Last edited by Kamasu_Jr; 05-26-2013 at 01:41 AM.
So underrated, so under recognized and so very talented......LaVerne Baker!
Thank goodness for whoever posted those clips on youtube! I remember, loved and cherished LaVerne Baker.My jazz station Saturday morning host, Bob Porter has featured
profiles on her in the past along with a lot of other singers, some well remembered like
James Brown and some often forgotten, Lloyd Price comes to mind. Anyway, Laverne had
one of the most powerful voices I'd ever heard this side of Koko Taylor and she could croon
sweetly..a treasure...
I agree Splanky. Laverne was a bad mama. I got to see her in the musical Black & Blue when I was a teenager. She was a dynamo. If you have not heard her... Sings Bessie Smith... album or Precious Memories, the gospel album she recorded with Alex Bradford and his singers, do yourself a favor.
I saw her a few times in her later years, after BLACK & BLUE. Great vocals, and slightly naughty comedy.
The last time I saw her, she had had both legs amputated from diabetes, and was singing from a wheelchair. But she could still put on a show. It was a pleasure to meet her afterward, and to tell her how much I enjoyed her.
Here she is on Long Island in the mid-90's at the Nassau Colosieum with Barry Marshall and Mary Wilson.
I thought it was Ruth Brown who had her legs amputated?
That's Laverne.
S.S.
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