LaVern (album)

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

 * 1) "Lots and Lots of Love" (LaVern Baker) – 2:26
 * 2) "Of Course I Do" (Chuck Willis) – 2:51
 * 3) "You’ll Be Crying" (Vincent Corso) – 2:58
 * 4) "Miracles" (Jerry Samuels) – 2:46
 * 5) "I’m in a Crying Mood" (Fletcher Henderson and Willmette Ward) – 2:50
 * 6) "Mine All Mine" (Bessie Smith) – 2:14
 * 7) "Harbor Lights" (Gordon Kennedy, Jimmy Kennedy, and Hugh Williams) – 2:20
 * 8) "I’ll Never Be Free" (Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss) – 2:20
 * 9) "Romance in the Dark" (Lillian "Lil" Green) – 3:00
 * 10) "Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool" (Lionel Hampton) – 2:09
 * 11) "How Long Will It Be" – 2:42
 * 12) "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