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JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS



LAVERN BAKER



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La Vern Baker



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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. -- Bill Dahl of All Music Guide.
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LINKSYEARTITLE
1956LaVern
1957LaVern Baker
1958LaVern Sings Bessie Smith
1959Precious Memories
1959Saved
1959Blues Ballads
1963See See Rider
1970Let Me Belong To You
1991LaVern Baker Live In Hollywood �91
1991Soul On Fire: The Best Of LaVern Baker
1992Woke Up This Morning
2000The Legend At Her Best
2005Classics: 1949-1954


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1956 LaVern

01. Lots And Lots Of Love
02. Of Course I Do
03. You�ll Be Crying
04. Miracles
05. I�m In A Crying Mood
06. Mine All Mine
07. Harbor Lights
08. I�ll Never Be Free
09. Romance In The Dark
10. Everybody�s Somebody�s Fool
11. How Long Will It Be
12. Fool That I Am


1957 LaVern Baker

01. Jim Dandy
02. Tra La La
03. I Can�t Love You Enough
04. Get Up, Get Up (you sleepy head)
05. That�s All I Need
06. Bop-Ting-A-Ling
07. Tweedlee Dee
08. Still
09. Play It Fair
10. Tomorrow Night
11. That Lucky Old Sun
12. Soul On Fire
13. My Happiness Forever
14. How Can You Leave A Man Like This?


1958 LaVern Sings Bessie Smith

01. Gimme A Pigfoot (and a bottle of beer)
02. Baby Doll
03. On Revival Day
04. Money Blues
05. I Ain�t Gonna Play No Second Fiddle
06. Backwater Blues
07. Empty Bed Blues
08. There�ll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight
09. Nobody Knows You When You�re Down And Out
10. After You�ve Gone
11. Young Woman�s Blues
12. Preaching The Blues


1959 Precious Memories

1959 Saved

1959 Blues Ballads

01. I Cried A Tear
02. If You Love Me
03. You�re Teasing Me
04. Love Me Right
05. Dix-A-Billy
06. So High, So Low
07. I Waited Too Long
08. Why Baby Why
09. Humpty Dumpty Heart
10. It�s So Fine
11. Whipper Snapper
12. St. Louis Blues


1963 See See Rider

01. See See Rider
02. You Better Stop
03. He�s A Real Gone Guy
04. Story Of My Love
05. You Said
06. I�m Leaving You
07. Don�t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes
08. Trying
09. Half Of Your Love
10. A Little Bird Told Me So
11. Endless Love
12. All The Time


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1970 Let Me Belong To You

1991 LaVern Baker Live In Hollywood �91

01. Tweedlee Dee
02. Tomorrow Night
03. See See Rider
04. Play It Fair
05. Jim Dandy
06. St. Louis Blues
07. What A Diff�rence A Day Makes
08. The Reel�s Still Running
09. Sugar Daddy Blues
10. Slow Rollin� Mama
11. He�s A Real Gone Guy
12. That�s My Desire
13. Tennessee Waltz
14. I Cried A Tear
15. Bumble Bee
16. Shake A Hand
17. Saved



1991 Soul On Fire: The Best Of LaVern Baker

01. Soul On Fire
02. Tomorrow Night
03. Tweedlee Dee
04. That�s All I Need
05. Bop-Ting-A-Ling
06. Play It Fair
07. Jim Dandy
08. My Happiness Forever
09. Get Up, Get Up (you sleepy head)
10. Still
11. I Can�t Love You Enough
12. Jim Dandy Got Married
13. I Cried A Tear
14. Whipper Snapper
15. I Waited Too Long
16. Shake A Hand
17. How Often (w/ Ben E King)
18. You Said
19. Saved
20. See See Rider


1992 Woke Up This Morning

01. That�s My Desire
02. You�ve Got A Friend
03. Body And Soul
04. Woke Up This Morning
05. Misty Blue
06. Knock On Wood
07. Trouble In Mind
08. To Love Somebody
09. Why Don�t You Do Right?
10. Nobody Knows You When You�re Down And Out
11. Rock Me Baby
12. You Don�t Miss Your Water
13. I Can�t Turn You Loose
14. Will You Love Me Tomorrow
15. Tennessee Waltz



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2000 The Legend At Her Best

01. Lots And Lots Of Love
02. Of Course I Do
03. You�ll Be Crying
04. Miracles
05. I�m In A Crying Mood
06. Mine All Mine
07. Harbor Lights
08. I�ll Never Be Free
09. Romance In The Dark
10. Everybody�s Somebody�s Fool
11. How Long Will It Be
12. Fool That I Am
13. Jim Dandy
14. Tra La La
15. I Can�t Love You Enough
16. Get Up, Get Up (you sleepy head)
17. That�s All I Need
18. Bop-Ting-A-Ling
19. Tweedlee Dee
20. Still
21. Play It Fair
22. Tomorrow Night
23. That Lucky Old Sun
24. Soul On Fire
25. My Happiness Forever
26. How Can You Leave A Man Like This
27. See See Rider
28. You Better Stop
29. He�s A Real Gone Guy
30. Story Of My Love
31. You Said
32. I�m Leaving You
33. Don�t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes
34. Trying
35. Half Of Your Love
36. A Little Bird Told Me So
37. Endless Love
38. All The Time
39. I Cried A Tear
40. If You Love Me
41. You�re Teasing Me
42. Love Me Right
43. Dix-A-Billy
44. So High, So Low
45. I Waited Too Long
46. Why Baby Why
47. Humpty Dumpty Heart
48. It�s So Fine
49. Whipper Snapper
50. St. Louis Blues


2005 Classics: 1949-1954

01. Easy Baby
02. I Wonder, Baby
03. Take Out Some Time
04. I�ll Try (I�ve tried)
05. How Long
06. I Want To Rock
07. Good Daddy
08. I Want A Lavender Cadillac
09. Make It Good
10. Trying
11. Pig Latin Blues
12. Lost Child
13. Must I Cry Again
14. You�ll Be Crying
15. How Can You Leave A Man Like This
16. Soul On Fire
17. I�m Living My Life For You
18. I�m In A Crying Mood
19. I Can�t Hold Out Any Longer
20. Of Course I Do
21. Tomorrow Night
22. You Better Stop
23. Tweedlee Dee



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