LaVern Baker was a one of the top female R&B singers of the '50s and early '60s, racking up a string of R&B and pop hits during her time with the Atlantic label - indeed she was every bit as much a pop and rock 'n' roll artists as a pure R&B singer. This great value 71-track 3-CD collection comprises every A and B side she released from her recording debut in 1949 through to her last Top 50 entry in 1962. It includes her first recordings with Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar's Orchestra, her early '50s releases as Little Miss Sharecropper, and then with Maurice King & His Wolverines as Bea Baker, and with Todd Rhodes Orchestra billed for the first time as LaVern Baker, before joining Atlantic in 1953, and then includes all her releases for Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun through the next decade. It naturally includes her big hits with "Tweedle-Dee" "Bop-Ting-A-Ling", "Play It Fair", "Jim Dandy", "Jim Dandy Got Married", "I Cried A Tear" and many others - a total of 26 chart records during that period. She was a fine R&B stylist, with a broad enough appeal for many of her records to cross over to the pop charts and make an impact in the burgeoning arena of rock 'n' roll, appearing in Alan Freed's "Rock, Rock, Rock" and "Mr. Rock & Roll" movies. This collection is an entertaining and thorough overview of her core career.
1 I Wonder Baby (Eddie 'Sugarman' Penigar Orch., VCL. Little Miss Sharecropper)
2 Easy Baby (Eddie 'Sugarman' Penigar Orch., VCL. Little Miss Sharecropper)
3 I've Tried (Miss Sharecropper)
4 How Long (Miss Sharecropper)
5 I Want to Rock (Miss Sharecropper)
6 Take Out Some Time (Miss Sharecropper)
7 Good Daddy (Maurice King & His Wolverines, VCL. Bea Baker)
8 I Want a Lavender Cadillac (Maurice King & His Wolverines, VCL. Bea Baker)
9 Make It Good (Maurice King & His Wolverines, VCL. Bea Baker)
10 Trying (Todd Rhodes Orch., VCL. Lavern Baker)
11 Pig Latin Blues (Todd Rhodes Orch., VCL. Lavern Baker)
12 Must I Cry Again (Todd Rhodes Orch., VCL. Lavern Baker)
13 Lost Child (Todd Rhodes Orch., VCL. Lavern Baker)
14 Set My Soul on Fire (Lavern Baker with Orch.)
15 How Can You Leave a Man Like This? (Lavern Baker)
16 I Can't Hold Out Any Longer (Lavern Baker)
17 I'm Living My Life for You (Lavern Baker with Jesse Stone's Orch.)
18 Tweedlee Dee (Lavern Baker & the Gliders)
19 Tomorrow Night (Lavern Baker & the Gliders)
20 Bop-Ting-A-Ling (Lavern Baker)
21 That's All I Need (Lavern Baker and the Gliders)
22 Play It Fair (Lavern Baker & the Gliders)
23 Lucky Old Sun (Lavern Baker & the Gliders)
24 My Happiness Forever (Lavern Baker)
- Disc 2 -
1 Get Up Get Up You Sleepyhead (Lavern Baker)
2 Fee Fee Fi Fo Fum (Lavern Baker)
3 I'll Still Do the Same for You (Lavern Baker)
4 Still (Lavern Baker with Ray Ellis' Orch.)
5 I Can't Love You Enough (Lavern Baker with Ray Ellis' Orch.)
6 Jim Dandy (Laverne Baker & the Gliders)
7 Tra-La-La (Laverne Baker & the Gliders)
8 Jim Dandy Got Married (Lavern Baker)
9 The Game of Love (Lavern Baker with Quincy Jones' Orch.)
10 Humpty Dumpty Heart (Lavern Baker with Quincy Jones' Orch.)
11 Love Me Right (Lavern Baker with Ernie Freeman's Orch.)
12 Miracles (Lavern Baker with Billy Sebastian Orch. & Chorus)
13 St. Louis Blues (Lavern Baker with Billy Sebastian Orch. & Chorus)
14 Learning to Love (Lavern Baker with Quincy Jones' Orch.)
15 Substitute (Lavern Baker with Howard Biggs' Orch.)
16 Harbor Lights (Lavern Baker with Ray Ellis' Orch.)
17 Whipper Snapper (Lavern Baker with Howard Biggs' Orch.)
18 It's So Fine (Lavern Baker with Howard Biggs' Orch.)
19 Why, Baby, Why? (Lavern Baker with Howard Biggs' Orch.)
20 I Cried a Tear (Lavern Baker with Reggie Obrecht's Orch.)
21 Dix-A-Billy (Lavern Baker with Reggie Obrecht's Orch.)
22 I Waited Too Long (Lavern Baker with Chuck Sagle's Orch.)
23 You're Teasing Me (Lavern Baker with Phil Moore's Orch.)
24 So High, So Low (Lavern Baker with Chuck Sagle's Orch.)
- Disc 3 -
1 If You Love Me (Lavern Baker with Chuck Sagle's Orch.)
2 Tiny Tim (Lavern Baker with Chuck Sagle's Orch.)
3 For Love of You (Lavern Baker with Chuck Sagle's Orch.)
4 Shake a Hand (Lavern Baker with Richard Wess' Orch.)
5 Manana (Lavern Baker with Richard Wess' Orch.)
6 Wheel of Fortune (Lavern Baker with Stan Applebaum's Orch.)
7 Shadows of Love (Lavern Baker with Richard Wess' Orch.)
8 A Help-Each-Other Romance (Lavern Baker with Ben E. King)
9 How Often (Lavern Baker with Ben E. King)
10 Bumble Bee (Lavern Baker)
11 My Time Will Come (Lavern Baker)
12 You're the Boss (Lavern Baker with Jimmy Ricks)
13 I'll Never Be Free (Lavern Baker with Jimmy Ricks)
14 Saved (Lavern Baker)
15 Don Juan (Lavern Baker)
16 I Didn't Know I Was Crying (Lavern Baker)
17 Hurtin' Inside (Lavern Baker)
18 Hey, Memphis (Lavern Baker)
19 Voodoo Voodoo (Lavern Baker)
20 Must I Cry Again (Lavern Baker)
21 No Love So True (Lavern Baker)
22 See See Rider (Lavern Baker)
23 The Story of My Love (Lavern Baker)
LaVern Baker was a one of the top female R&B singers of the '50s and early '60s, racking up a string of R&B and pop hits during her time with the Atlantic label - indeed she was every bit as much a pop and rock 'n' roll artists as a pure R&B singer. This great value 71-track 3-CD collection comprises every A and B side she released from her recording debut in 1949 through to her last Top 50 entry in 1962. It includes her first recordings with Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar's Orchestra, her early '50s releases as Little Miss Sharecropper, and then with Maurice King & His Wolverines as Bea Baker, and with Todd Rhodes Orchestra billed for the first time as LaVern Baker, before joining Atlantic in 1953, and then includes all her releases for Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun through the next decade. It naturally includes her big hits with "Tweedle-Dee" "Bop-Ting-A-Ling", "Play It Fair", "Jim Dandy", "Jim Dandy Got Married", "I Cried A Tear" and many others - a total of 26 chart records during that period. She was a fine R&B stylist, with a broad enough appeal for many of her records to cross over to the pop charts and make an impact in the burgeoning arena of rock 'n' roll, appearing in Alan Freed's "Rock, Rock, Rock" and "Mr. Rock & Roll" movies. This collection is an entertaining and thorough overview of her core career.
