Customer Reviews

Lavern / Lavern Baker

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Growing up in the early 70's, I first heard Jim Dandy and Tweedlee Dee on the now lost(to stupid corporate decision-making) WCBS-FM. I purchased this CD about 5 years ago. Although I don't hold record company types in high esteem, there have been exceptions. The Ertegun brothers and the late Jerry Wexler were true geniuses. As with Motown, it's not just that LaVern was a great singer - she had great musicians behind her - the Atlantic Records studio people. Anyway, there are many great songs on this collection, but the following really get me; Romance in the dark, Everybody's Somebody's Fool which is ethereal sounding, gorgeous, How long will it be which is a great slow-50's rocker, Fool that I am, which I would categorize as a torch song, the upbeat I can't love you enough, Tweedlee Dee which is still my favorite, and finally How can you leave a man like this? in which LaVern gives a growling ballsy rock and roll performance - listen to the great electric guitar playing in the last song as well. I love this collection and plan on adding more LaVern Baker cd's to my collection. To sum up, this set has variety - blues, jazz, Rock & Roll, the musicians were wonderful, and Baker was a singer extraordinaire. Buy it, you'll love it.

Reminiscing about her childhood and music influences,Tina Turner said that she remember glamourous women with a slick hair and beauty mark on their faces - she must have been talking about La Vern Baker who was (along with Ruth Brown) one of the first female rock singers of 1950's.Sensuous and talented Baker suffered from white singers making more money on her hits than herself,covering them note by note,but by some historical justice others are forgotten while her original versions are still in a print.This CD brings together her two LP's that present just a small part of her talent - "La Vern" would be ballad album,while "Rock & Roll" is well,upbeat.No matter is she crooning "Harbour Lights" or whooping with laughter on "Tra La La",Baker is sensational and if you want to hear more,I suggest her gospel LP ("Precious Memories") or wonderful tribute to a blues Queen Bessie Smith (which at the moments sounds better even than Dinah Washington's album on the same subject).As La Vern was known at the beggining of her career under name "Little Miss Sharecropper",its interesting to note that great Billie Holiday in her "blindfold" test for magazine "Downbeat" openly critisized Ruth Brown to be just a copy of "Miss Sharecropper",in other words Billie prefered our La Vern Baker.