“Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” (Edison Lighthouse)

The year 1970 was remarkable for its plentitude of terrific songs, many of them one-hit wonders, so we’re going to spend a bit of time working through the best of that great year in music. Today’s classic 1970 song of the day is one you all know and can sing along with, “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” by Edison Lighthouse. This magical piece of wax was released on February 21, 1970, and peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 a month later, on March 28. It spent 13 weeks in total on the charts, including 7 in the top ten, not exiting the Hot 100 until May 23rd.

“Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” was actually written a few years earlier, by British hitmakers Tony Macaulay and Barry Mason. Macaulay wrote or co-wrote a ton of hits from the late ’60s into the ’70s, including “Baby Now That I’ve Found You” and “Build Me Up Buttercup” for the Foundations, “Smile a Little Smile for Me” for the Flying Machine, “Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again” for the Fortunes, “Don’t Give Up On Us” for David Soul, and “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get to Sleep at All” for the 5th Dimension. Mason was also a songwriter, although with fewer hits to his name, with songs recorded by Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck, the Drifters, Rod Stewart, Petula Clark, Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, and the Dave Clark Five.

As I said, Macaulay and Mason wrote “Love Grows” a few years before it became a hit. It was originally recorded by the artist known as Jefferson (real name: Geoff Turton), who had a later hit with “Baby Take Me In Your Arms” in 1969. That version, which had similar (but not identical) instrumentation, didn’t quite click; Turton’s voice was just a little too thin and night club smarmy for this tune. The Edison Lighthouse version, while similar, is a much better track.

Which brings us to the question of, who exactly were Edison Lighthouse? Well, Edison Lighthouse was a band that didn’t exist. Macauley put together a bunch of British studio musicians to re-record the single and recruited studio pro Tony Burrows to sing lead. Burrows also sang lead for three other singles on the charts at the same time: “United We Stand” by Brotherhood of Man, “My Baby Loves Lovin'” by White Plains, and “Gimme Dat Ding” by the Pipkins, all studio creations. That created a bit of a challenge when two of those songs were featured the same week on the BBC’s Top of the Pops program, which necessitated some rapid costume changes and maybe a fake mustache or two. (And this happened four different times for the shows airing January 29, February 12, February 19, and February 26; the group also made several other appearances on the program but without the company of Burrows’ other fake bands.)

The musicians backing up Mr. Burrows on Top of the Pops were a real group who previously called themselves Greenfield Hammer. They were recruited by Mr. Macaulay to pretend to be “Edison Lighthouse” and mimed the record just fine, thank you. All those Top of the Pops performances helped push “Love Grows” to the #1 position on the UK charts—and stay there for five consecutive weeks. It was the fastest-climbing single in UK chart history at that time, a title it held for more than two decades.

The lyrics of the song paint a picture of one of one of those bell-bottomed young girls with peasant blouses and flowers in their long hair that ran rampant at the turn of the decade. (The year 1970 was still part of the ’60s, but also heralding the upcoming ’70s.) Picture this young lady in your mind:

She ain’t got no money
Her clothes are kinda funny
Her hair is kinda wild and free
Oh, but love grows where my Rosemary goes
And nobody knows like me

She talks kinda lazy
And people say she’s crazy
And her life’s a mystery
Oh, but love grows where my Rosemary goes
And nobody knows like me

Then there’s that line in the bridge that I couldn’t quite understand at the time. It’s the phrase “magical spell,” in this part of the song:

There’s something about her hand holding mine
It’s a feeling that’s fine
And I just gotta say, hey!
She’s really got a magical spell
And it’s working so well
That I can’t get away

There was actually a third, uncredited, co-writer on “Love Grows,” Barry Mason’s then-wife Sylvan. (She got part of the song’s royalties as part of their later divorce settlement.) She claims the song wasn’t about any one girl, that the name “Rosemary” just sounded right:

“Tony [Macaulay] came over with a melody and rough idea for a song, which title originally was ‘It’s My Heart You’ll Be Breaking Apart,’ but he said he wanted to put a girl’s name in the title because that’s what sold records in those days. The girl’s name Rosemary fitted with the title so we started the song from scratch merely using the name Rosemary.”

Musically, it’s the catchy chorus that provides the song’s hook. That’s partly accomplished by a chord progression that moves to two chords per measure in a seemingly inevitable progression: I -iii – vi – I – IV – ii – V7. (In the key of A that’s A – C#m – F#m – A – D – Bm – E7.) The melody throughout is very step-wise, generally following the underlying pentatonic scale. A step-wise melody that follows a rapidly-moving chord progression works every time.

To me, “Love Grows” defines that magical spring of 1970 more than any other song. It had great company, though; the other tunes in the top ten the week of March 28 were:

1. “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (Simon & Garfunkel)
2. “Let It Be” (The Beatles)
3. “Instant Karma (We All Shine On)” (John Lennon)
4. “The Rapper” (The Jaggerz)
5. “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” (Edison Lighthouse)
6. “ABC” (Jackson 5)
7. “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” (The Hollies)
8. “Spirit in the Sky” (Norman Greenbaum)
9. “Give Me Just a Little More Time” (Chairmen of the Board)
10. “Come and Get It” (Badfinger)

I’m guessing if you’re of a certain age you know all of these as well as other biggies bubbling just under the top, including “Easy Come, Easy Go” by Bobby Sherman, “Ma Belle Amie” by Tee Set, “Rainy Night in Georgia” by Brooks Benton, “Celebrate” by Three Dog Night, “Kentucky Rain” by Elvis Presley, “Evil Ways” by Santana,” “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” by the Delfonics, and the double-sided hit “Travelin’ Band”/”Who’ll Stop the Rain,” by Creedence Clearwater Revival. What a time to be listening to the radio and buying 45s in your local record shop!