LaVern is the debut studio album from American rhythm and blues singer LaVern Baker, released by Atlantic Records in 1956.
| LaVern | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1956 | |||
| Recorded | October 19, 1956 (second half of album) | |||
| Studio | New York City, New York, United States (second half of album) | |||
| Genre | Rhythm and blues[1] | |||
| Length | 30:56 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| LaVern Baker chronology | ||||
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Reception
editEditors at AllMusic rated this release 3 out of 5 stars.[2] A 1998 repackaging of this with 1958's LaVern Baker received 4.5 out of 5 stars, with critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine writing that "both records are excellent" and recommending it to listeners because it collects hard-to-find tracks, but complains that "a couple of cuts fall a little flat" and "the remastering and packaging aren't quite up to the standard of the music itself".[3] In the 2004 edition of The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, the two-album compilation was rated 4.5 out of 5 stars and the editors write that this material features Baker as a "gut-bucket R&B singer" that combines blues and pop music.[1]
Track listing
edit- "Lots and Lots of Love" (LaVern Baker) – 2:26
- "Of Course I Do" (Chuck Willis) – 2:51
- "You’ll Be Crying" (Vincent Corso) – 2:58
- "Miracles" (Jerry Samuels) – 2:46
- "I’m in a Crying Mood" (Fletcher Henderson and Willmette Ward) – 2:50
- "Mine All Mine" (Bessie Smith) – 2:14
- "Harbor Lights" (Gordon Kennedy, Jimmy Kennedy, and Hugh Williams) – 2:20
- "I’ll Never Be Free" (Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss) – 2:20
- "Romance in the Dark" (Lillian "Lil" Green) – 3:00
- "Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool" (Lionel Hampton) – 2:09
- "How Long Will It Be" – 2:42
- "Fool That I Am" (Floyd Hunt) – 2:20
Personnel
edit- LaVern Baker – vocals
- Paul Ackerman – liner notes
- Tom Dowd – engineering
- Ray Ellis – arrangement and conducting on second half of album
- Ahmet Ertegun – supervision
- Marvin Israel – cover design
- Jerry Schatzberg – photography
- Jerry Wexler – supervision
- Unnamed session musicians playing bass guitar, drums, guitar, piano, and saxophone
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Hoard, Christian David; Brackett, Nathan, eds. (2004). "LaVern Baker". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 39–41. ISBN 9780743201698.
- ^ "LaVern Baker – LaVern". AllMusic. RhythmOne. n.d. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (n.d.). "LaVern Baker – LaVern/LaVern Baker". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
External links
edit- LaVern at Discogs (list of releases)
- LaVern at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
