LaVern Baker, Part 2 – 1954-56 this week on the Juke In the Back!
The "Juke In The Back" focuses on the " soul that came before rock n' roll," the records that inspired Elvis, Buddy Holly, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and countless others.
This week, the "Juke In The Back" looks at how one of R&B's greatest voices, LaVern Baker, got her start. It's part two of a two part feature on the early career of LaVern Baker.
In part two, we'll dig on Baker's prime recording years of 1954-56. She had 4 charting records in '55, beginning with the crossover smash, "Tweedlee Dee," which stayed popular for over a year, hitting #4 R&B and crossing over to #14 Pop. In 1956, she scored 5 charters, ending the year with the release of the #1 classic, "Jim Dandy." She also headlined the Apollo and was featured in the Alan Freed film, "Rock! Rock! Rock!" starring Tuesday Weld.
LaVern Baker's career began in Rhythm & Blues, but she ended up becoming one of Rock n' Roll's first female superstars. Matt The Cat spins all of her records from the end of 1954 to the end of 1956, her most popular period on this week's "Juke In The Back."
Join Matt the Cat for "Juke in the Back", tomorrow morning at 04:00 AM Eastern, with an encore presentation, Sunday afternoon at 03:00 PM Eastern, after part 3 of "Born Free: a history of the Radio hauraki Offshore Years" on The Mushroom FM Rockumentary" and before "The Song Remembers When" with Melissa Ricobono on Mushroom FM, the home of the fun guys, making four decades of magic mushroom memories!
And check out the complete Mushroom FM schedule at https://mushroomfm.com/schedule.