In 1955, Lavern Baker was the second most-played female artist in the United States after Etta James.
Her most successful records were “Tweedle Dee” (1955), “Jim Dandy” (1956), and “I Cried a Tear” (1958). Her 1955–65 tenure with Atlantic Records produced 15 rhythm-and-blues hits.
She was a singer with a majestic voice and a flair for performing.
She was born Delores Evans, in Chicago, on Nov. 11, 1929. She began singing in Chicago clubs in 1946, often billed as Little Miss Sharecropper, and first recorded under that name in 1949, leading to a recording deal with National Records in 1951, shortly before it folded. She changed her name briefly to Bea Baker when recording for Okeh Records in 1951, switched to Delores Baker, and then was billed as LaVern Baker when she sang with Todd Rhodes and his band in 1952.
In 1953, Baker signed with Atlantic Records and her first release was “Soul on Fire.” Her first hit came in early 1955, with “Tweedle Dee,” which reached number 4 on the R&B chart and number 14 on the national U.S. pop chart, selling more than a million copies. Popular imitations of her recordings by white singers in the mid-1950s temporarily slowed her career. Singer Georgia Gibbs recorded a note-for-note cover of the song, which reached number 1. Baker made an unsuccessful attempt to sue her and petitioned Congress to consider such covers copyright violations. Her request spurred a Congressional investigation into song theft.
In 1958, Baker broadened her range with the release of her third studio album, Atlantic’s “Lavern Baker Sings Bessie Smith.” It was a jazz-oriented take on the songs of Smith and garnered critical acclaim for her dynamic cover versions of traditional blues songs using jazz musicians. Her spirited vocals sound just as expressive and sassy now as they did nearly 70 years ago. It’s an album worth a serious listen today.
In 1966, Baker recorded “Think Twice”, a duet single with Jackie Wilson. The controversial song featured raunchy lyrics considered inappropriate for airplay. Three versions were recorded, one of which is the version with the raunchy lyrics.
Baker married the comedian Slappy White in 1959, after divorcing her first husband, Eugene Wilson. Baker and White split in 1969, and Baker joined a USO tour where she contracted bronchial pneumonia after a trip to Vietnam. After recovering at the U.S. naval base at Subic Bay in the Philippines, Baker stayed on as the entertainment director at the Marine Corps Staff NCO club there, where she stayed for about 20 years.
In 1990, she made her Broadway debut, replacing Ruth Brown as the star of the hit musical “Black and Blue.” She continued to record and perform, even after both her legs were amputated in 1994 because of complications from diabetes. She said, “God took my legs, but He left me my voice so I could continue to do what I love, to sing and entertain.”
Baker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, noting that her “fiery fusion of blues, jazz and R&B showcased her alluring vocals and set the stage for the rock and roll surge of the Fifties.” “Jim Dandy” was named one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll and was ranked number 343 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2020, Baker was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame
Baker died of cardiovascular disease on March 10, 1997, at the age of 67. She was buried in an unmarked plot in Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens, New York. Local historians raised funds for a headstone, which was placed on May 4, 2008.
Lavern Baker is one of those pioneering voices from the 1950s that helped mold R&B into rock ‘n’ roll, but kept on rolling with her passion for performing. She deserves to be remembered.
Baker, her music, and her heroic personal life, also caught the attention of noted blues photographer Joe Rosen, and took her place among other musical greats in his book of marvelous photography and personal reflections, “Inside the Moment: Iconic Blues, Soul, Jazz, Rock, and R&B Images and History.”
Here is a sampling of recordings from Baker’s career:
