Search - LaVern Baker :: Lavern / Lavern Baker

Great rock pioneer

Sasha | at sea...sailing somewhere | 07/11/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."