LITTLE YELLOW ROSES


By Trevor Peacock



I have just received a reply to the letter which I wrote to Trevor Peacock enquiring about the origin of the song Little Yellow Roses I reproduce the letter below, in full.

Dear Geoff,
Re-"Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War"
What a wonderful subject! I hope your searching will lead to a book, or part of a book. I don't think I can help much, but here goes…
Around 56 years ago I was involved writing scripts, and then some songs for BBC TV. The pop world was in its infancy, and I wrote for, amongst others, Joe Brown, The Vernon Girls, Jess Conrad, and Adam Faith. I seem to remember writing Little Yellow Roses for a B side for Adam in about 1962. I wrote the tune and the lyrics, and John Barry did that particular arrangement, as I worked with him a lot. I hadn't heard the song for half a century until your letter arrived. I don't remember writing it for the Spanish Civil War specifically – it was a song for ALL freedom fighters really. So I'm afraid Fay Hield has made the wrong assumption. I'm now wondering if it's registered with PRS, so I'd better check. I hope this clarifies the situation.

Yours, Trevor Peacock

There was a PS written on the back of the envelope which said Yes, fully documented with P.R.S."Little Yellow Roses"

Thank you for giving us the provenance of your song Trevor and thanks to all the Mudcatters who contributed to the chase.
I have now relocated all the posts about this song so that they can be reached using a link in the TOPIC LIST