Profile: LaVern Baker

Delores LaVern Baker, November 11, 1929, Chicago, IL; d. March 10, 1997, Manhattan, New York, NY

R&B, Blues, Rock and Roll

Vocals

A natural-born church singer, LaVern Baker was already performing in the secular world by the age of 17 -- but as "Little Miss Sharecropper," in those days a testament of authenticity to her blues roots. Her mastery of jazz, blues, and gospel, a mixture soon to be known as R&B, got her the attention of Al Green, manager of Detroit's Flame Show Bar. Before long, she was signed to Columbia, but as with many artists back in the early Fifties, labels had trouble finding the perfect song to fit her personality. By the time she took charge of her career in 1953, she'd signed to Atlantic under her now-famous name.

After two flops, that magical song came around -- a silly bit of fluff called "Tweedle Dee," somehow turned into something special by that fiery, sexy voice. 14 R&B chart hits followed, but success on the pop charts was harder to come by, thanks largely to competing label Mercury, who hired white singer Georgia Gibbs to cover her songs for the pop market. This so infuriated Baker that she petitioned the U.S. Congress to pass laws making an arrangement as legally untouchable as a composition. She lost that fight, but it set an important precedent.

While traveling to entertain the troops in Vietnam in the late Sixties, Baker contracted pneumonia and was rushed to the military's Subic Bay hospital in the Philippines. Baker ended up living on the islands for twenty years, working as entertainment director for the Marines nightclub there. It wasn't until the late Eighties, spurred on by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's efforts, that LaVern returned to America, working on the Dick Tracy soundtrack, appearing on Broadway, and cutting new blues-oriented records for her fan base. She died of complications from diabetes in 1997.

#1 hits:
R&B:

• "Tra La La" (1956)
• "Jim Dandy" (1957)

Top 10 hits:
Pop:

• "I Cried A Tear" (1959)

R&B:

• "Tweedlee Dee" (1955)
• "Bop Ting-A-Ling" (1955)
• "Play It Fair" (1955)
• "That's All I Need" (1955)
• "I Can't Love You Enough" (1956)
• "Still" (1956)
• "Jim Dandy Got Married" (1957)
• "I Cried A Tear" (1959)
• "I Waited Too Long" (1959)
• "See See Rider" (1963)

Other popular recordings: "Soul On Fire," "How Can You Leave A Man Like This," "I Can't Hold Out Any Longer," "I'm Living My Life For You," "Tomorrow Night," "Lucky Old Sun," "Get Up Get Up (You Sleepy Head)," "My Happiness Forever," "Fee Fee Fi Fo Fum," "I'll Do The Same For You," "The Game Of Love," "Humpty Dumpty Heart," "Love Me Right," "It's So Fine," "Why Baby Why," "St. Louis Blues," "Miracles," "Substitute," "Learning To Love," "Harbor Lights," "Whipper Snapper," "Dix-a-Billy," "If You Love Me," "So High, So Low," "You're Teasing Me," "Tiny Tim," "For Love Of You," "Wheel Of Fortune," "Shadows Of Love," "Bumble Bee," "My Time Will Come," "Shake A Hand," "Manana," "A Help-Each-Other Romance," "How Often" with Ben E. King, "You're The Boss," "I'll Never Be Free" with Jimmy Ricks, "I Didn't Know I Was Crying," "Hurtin' Inside," "Hey Memphis," "Voodoo Voodoo," "Must I Cry Again," "No Love So True," "The Story Of My Love," "Trouble In Mind," "Half Of Your Love," "Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny," "Itty Bitty Girl," "Better Find Yourself Another Fool," "Go Away," "Saved," "Don Juan," "Fly Me To The Moon," "Ain't Gonna Cry No More," "Think Twice" with Jackie Wilson
Covered by: Black Oak Arkansas, The Band, The 77's
Appears in the movies: "Rock, Rock, Rock" (1956), "Mister Rock And Roll" (1957)