See See Rider / Blues Ballads

by LaVern Baker

Description by OLDIES.com:

The extraordinarily gifted LaVern Baker was one of the most popular R&B singers in the early rock era. Her voice and style are still instantly recognizable today and her reputation has only grown. She was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here are two of her best albums from the vaults of Atlantic.

Product Description:

2 LPs on 1 CD: SEE SEE RIDER (1963)/BLUES BALLADS (1959).

Originally released on Atlantic. Includes liner notes by Marv Goldberg.

SEE SEE RYDER/BLUES BALLADS is a one-CD collection of albums LaVern Baker released in 1963 and 1959, respectively. The tracks are not presented in the original sequence, but the ones dating from 1963 are easily identifiable-they're in stereo and tend to feature prominent bass guitar, then something of a novelty.

The "blues ballads" half of the title shouldn't be taken too literally, since much of the music here was clearly targeted at somebody's idea of the teenage audience. Hence the cornball Dixieland banjo on "Humpty Dumpty Heart" and the Perry Como-ish ballad "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes." Baker is nonetheless in fine vocal form throughout, investing even the weakest songs with total conviction. And it's worth the price of the CD just to hear her deliver the line "Sometimes he irks me with his line of jive" on "He's a Real Gone Guy."