LaVern Baker
Wikimp3 information about the music of LaVern Baker. On our website we have 70 albums and 45 collections of artist LaVern Baker. You can find useful information and download songs of this artist. We also know that LaVern Baker represents Pop genres.
Biography
[Edit]LaVern Baker was one of the sexiest divas gracing the mid-'50s rock & roll circuit, boasting a brashly seductive vocal delivery tailor-made for belting the catchy novelties "Tweedlee Dee," "Bop-Ting-a-Ling," and "Tra La La" for Atlantic Records during rock's first wave of prominence.
Born Delores Williams, she was singing at the Club DeLisa on Chicago's south side at age 17, decked out in raggedy attire and billed as "Little Miss Sharecropper" (the same handle that she made her recording debut under for RCA Victor with Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar's band in 1949). She changed her name briefly to Bea Baker when recording for OKeh in 1951 with Maurice King's Wolverines, then settled on the first name of LaVern when she joined Todd Rhodes' band as featured vocalist in 1952 (she fronted Rhodes' aggregation on the impassioned ballad "Trying" for Cincinnati's King Records).
LaVern signed with Atlantic as a solo in 1953, debuting with the incendiary "Soul on Fire." The coy, Latin-tempo "Tweedlee Dee" was a smash in 1955 on both the R&B and pop charts, although her impact on the latter was blunted when squeaky-clean Georgia Gibbs covered it for Mercury. An infuriated Baker filed suit over the whitewashing, but she lost. By that time, though, her star had ascended: Baker's "Bop-Ting-A-Ling," "Play It Fair," "Still," and the rocking "Jim Dandy" all vaulted into the R&B Top Ten over the next couple of years.
Baker's statuesque figure and charismatic persona made her a natural for TV and movies. She co-starred on the historic R&B revue segment on Ed Sullivan's TV program in November of 1955 and did memorable numbers in Alan Freed's rock movies Rock, Rock, Rock and Mr. Rock & Roll. Her Atlantic records remained popular throughout the decade: she hit big in 1958 with the ballad "I Cried a Tear," adopted a pseudo-sanctified bellow for the rousing Leiber & Stoller-penned gospel sendup "Saved" in 1960, and cut a Bessie Smith tribute album before leaving Atlantic in 1964. A brief stop at Brunswick Records (where she did a sassy duet with Jackie Wilson, "Think Twice") preceded a late-'60s jaunt to entertain the troops in Vietnam. She became seriously ill after the trip and was hospitalized, eventually settling far out of the limelight in the Philippines. She remained there for 22 years, running an NCO club on Subic Bay for the U.S. government.
Finally, in 1988, Baker returned stateside to star in Atlantic's 40th anniversary bash at New York's Madison Square Garden. That led to a soundtrack appearance in the film Dick Tracy, a starring role in the Broadway musical Black & Blue (replacing her ex-Atlantic labelmate Ruth Brown), a nice comeback disc for DRG (Woke Up This Mornin'), and a memorable appearance at the Chicago Blues Festival. Baker died on March 10, 1997.
Title: Precious Memories - LaVern Baker Sings Gospel
Artist: LaVern Baker
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Rock
Title: Soul On Fire: Thes Best Of LaVerne Baker (US Release)
Artist: LaVern Baker
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B
Title: Milestones Of Legends: Kings & Queens Of R&B, Vol. 7
Artist: LaVern Baker
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Collections
Title: Atlantic Rock & Roll Series (CD2)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Rock & Roll, Pop
Title: Rhythm & Soul 100 (CD1)
Title: Overseas Rhythm & Blues Vol. 1 (All Tracks Remastered)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Funk
Title: Overseas Rhythm & Blues Vol. 2 (All Tracks Remastered)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Funk
Title: Rhythm & Blues Attitude Vol. 1
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Funk
Title: Rhythm & Blues Attitude Vol. 2
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Funk
Title: Killer B's: U. S. R&B Hits
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Blues
Title: A Shot Of Rhythm & Blues (All Tracks Remastered)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Sweet Soul
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Gospel, Jazz, Rock, World Music, Classical, Smooth Jazz
Title: 100 Greatest Women In Pop (CD2)
Genre: Pop
Title: R&B Feel That Music: Remastering Mix (CD3)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Funk
Title: Soulful 60s
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: The Magic Of Rhythm And Blues Vol. 1
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B
Title: Whiskey Rock Blues
Genre: Blues Rock
Title: '50s R&B Essentials
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Pop
Title: RnB: Music Is My Life (CD2)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B
Title: Play It Again, Vol. 1: R&B Answers, Copycats And Follow-Ups
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Rock, Punk Rock, Funk
Title: Early Deep Soul Divas 1954-1962
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Classic Soul Anthology - 50 Original Songs
Genre: Pop
Title: 20 Greatest Female Songs (All Tracks Remastered)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Jazz, Pop
Title: Great American Songbooks: The Songs Of Leiber And Stoller
Genre: Rock, Rock & Roll, Punk Rock, Pop
Title: Soho Scandal '62: Early Mod R&B Dancers (Remastered)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Golden Years 1948-1957 · The Hits From A To Z ·, Vol. 25
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Rock, Punk Rock, Pop
Title: Golden Years 1948-1957 · The Hits From A To Z ·, Vol. 26
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Rock, Punk Rock, Pop
Title: Early Girls, Volume 4
Genre: Soul
Title: The 1959 R&B Hits Collection (CD1)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: The 1959 R&B Hits Collection (CD3)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: The 1959 R&B Hits Collection (CD2)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: Deep Rhythm & Blues (All Tracks Remastered)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B
Title: Golden Years 1948-1957 · The Hits From A To Z (Vol. 71)
Genre: Pop
Title: Golden Years 1948-1957 · The Hits From A To Z (Vol. 65)
Genre: Pop
Title: Golden Years 1948-1957 · The Hits From A To Z (Vol. 61)
Genre: Pop
Title: Sixties Hits And More (CD1)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Rock, Punk Rock, Pop
Title: Soulful Sixties 2024
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: American Pop Classics The 50's
Genre: Pop
Title: Jazz - The Best - Standards And Rarities 2024
Genre: Jazz
Title: Soulful America 2024 (CD2)
Genre: Soul
Featuring albums
Title: Best of Rock 'n' Roll & Jukebox Music: 100 Greatest Hits from the 50s & 60s
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Rock