LaVern Baker

Genres:	Blues • Pop / Rock • R&B / Soul
Descriptive "tags":	blues • rhythm and blues • female vocalists • soul • rock and roll • oldies • jazz • jump blues • 50s • northern soul
Decades Active:	1950s • 1960s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
Links online:	Wikipedia

Biography

Delores Williams, 11 November 1929, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 10 March 1997, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. Baker was a pioneering voice in the fusion of R&B and rock ‘n’ roll in the 50s. In 1947 she was discovered in a Chicago nightclub by band leader Fletcher Henderson. Although still in her teens, the singer won a recording contract with the influential OKeh Records, where she was nicknamed ‘Little Miss Sharecropper’ and ‘Bea Baker’. Having toured extensively with the Todd Rhodes Orchestra, Baker secured a prestigious contract with Atlantic Records, with whom she enjoyed a fruitful relationship. ‘Tweedle Dee’ reached both the US R&B and pop charts in 1955, selling in excess of one million copies, and the artist was awarded a second gold disc two years later for ‘Jim Dandy’. In 1959, she enjoyed a number 6 pop hit with ‘I Cried A Tear’ and throughout the decade Baker remained one of...

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