LaVern is the debut studio album from American rhythm and blues singer LaVern Baker, released by Atlantic Records in 1956.
Reception Editors at AllMusic rated this release 3 out of 5 stars. 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". 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.
Track listing "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 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 List of 1956 albums
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