I was suprised to learn two things the other day. One, “Linda“, that insipid 1962 bubblegum tune sung by Jan & Dean, was originally written in 1942 by Jack Lawrence. And two, the song was inspired by the one-year-old Linda McCartney, the daughter of Lawrence’s attorney, Lee Eastman.
The song wasn’t published until after Lawrence left the military in ’45 or thereabouts. It was then recorded by a string of performers, the last of which were Jan & Dean. This may be common knowledge among pop music aficionados (i.e., Chris Willman), but I was ignorant until last weekend.