The group recorded the song independently on a two-track machine, located in a facility in the small farming community of San Marcos, California.

She had written the lyrics for "Angel Baby" as a poem for "[her] very first boyfriend" when she was a 14-year-old student at Mission Bay High School in San Diego, California.

The response from listeners prompted Highland Records to sign the band and promote the single.

[4] In 1961, "Angel Baby" was also released in Canada (#3) on the Zirkon label and in Australia and England on London Records.

A remixed version was released in 2004 as a bonus track on a reissue of Lennon's 1975 Rock 'n' Roll album.