A Valentine’s Day a bit back, we shared versions of the most romantic song ever written, “Besame Mucho”, composed by 16 year-old Consuelo Velasquez.
But the second most romantic song ever, “Angel Baby” was also written by a very young woman — Mexican-American Rosalie Mendez Hamlin —- aka ‘Rosie’ of Rosie and the Originals.
Hamlin wrote the original version when she was 15 years old. It topped the charts after being released in December, 1960, staying on the Billboard Hot 100 for 13 weeks. She is the first Latina to be honored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the exhibit “One-Hit Wonders.”
There’s a rock-and-roll version of the tune by John Lennon, who proclaimed Rosie to be his favorite singer:
And an equally rockin’ banda version by Jenni Rivera:
Linda Rondstadt’s gives it a sweet ballad make-over:
And there’s a lovely new and recently released bilingual version, by Toluca, Mexico-born jazz pop singer Nancy Sanchez.
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And yes, because we know you really want to… here’s a Karaoke version for you to create your own hot version of the second most romantic song ever:
https://youtu.be/Cgs0zajRQMk
Rosie Hamlin passed away just last year, but no doubt her beautiful, romantic tune will live on in our hearts for a long, long time.
Happy Valentine’s Day! ¡Feliz Día del Amor y de la Amistad!
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