leaving Highland Records, Hamlin recorded a full-length album with
guitarist Noah Tafolla for Brunswick Records and toured with the label's other
artists.
Hamlin and Tafolla married and had two children together. Their son, Joey
Tafolla, is well known Jag Panzer guitarist. In 1963, Hamlin retired from
singing to spend time with her family.
She returned to record singles in 1969 and again in 1973, performing
occasionally throughout the 1970s and 1980s and more regularly throughout the
1990s and 2000s.
In a 1969 interview with Life magazine, John Lennon named Hamlin as one of his
favorite singers. As can be heard on circulating recordings, the Beatles
mention the song "Give Me Love" during sessions on 01/24/69. Lennon and friends
can be heard in a quickly busked version of "Angel Baby," taped at his birthday
in 1971. Lennon recorded a studio version of "Angel Baby" for his 1975 Rock 'n'
Roll album, but the track would go unissued until 1986's Menlove Avenue. Rosie
and the Originals are referenced by Led Zeppelin in the liner notes from their
1973 album Houses of the Holy, following the printed lyrics of the song "D'yer
Mak'er" (pronounced, "Jamaica"). The quote is "Whatever happened to Rosie and
the Originals?" "Rosie" also shows up in the Led Zeppelin song "How Many More
Times".
In 1995, Rosie & the Originals were portrayed in the film My Family, performing
"Angel Baby." Hamlin's part was played by Jeanette Jurado, of the group Expose.
In 1996, Linda Ronstadt recorded a version of "Angel Baby" for her album
Dedicated to the One I Love.
In 1999, Ace Records released The Best of Rosie & the Originals, including all
the Highland tracks as well as Brunswick recordings and unreleased tracks. The
following year, the label released the album Angel Baby Revisited, with
previously unreleased material.
In 2002, Hamlin performed "Angel Baby" on a PBS-TV program, Red White & Rock.
Rosalie Hamlin passed away on March 31, 2017.
Ray Arthur
I will paste in one of the lesser known rosie and the originals songs, why did
you leave me.
Marty
