From:  "Gino A." 
Date:  Sat Jan 8, 2005  11:46 am 
Subject:  Scan Do - Lavern Baker

Posted to the Doo Wop Café Yahoo Website by Rich Zielinski & Nate Thomas - Apr 7, 2003 

BAKER, LaVern 

(born Delores Williams, 11 Nov. '29, Chicago; died 10 March '97) 

R&B singer; her aunt was Memphis Minnie. Spotted by Fletcher Henderson at the Club 
de Lisa and helped by Nat King Cole, she began singing as 'Little Miss Sharecropper'. 
Signed to Columbia, recorded for OKeh; then for King with the Todd Rhodes band (Trying 
\ Pig Latin Blues '52), toured Europe; signed to Atlantic for 15 R&B hits '55 - 65 
incl. eight top tens; 18 Hot 100 pop entries same period including several two-sided 
hits. 

Tweedle-Dee '55 (no. 4 R&B, no. 14 pop) was beaten in the pop chart by Georgia Gibbs's 
cover (no. 2; also covered by Frankie Vaughan in UK); I Cried A Tear '58 (no. 2 R&B, 
no. 6 pop) was her only top ten pop entry; Jim Dandy (no. 3 R&B, no. 17 pop) her only 
other top 20. Also had minor duet hits with Jimmy Ricks (You're The Boss '61; Ricks 
died 2 July '74), Jackie Wilson (Think Twice '66 on Brunswick). Whipper Snapper '57 
and Saved '60 were written by Leiber and Stoller, the latter with Phil Spector on 
guitar; she recorded with the Ray Ellis Orchestra '62. She made album Sings Bessie 
Smith '58 on Atlantic; Live In Hollywood later on Rhino; she also appeared in a 
couple of Alan Freed's rock'n'roll movies. 

When her career faded she went to live in the Philippines and became entertainment 
director at the Subic Bay military base; invited to appear at the Atlantic Records' 
40th anniversary show '88 in NYC, she stole the show. She sang Slow Rollin' Mama on 
the soundtrack of Dick Tracy '90 and followed Ruth Brown in the Broadway musical 
Black And Blue. When Subic Bay closed '92 she returned to NYC permanently and replaced 
Anita O'Day at Michael's Pub at short notice. Album Woke Up This Morning '91 on DRG 
incl. Randy Brecker, Cornell Dupree, Bernard Purdie on drums. She is said to have 
taught Johnnie Ray how to emote on his first big hits; she had a profound influence 
on pop music and was one of those who suffered most from being covered by 
white artists in early days of rock'n'roll. Engineer Tom Dowd told the famous story 
about LaVern's trip to Australia with an R&B show: she "...went over to the insurance 
machine, took out a hundred thousand dollar policy on herself, and sent it to Georgia 
Gibbs with a note saying, 'Georgia, you need this more than I do, because if anything 
happens to me, you're out of business.' " A diabetic, she had both legs amputated '94. 

============================================================= 

Rich: another great find by you. This tells the musical side of Lavern Baker but, 
having worked with her on 3 occasions, I would like to enhance what has already been 
mentioned. The story about Lavern taking out the insurance policy and sending it to 
Georgia Gibbs is the "tip of the iceberg" for the character of one of the warmest 
individuals in show business. Lavern was famous for making comments while on stage 
when she was singing, and offstage you couldn't stop her from telling jokes and 
making funny comments. Her dressing room was often the center of attention between 
shows. 

She usually wore provocative evening dresses on stage which were tight to say the 
least. Her body, of course, augmented it. Her usual comment was, when someone 
mentioned her dress, "I like them so tight that if you put a dime under the dress 
where my butt is, you can still read the date on it." And when some some joker in the 
audience would say out loud about what he would like to do with Ms. Baker, her 
standing comment was, "Don't let your mouth make an appointment your body can't keep." 
She was a funny lady, and in today’s world she would have been a standup comedienne, 
and a good one. 

Everyone loved her and her passing was felt by many who knew her as the upbeat, 
clowning, laughing, always in a good mood lady who kept everyone in a good mood. And 
she loved people, and wanted to help everyone. 

What made her particularly angry about the Georgia Gibbs covers was, when Lavern was 
recording a session, Ms. Gibbs would send people to the session to see what Lavern was 
recording, and use the original try to copy the final product word for word once it 
was released. After Tweedle Dee, Lavern got fed up and moved to Japan, after marrying 
comedian Slappy White (who appeared in many Sanford And Son episodes), and spent a 
number of years there before returning to the USA.... 

People like Lavern Baker and Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul, and Mary, are the kinds of 
people who transcend their persona as singers by being the type of people offstage who 
you just want to see succeed all the time, and we never had enough of them in the 
business. 

I applaud your discovery of this article Rich, and I hope that this personal insight 
tells everyone just a little more about a great lady............ 

Nate