Blues

LaVern Baker - Saved (1961/2017)

2019-11-17T16:15:20Z

LaVern Baker - Saved (1961/2017)


A1 	Saved 	2:34
A2 	For Love Of You 	2:12
A3 	Manana 	2:07
A4 	My Time Will Come 	2:25
A5 	Shadows Of Love 	2:18
A6 	Must I Cry Again 	2:32
B1 	Bumble Bee 	2:23
B2 	Shake A Hand 	2:49
B3 	Don Juan 	2:21
B4 	Wheel Of Fortune 	1:59
B5 	Senor Big And Fine 	2:15
B6 	Eternally 	1:56

LaVern Baker - Primary Artist

LaVern Baker's Saved, which appeared on Atlantic in the early 1960s, is arguably her greatest album. Not exactly a conceptual album, it was instead a collection of singles and B-sides she tracked between 1956 and 1962, which explains why it has such a random and varied flow to it. But that very randomness is why this set makes such a good introduction to this brilliant and fiery R&B singer --the inclusion of the B-sides allows her to stretch out a bit and shows her range. “Saved,” a gospel scorcher that was written by Leiber & Stoller and leads this set off, is one of the best sides Baker ever did, while her take on “Bumble Bee” shows that she deserved the kind of acclaim and audience that Etta James and Ruth Brown garnered later in the century. There’s an interesting set of players on these sessions, too, including Phil Spector on guitar and Taft Jordan on trumpet. Baker, who died in 1997, never quite found the large audience she should have, maybe because, unlike James or Brown, she was unable to transition her career past the early '60s for whatever reason (taking up residency for over two decades in the Philippines probably didn’t help much in that regard), but she had every bit as much talent, and all of it is on display in this fiery collection. ---Steve Leggett, AllMusic Review

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LaVern Baker – Soul on Fire (1991)

2011-05-30T14:52:20Z

LaVern Baker – Soul on Fire (1991)


01. Soul On Fire            play                                     
02. Tomorrow Night                                               
03. Tweedle Dee                                                  
04. That's All I Need                                            
05. Bop-Ting-A-Ling                                              
06. Play It Fair                                                 
07. Jim Dandy                                                    
08. My Happiness Forever                                         
09. Get Up, Get Up                                               
10. Still                                                        
11. I Can??t Love You Enough                                     
12. Jim Dandy Got Married                                        
13. I Cried A Tear                                               
14. Whipper Snapper                                              
15. I Waited Too Long                                            
16. Shake A Hand                                                 
17. How Often                                                    
18. You Said                                                     
19. Saved                                                        
20. See See Rider		play

One of R&B's earliest divas, LaVern Baker could grab hold of a song and belt it out with the best of them, whether she was singing bouncy, up-tempo rock & roll or bluesy torch ballads. Baker's contributions to the rockin' and rollin' wing of '50s R&B were in a class with Atlantic labelmates Ruth Brown and the Clyde McPhatter-era Drifters, as the stellar 20-track compilation Soul on Fire: The Best of LaVern Baker proves. Baker had a muscular delivery and a commanding personality on record, so much so that her ravishing visual appeal wasn't even necessary (though it certainly didn't hurt). Here she bellows and growls her way through rock & roll standards like "Tweedlee Dee" (her first big hit), the oft-covered "Jim Dandy" (her only R&B chart-topper), and "See See Rider," not to mention Leiber & Stoller's gospel pastiche "Saved." But Baker was equally powerful on her slow numbers, turning in positively smoldering performances on the classics "Soul on Fire," "Play It Fair," "I Cried a Tear" (her biggest pop hit), and "I Waited Too Long," among others. Baker isn't as much of a household name as she probably ought to be, but Soul on Fire is required listening for anyone interested in the first waves of R&B and rock & roll. ---Steve Huey, allmusic.com

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LaVern Baker - Sings Bessie Smith (1990)

2011-05-03T18:36:05Z

LaVern Baker - Sings Bessie Smith (1990)


1. Gimme A Pigfoot  3:07
2. Baby Doll  3:37
3. On Revival Day  3:13
4. Money Blues  2:50
5. I Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle  4:03
6. Back Water Blues  4:45
7. Empty Bed Blues  4:51
8. There'll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight  2:42
9. Nobody Knows When You're Down And Out  3:58		play
10. After You've Gone 3:08
11. Young Woman's Blues  2:50
12. Preaching The Blues  2:50				play

Baritone Saxophone – Jerome Richardson, Sahib Shihab
Bass – Wendell Marshall
Drums – Joe Marshall
Guitar – Danny Barker
Piano – Nat Pierce
Tenor Saxophone – Paul Quinichette
Trombone – Jimmy Cleveland, Urbie Green, Vic Dickenson
Trumpet – Buck Clayton
Vocals – LaVern Baker

La Vern Baker, better known for 1950's popular songs belts out a tour de force revival of Bessie Smith Classics. She combines Bessie's warm tone with the passion and jazz know-how of Dinah Washington. The accompanying instrumentals are authentic and appropriate, and perfectly balanced with LaVern's powerful voice. Unlike so many albums, this one is all good. The only remaining mystery is, that LaVern is not better known today as a jazz/blues diva of the highest magnitude, fully entitled to her rightful place alongside Etta James, Dinah Washington, and of course, Bessie Smith. ---T. H .von Zabern

'This is an album that should not have worked. LaVern Baker (a fine R&B singer) was joined by all-stars from mainstream jazz (including trumpeter Buck Clayton, trombonist Vic Dickenson, tenor-saxophonist Paul Quinichette and pianist Nat Pierce) for twelve songs associated with the great '20s blues singer Bessie Smith. Despite the potentially conflicting styles, this project is quite successful and often exciting. The arrangements by Phil Moore, Nat Pierce, and Ernie Wilkins do not attempt to re-create the original recordings; Baker sings in her own style (rather than trying to emulate Bessie Smith), and the hot solos work well with her vocals. ' ---allmusic.com

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